Nvtc Foundation

Programs: Computer clubhouse: equal footing foundation (eff) provides youth development and educational programs to underserved youth in the northern virginia area through an internationally recognized program called the "computer clubhouse. " developed out of mit's media lab and the museum of science in boston, the computer clubhouse program creates an environment where students can broaden their knowledge in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (stem) while becoming fluent with new technologies. In addition to the stem-based programs, eff also provides funding for clubhouse students to attend space flight academy, participate in botball robotics tournaments and secure scholarships for post-high school education. History: equal footing foundation was established by nvtc's board of directors to address issues of workforce, technology fluency and stem-based education. The first clubhouse in northern virginia was established in 1999. Today, eff sustains seven locations serving 1,700 youth a week in fairfax and fauquier counties. Goals:*strengthen academic achievement, especially in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (stem)*connect the path of education to real-world applications*provide youth with programs that will get them excited about learning*foster a sense of community where young people work together with support and inspiration from adult mentors*cultivate an environment that encourages young people to work as designers, inventors and creators*promote improved communication skills in addition to the stem-based programs, eff provides mentoring, homework help and various other support programs under the computer clubhouse umbrella to help students build confidence and achieve to the best of their ability those skills needed to secure a place in the community as working adults. In 2006, eff established a computer clubhouse scholarship for clubhouse members to secure funding in post-high school education. See more information on our computer clubhouse scholarship in the next section. Measurements and stats: each computer clubhouse location directly reflects the ethnicity of the particular community center where it is located. (the individual clubhouse ethnicity percentages are listed below. ) the equal footing foundation encourages all students from the community to access the programs available within each location, over sixty-five percent of the youth we serve are considered to be underserved and participate in free school lunch programs. In addition, each year the foundation participates in an independent survey developed by the clubhouse program at the museum of science in boston and mit media lab to measure the success of our programs and initiatives. Some of those measurements are as follows: 1) the majority of participating members are now able to manage basic principles of programming and robot construction. 95% of participating members were tested on the basic principles of newton's three laws of motion. 43 % of participating members are able to write programs in interactive c code (ic code), with manipulations of sensors, motors and servers. This is an increase of 100% from previous years. 2. Increasing the quality of overall robotics submission: by expanding the program throughout the year with the help of lego mindstorms and other robotics kits, we hope to increase the quality of the robotics submission from the computer clubhouses. 3. Overall peer-to-peer development: a critical part of the clubhouse teaching methodology is the peer-to-peer project based approach that is so critical to youth development. Unique educational programs with a stem focus:* space camp - 22 students participated in two weeks of virginia space flight academy. * botball robotics - the mott and williston teams receive special awards for their performances. Fostering a sense of community:* adobe youth voices grant continuation to include all six clubhouses. Mott and james lee computer clubhouses took lead to produce six videos and photo montages hosted at microsoft retail store in tysons. In 2014 the equal footing foundation started an innovation afternoon program and has hosted three events: google glass, cyber, and drones (uavs). These programs present cutting edge technologies to youth primarily high school students. The equal footing foundation also continues to underwrite space camp and other quality actitivities.

scholarships: in 2007, eff launched a scholarship fund to help clubhouse students move successfully into either a career or continue with their education. The scholarship was designed to help talented and deserving students who would like to further their education, but lack the financial support to do so. As of 2012, eff has awarded a total of 12 scholarships: 6 to women and 6 to men.