TQNYC has had a busy summer wrapping up the 2008-2009 school year and is now preparing for 2009-2010. Our fundraising team is working hard to ensure that our programs not only exist, but continue to elevate our mission to inspire and ignite the imaginations of New York City students so that they become excited about learning and are given the opportunity to realize their potential.

ThinkQuest Founder Allan Weis Publishes the Book “The Business of Changing Lives”
Internet visionary, Al Weis, who founded ThinkQuest in 1996 and TQNYC in 2001, authored his first book, “The Business of Changing Lives”, about his innovative company Advanced Network & Services and his pioneering vision to incorporate technology into education worldwide. The book is available today! You can find it online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Digital Media Competition
We are excited to be adding new Special Awards to the Digital Media Competition with specific themes relevant to youth and world issues. Some students and teachers even went to work over the summer to produce videos for a PSA contest for flu.gov to educate the population to work against the spread of H1N1 flu virus.

Internet Challenge
We are working hard to ensure a smooth launch this year with a more familiar system for our teams. We are also working on additional Special Awards that encourage students to engage in hands-on activities that benefit their community, their school or the environment.

Fundraising
One of our judges, Tommy McDonnell, raised $1,000 for TQNYC through the sale of her paintings. She’s inspiring other through her beauty while supporting our programs. Peter Eisenman, a member of the Adjunct Board, created ThinkTags where you can tag your friends’ photos on Facebook to acknowledge their excellence. Thank you to both Tommy & Peter for their creativity! Anyone can donate online here.

Teacher Training Sessions
It’s time to start scheduling our Bootcamp training sessions for the fall. Additionally, we will have ‘refresher’ courses for our veteran coaches and special incentives to bring new recruits to learn how to incorporate our projects into the classroom. Sign up to receive more information about trainings this fall.

We are looking forward to an amazing new year and can’t wait to see what our students create!