SUCCEED

Beginner Projects

In their first year, apprentices work on small, demonstration projects to practice their skills. One such project is the creation of personal and group web pages. These pages must be written by hand using the latest Internet specifications (valid XHTML and CSS). Students get practice writing markup language, synchronizing files with a web server, doing quality assurance testing (validating their code), working with a group, and presenting their work in front of an audience. Below are some sample web pages created for this project.

Links to some student websites:

• Avi Aggarwal's page
• Phillip Daniels' Page
• Thomas Fesperman's Page
• Kyle Morales' Page
• Krista Katzenmeyer's Page

Advanced Projects

In the second year, students plan and implement a real information technology solution, either for Shodor or for a client organization in the community. Below are the advanced projects currently in progress during the 2007-2008 year.

• Digital Durham
  • The Digital Durham project, led by Trudi Abel of Duke University, is a website cataloging the history of Durham.
  • Last year, apprentices at Shodor constructed an interactive map of Durham displaying historical and modern-day photos at their actual locations on the map. These included old and new panoramas of the city, taken from the same vantage points.
  • This year, the students are taking the project one step further, overlaying fire insurance maps from the late 1800s onto a present-day map. They are also adding markers for historical buildings and businesses. Users will be able to fade between eras to see how roads and buildings have changed, and to see what now occupies the sites of past businesses.
  • To see last year's Digital Durham project, visit: http://shodor.org/digitaldurham.

• NCSSM Registration System:
  • Last year, apprentices built a registration system for NCSSM's Ethics and Leadership Conference. The system allowed students, chaperones, and presenters to fill out forms and register for the conference. Administrators could then use the system to easily organize students and assign them to sessions.
  • This year, apprentices are improving the registration system by adding documentation, email confirmation, and many other features requested during the first year of use.

• Shodor Workshop Registration System:
  • Apprentices are currently creating a new, automated registration system to be used by applicants for Shodor SUCCEED workshops.
  • Up to this summer, registrations have required the Shodor staff to do some manual filing and processing of information; this new system will automatically log registrations in a database, and will allow staff to update and manage them much more easily.

• Environmental Science Curriculum
  • The Environmental Science apprentice group is meeting with and learning from two researchers in the field of environmental science. The students are writing lesson plans, creating videos, and building computer models of the concepts they are learning.
  • As part of their studies this summer, they will be helping to teach Shodor's SUCCEED workshop on environmental science.