Entrepreneurs & Inventors Celebrated

Entrepreneurs & Inventors Celebrated at the Vision Center During the Fall 2015 Teen Tech & iCan Graduation

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — November 13, 2015 – The anticipation and excitement was certainly in high-gear during the Fall 2015 Teen Tech and iCan Robotics Graduation which took place at the Clarence Jordan Vision Center on S. Salina Street in Syracuse. Twenty-two young creative minds, ages 9 – 14, presented their robots and business plans before an enthusiastic crowd of family members and panel of judges comprised of local community leaders. Mercy Works which owns and operates the Vision Center is creating a new and lasting home for education, vision and hope to encourage our inner city youth and serve our community.

“The programs we offer at the Clarence Jordan Vision Center are designed to instill vision in our young people. We offer a variety of programs that they can participate in through college,” said Natividad Cabrera, Program Director at the Vision Center.

Teen Tech is designed to develop a spirit of entrepreneurism in young people. Students receive training in the Microsoft office suite ultimately designing and fine-tuning a business plan model as they harness their public speaking and presentation skills. UPON successful completion of both Track I & Track II of the Teen Tech Program students receive a refurbished computer and qualify to apply for Track III of the Teen Tech program.

• Teen Tech (Track 1) classes provide hardware & software training in MS Word & Power Point. Students are introduced to Entrepreneurism, Business Plan writing and Powerpoint Presentations. Students must complete Track 1 in order to move into Track 2.
• Teen Tech (Track 2) builds on their skills with the incorporation of Excel & Publisher as they continue developing and fine-tune their business plan to include budgeting with Excel and harnessing their public speaking and presentation skills. Students must complete Track 2 in order to move into Track 3. Students receive a refurbished computer at graduation!
• Teen Tech TABLET (Track 3) provides business management training utilizing additional and important software applications in a Tablet based format.

The iCan class draws in Lego loving young students to put their creativity and engineering skills to the test. Working with Lego Mindstorms NXT and EV3 robots students explore building sturdy structures, working with gears, and computer programming. The teachings presented in iCan encompass the different disciplines of science and technology.

“STEM Robotics is the future and the goal of the Robotics programs at the Clarence Jordan Vision Center is to turn our young technology consumers into technology creators,” said Natividad Cabrera. Students must complete iCan NXT before they can register for the iCan EV3 class.

• iCan NXT Robotics Class exposes young inventors in the various parts of the NXT Robotics system including the programmable brick, motors and sensors while they develop their engineering, math and programming skills to design robots that move and complete a variety of tasks! Students are required to complete iCan NXT Robotics before they can move on to iCan EV3 Robotics. Competitions and awards are part of the program!
• iCan EV3 Robotics Class is all about building a better “bot”. Here they harness their programming and engineering’s skills to successfully master additional and advanced features such as a more powerful processor, 4 motor ports (instead of 3), a micro SD card slot, a USB host port and a Linux operating system!

Additional programs offered at the Clarence Jordan Vision Center include :

SYNERGY: A professional development program that provides goal oriented college students with an opportunity to learn skills that will benefit their future, Central New York’s workforce, and community.
Passport 2Vision: This is a life-changing experience for high-school girls and their mothers. In this week-long “get-away” girls develop stronger relationships in a supportive environment. We offer encouraging workshops to foster a positive self-image, develop vision and focus.

The Winter Term of programming is scheduled to begin the second week of January. All of the programs at the Vision Center are free to the community. There is still time to register!

Mercy Works, Inc. is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to identifying and meeting various social needs in our local community. The Clarence Jordan Vision Center accomplishes this by engaging and empowering Syracuse’s youth and their families through programs like Teen Tech, iCan, Passport 2Vision, and SYNERGY. For information on how you can participate and/or contribute to these transformational programs contact Natividad Cabrera at (315) 435-6934 or by email at nati1221mercy@gmail.com