EmpowerTech Students and the Shuttle

Hello Friends,

I know that we all love Fridays…especially this past Friday. It was not an ordinary TGIF by any means here at the center nor for miles around. The youngest space shuttle in the fleet, that logged 123 million miles was at a standstill, well parked actually in the parking lot close to ours. Eric Larsen, our TRADE director decided to change up the day’s lesson plan and have the students use the internet to find “fun facts” about the Shuttle (hence how I know some of details). Once their searches were complete they used the information to create word documents or flyers using pictures or graphs.

One very inspired student, Patrick (scene below in glasses) decided to create a press release. These are his words: “The streets around LAX were full of traffic today. Seeing the space shuttle up close and in person during its trip through Los Angeles was quite the experience. After all, it’s the only orbiter to be paraded through the city en route to its final resting place at the California Science Center. NASA’s shuttle program has come to an end, but a fitting end”.

Here at EmpowerTech we don’t often take our students on a field trip, in fact in our 27 years this was probably our 3rd one. As we all know this wasn’t your run of the mill field trip this was history and our students were able to witness the making of it. They don’t often show emotions, rarely if ever do they verbalize excitement or awe. But on Friday, October 12 as they stood in front of the shuttle Endeavor to capture their place in history through a picture they smiled.

My sincerest thank you to HB Drollinger, the shuttle was parked on one of their properties.

http://empowertech.org/

EmpowerTech Finds a New Home

EMPOWERTECH UPGRADES LOS ANGELES COUNTY’S ONLY ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CENTER WITH MOVE TO NEW FACILITY

Non-Profit In Need of Donated Office Furniture & Equipment for New Location

MAY __,2011: LOS ANGELES— EmpowerTech, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that provides computer training to persons with physical and developmental disabilities, announced that is moving on June 30, 2011 to a new, larger facility located at 9100 S. Sepulveda Boulevard in the Westchester section of Los Angeles.

Unlike EmpowerTech’s current space, which features an open configuration, the new center will have private offices and training rooms that will allow the agency’s Assistive Technology Specialists to work privately and in smaller groups with students.

Joan Anderson, EmpowerTech Executive Director commented “It will be enormously challenging and expensive to move an entire high tech facility without interrupting service to our students, but at the end of the day, this will be a major improvement for EmpowerTech. To make this happen though, we need additional financial support to pay for the move. It is our hope that we can rely on the community to help us preserve this invaluable resource by making contributions to help offset our relocation costs.”

EmpowerTech was recently given a notice to vacate by June 30, 2011 after its current landlord leased the building to a new tenant. Assistance was immediately provided by the H.B. Drollinger Co., Westchester’s largest property management firm, which located and arranged for the new facility at 9100 S. Sepulveda Boulevard.

Karen Dial, President of H.B. Drollinger Co. stated, “When we learned about the tough spot in which EmpowerTech had been placed, we felt we had to get involved. Our company has been part of the Westchester community for decades and we feel an obligation to look out for our neighbors—especially for a neighbor like EmpowerTech which has done so much for our local community. We are pleased that we were able to come through for this incredible organization.”

In addition to financial assistance with the upcoming move, EmpowerTech is seeking donations of office furniture and equipment . Anyone interested in making a donation is asked to contact Joan Anderson at (310)-338-1597/ janderson@empowrtech.org.