Alumni Graduates with Bachelors Degree in Game Design

Every once in a while, we get to witness firsthand the fruits of our labor.  It doesn’t happen as often we’d like it to, for many different reasons including the time it takes for kids to grow up.  But, when it does, it sure gives us joy, the strength to continue, and lets us know we’re on the right track

This story is about Nyjel Dukes.  Nyjel made a surprise visit to CMG last week after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in game design from American Intercontinental University (AIU) in Atlanta Georgia.  AIU is an accredited university with campuses in Atlanta, Houston, Westin FL., and London.  The university features degree programs in Business, (game) Design, Information Technology, and Education.

Nyjel Dukes as CMG student in 2006

It has always been Nyjel’s dream to become a game designer.  Nyjel plans to continue his dream further by enrolling at Full Sail University, Orlando, Florida to seek a Masters Degree in game design and animation.    Full Sail University has built a reputation for the past 30 years as one of the premier media arts schools in the world.  Nyjel is enrolled in an accelerated program that could earn him his Masters degree as early as the end of this year 2010.

Nyjel credits Computer Mentors Group for assisting him to become “computer savvy”.  He remembers that when he went off to college, the technical knowledge he gained as a CMG student helped him to purchase the computer and perform the upgrades himself.  He also remembers the IC3 Curriculum helped him skip over his Computer Application course at AIU.  The only things Nyjel mentioned that he wished CMG would have been able to do for him, would have been to have introduced him to more programs like Photo Shop, Half Life 2, and Unreal Tournament 3.  The latter two are games which also allow you create a game levels.

We certainly wish Nyjel continued success and thank him for taking to time to visit.

You’re Invited – CMG Volunteer Appreciation Event

What:     Computer Mentors Volunteer Appreciation Bash
Who:      All past & present volunteers, past & present board members, past & present supporters, past & present clients, and employees.
 
When:     March 4, 2010, 7pm-9pm
Where:    Pepin’s Hospitality Centre
              412 N. 50th Street
              Tampa, FL. 33610
Details:
You’re cordially invited to join us at the luxurious Pepin’s Hospitality Centre in East Tampa to honor our outstanding volunteers.  As we celebrate 13 years of service in the community, our awards presentation will include Volunteer of The Year, Board Member of The Year, and Employee of The Year.   Because of you, we had another great year of providing service to the community, which would not have been possible without all of your wonderful support.
Please plan to come and join us.  You’ll be able to network and meet our other supporters, students, volunteers, and staff.  We will have plenty of refreshments including hors d’ oeuvres and a cash bar featuring free beer samples.

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience to Mentors@computermentors.org .

By the way, we have several additional volunteer opportunities on our Advisory Board.  The Advisory Board are committees setup under the direction of our Board of Directors to support the mission of the organization.  Please see the list below.  If you are interested in becoming a part of any of these committees, please send a message to Mentors@computermentors.org and it will be forwarded to the appropriate Committee Chair.  They will contact you with additional information:

Finance & Audit Committee – Chaired by David Omlor

Fundraising Committee – Chair TBD

Internship Committee – Chaired by Neil Armstrong

Tech Bowl Sub-Committee – Chaired by Carla Jackson

Golf Tournament Sub-Committee – Co-Chaired by Neil Armstrong & Richard Zach

Publicity/Brand Awareness Committee – Chaired by Nancy Howe

Community Recruitment Committee – Chaired by Carla Jackson

Board Development & Nominations Committee – Chaired by Neil Armstrong

Program Development Committee – Chair TBD

Strategic Planning Committee – Chaired by David Omlor

Partnership Committee – Chaired by David Omlor.

From The Director

Hello Again All,

Thank you once again for your support and your taking time to read our newsletter.  In this Directors Message, I'd like to focus on the 2009 Annual Report.

Computer Mentors Group has now completed its 13th years of service to the community.  Each year, we continue to be amazed at the amount of service that we are able to provide with the amount of resource at our disposal.  Like most corporations, for-profit and non-profit alike, 2009 was a year of contraction.  But, we are very pleased, that even in a contracted year, we were able to do justice to our mission and provide both quality and quantity of service.

It should be no surprise to anyone that services were reduced from previous years.  We experienced a 30% over-all reduction in available funding for 2009 that was only partially offset by a large donation from Bank of America and an increase in earned income of 25%.  This translated into an 18% reduction in the number of people we were able to help by our programs, though no reductions were made our core program, the Youth Certification & Ownership Program.

We are truly grateful that community support sustained us through what can only characterized as a major economic downturn, where in some sectors of giving, we saw an 80% decline.  We ended the year hopeful for the future, and grateful for the past.


HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR
• 16 high school aged youth earned the IC3 Certifications and a college credit in 2009.
• CMG was able to provide a total of 617 computers into the community.
• We also provided training for 341 individuals and families, with many of them receiving a computer as a reward for learning.
• We provided 2072 hours of training through our programs which include the Youth Certification & Ownership Program, our Computer Mentors Kids Program, Adult Computer Literacy Program, and our Middle-school A+ Primer classes.

Please see the 2009 Annual Report for additional details.

Thanks and regards,

Email: rsmith@computermentors.org
Phone: (813) 236-1191