The Beat

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The Intel Computer Clubhouse Network is a global organization made up of 102 Clubhouses in 23 countries around the world. The Flagship Computer Clubhouse located in the Museum of Science was the very first Clubhouse established through a collaboration between the MIT Media Lab & the Computer Museum over 18 years ago. The space was designed as a digital art studio for youth ages 10-18. It quickly became a non-traditional learning space where young people from under-served communities worked on their own project ideas with the help of mentors and volunteers.

Recently the Flagship Clubhouse developed a Teen Internship project called the Clubhouse Entrepreneurs program. Jennifer Zavala of Fenway High School was part of the first group of talented young people chosen to participate in the primary round of the project. Over the course of 6 weeks she volunteered 180 hours of her time to our creative community, she helped run weekly multimedia workshops, she learned and applied professional skills, initiating new project ideas and setting the tone for our weekly drop-in hours. Not to mention, she shared her Clubhouse knowledge with Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick at the Stars of STEM event honoring Intel and its global commitment to educational programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

As part of her internship, Jennifer was asked to step into the role of young designer and entrepreneur and work to create, prototype, manufacture and market a product that reflects youth voice. She got to work right away and within two weeks she had figured out how to create 3-D models in Cad programs, optimize them for our 3-D printer and manufacture them in different shapes, sizes and colors.

After participating in an introductory workshop on Personal Fabrication, Jennifer joined us on a field trip to Danger!Awesome, a laser engraving shop in central square, and our main community partner in our pilot entrepreneurial arts program. With the help of our Clubhouse assistant David Selles, and the amazing staff at Danger Awesome, Jennifer learned how to use lasers to manufacture and engrave a variety of products and materials. She came back to the Clubhouse with a ton of ideas and began producing a unique key chain inspired by her connection to her friends and their passion for video games.

For mother’s day she was inspired to create an original card for her mom using her newly acquired skills and talents. She’s in the process of producing an original father’s day card for the upcoming holiday and will feature it beside her key chains in the Clubhouse Showcase event on June 16^th, where all the young entrepreneurs will have their products for sale to raise money for a local cause they collectively care about.

Of all of the wonderful things that Jennifer has contributed during her internship here, the most amazing of all is this: She made a meaningful bond with the younger members of our community by giving of her time and sharing with them her new production skills. .

Jennifer Zavala, thank you for doing your Senior Year Service Project at Flagship Computer Clubhouse.

And Congratulations on your Success!

Good Wishes on Your College Journey!

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This past week was Clubhouse intern Jeniffer Zavala’s last week of volunteer work at the Clubhouse.  We kicked off the week with a girl’s day workshop and ended it with a celebration of the wonderful work Jennifer has done with us to beautify and strengthen our creative community.  Please be sure to check out the Clubhouse Spotlight on Jennifer Zavala’s work at the Flagship Computer Clubhouse.

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  For the past couple of weeks, David and the Clubhouse interns have been leading lots of personal fabrication workshops at the Flagship.  We’ve had members drop in week after week to produce vinyl stickers, personalized items, stencils for t-shirt design, 3-D objects, music and more.  Take a look at some of the projects that have come from their workshops.

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We’re in the final stretch of our Clubhouse Entrepreneurs internship program.  Our interns have designed, prototyped, tested and modified their final designs.  We are now in the process of preparing to produce a small stock of the products for introduction at our showcase store in mid June.

Please stay tuned for Part 3 & Part 4 of the Clubhouse Entrepreneurs internship.  We’ll be showing you the final outcome of our pilot program and inviting you to come to a fundraiser organized and carried out by the Clubhouse Entrepreneurs, all proceed to benefit a local cause our youth collectively care about.

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Our Clubhouse youth were the STARS of the MoS event highlighting Intel’s commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math global youth program initiatives.

Clubhouse entrepreneurial teen interns Jack, Jonathan, Jennifer, Smaibery and Gabe represented the Flagship in project kiosks featuring their work and the work of peer Clubhouse members Jordan, Khoa, Javi and Omar.

Clubhouse parents Julie Ahern and Joanne Daley along with Network Staff members Gail Breslow, Nicole D’Avis and Danielle Martin helped facilitate the youth led project fair that kicked off this Museum of Science Stars of STEM event.

Clubhouse assistant David Selles conducted personal fabrication workshops with our teen interns and members which yielded 72 beautifully designed and hand colored 3D prints that were set up as center pieces for the dinner portion of the event.

Clubhouse alum Franklin Biggs helped us  set up our project kiosks and managed all of our technology needs during the project presentations.

Finally, we had the special privilege of listening to a very powerful speech presented by Clubhouse alumni Nancy Douyon, on her experience as a Clubhouse member, mentor and now a PhD candidate.

Our Clubhouse community displayed its greatest strengths in the public presentation and celebration of our Flagship programs.  We worked together to tell the story of who we are as a community and what we hope to do in the coming years as members of this exceptional global family.

BIG thanks to Massachusetts’ Governor Deval Patrick for stopping in and taking the time to speak to each of our young artists.  He was very generous with his time and he spent lots of it encouraging our members to continue producing innovative and creative work in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this event possible!

It was a wonderful night.

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Network knowledge manager, Danielle Martin, led the girls through a creative photography workshop.  With the help of Danielle and Clubhouse intern, Jennifer Zavala, the girls went on a photography scavenger hunt around the Museum of Science.  Seeking out objects, shapes and shadows that resemble letters, the girls were asked to spell out a word of their choice.  They ran around snapping pictures and spelling out in photo compositions “Hilarious” and “Dominican Republic”.

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Ayşegül is leaving us

Our long-time mentor Ayşegül Yonet is off to conquer California.  She and her husband Hakan joined current Clubhouse members, alumni, mentors and network staff for a farewell celebration.

We will miss her endlessly.  She contributed hundreds of hours to helping our community grow both creatively and professionally.  We are grateful to her for sharing her time and her amazing skills with us.  Our collaborations were fun, insightful and trans formative.  Her transition to the California is a great loss for the Flagship but a total WIN for the East Palo Alto Clubhouse.  Get ready Cali!

Ayşegül we hope you have a great time on the West Coast!  And PLEASE don’t forget about us!!!