Thursday, May 14, 6 p.m.
 Southern Indiana Career & Technical Center Dining Hall

Background: In its first year of offering full curriculum for Grades K-8, the EVSC Virtual Academy will be having an end of year banquet for its students. Eighth graders will be receiving special recognition. This school year, 20 students were enrolled full-time in the K-8 Virtual Academy, and there were a total of about 140 elementary, middle and high school students who took courses on a supplemental basis. The Virtual Academy offers both full-time coursework and the opportunity for high school students to: recover a credit for on-time graduation – replace a grade for an Academic Honors diploma – improve their GPA – or to take a needed class, despite schedule conflicts. The Virtual Academy also offers AP courses. All courses are approved by the NCAA Clearinghouse for high school athletes. EVSC is now enrolling students for next school yea

Technology is what makes the world go round and this summer, students currently in second through fifth grades in Evansville and the surrounding area can take advantage of the EVSC’s Summer Creativity Camps, offered at Scott and Highland Elementary Schools.

The week-long camps will include up to eight different week-long pathways in which students can enroll. The Highland Creativity Camp is scheduled from June 15 – 19. And the Creativity Camp at Scott Elementary School is scheduled for June 22 – 16. Each camp will run from 8 to 11 a.m. each day and parents will be responsible for transportation. Cost for the camp is $80 to $85, depending on the pathway selected.

· Beginning Photography
Students will learn basics of digital photography and photo editing using Apple iPads and Adobe Photoshop. We will experiment with composition and various lighting techniques. Student will learn basics in photo editing using selection techniques/masks and adjustment layers. Students will create and bring home a digital portfolio of their work.
· Website Building and Webtools
Students will learn the ins and out of building their own website or blog. Students will have the choice of working independently or in groups to build a website using a free online tool. We will also explore other WebTools that can be helpful in creating presentations.
· Lights, Camera, iPad
Students will learn to shoot video and edit on the iPad. Emphasis will be placed on the tools to create and edit video on the iPad and the week will culminate with a video creation produced and edited by the participating students.
· Digital Storytelling (Highland Creativity Camp only)
This class focuses on the art of creating stories and bringing them to life with pictures, sounds, and voice. Participants will work in groups to create and record a story, illustrate the story with pictures and/or artwork, and enhance the stories with music and sound effects. We will use a variety of tools to create our stories and bring all of the pieces together in a program called GarageBand. At the end of the week, students will have a video story file to take home, and the story will live online as well!
· Minecraft Mania
In their quest to become Minecraft Masters, students will become problem solvers and leaders! Students will be asked to develop their leadership skills throughout our game-playing, using role-playing, goal setting, problem solving techniques and more. Activities will also include curricular connections, including language arts and math.
* MINECRAFT REQUIREMENT: Students are asked to bring their own portable devices on which they currently play Minecraft. Students are also asked to have a current, active Minecraft account that includes a username and password.
· Coding is Cool
In this class students will learn the basics of computer coding. We will starting with the common points of all computer coding and then progress into the basics of HTML and how to create a simple website. Following this, students will explore coding for robotics application – both drag and drop and Javascript. Students will test their robotics code using Sphero robotic balls. At the end of the week students will have a better understanding of the language programmers use to “talk” to computers. They will also have coded a simple website as well as controlled a robot with code. NOTE: No experience is necessary! We’ll start from the beginning
· Stop Motion Animation
Students will learn the workflow of creating a stop motion movie. Students will work in a small group to write a story plot and animate it using an iPad Stop Motion app. Time will be spent building the scene background, taking LOADS of pictures with the iPad, recording sound effects and voices. Students will enjoy a movie premiere on Friday where they will reveal their Stop Motion film to the class.
· Engineering & Invention Workshop
Students will get the opportunity to work through the engineering design process while working on their problem solving skills. Students will be presented with real world problems and create ideas to solve them. They will then use computers to design solutions. Did we mention that they will be able to print them on our state of the art 3D printer? Not only that, but students will have access to 3D scanning, which can allow them to scan and print themselves.

Space is limited. For more information and to register, www.evscschools.com and click on Creativity Camps under the Links section or under “Students” at the top. Deadline for registration is June 1.

Plans to help students utilize USI’s resources

Alexa Bueltel, a senior management major and marketing minor, has been elected Student Government Association (SGA) president for 2015-2016. Bueltel holds a 3.5 GPA and received both the Provost’s Top Student Leader Award and the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Award in 2015.

With a passion for leadership, she has stayed involved with many campus clubs and activities throughout her time at the University of Southern Indiana including: SGA, Emerging Leaders, Camp Eagle Flock Leader, Welcome Week Leader, Spring Fest Executive Committee member, as well as the Honors Program.

She also serves on the Student Government Coalition Board of Directors as the conference director.

During her time as SGA president, Bueltel says she wants to be a strong advocate for students. “I really hope I can make students aware of the resources USI has to offer and enhance their college experience,” she said. “I want to make it easier for students to voice concerns they have with the campus by SGA having a stronger presence on campus.”

She plans to do that by attending more USI campus events. She says this will “allow students to see who is representing them and know exactly who to go to for particular issues.” She also plans to implement more late night events as well as more frequent Council of Presidents meetings.

Bueltel has been the recipient of the William D. and Kathryn Wilhite Endowed Business Scholarship for two consecutive years (2014-2015). She also is a member of Delta Epsilon Iota Honors Society, in which has received the Delta Iota National Leadership Award in 2014.

Growing up in Newburg, Indiana she attended Mater Dei High School. She also has three siblings, two with ties to USI; older brother, Brett, a USI alumni, and younger sister, Katelyn, who will be a freshman at USI this upcoming fall.

This summer she will be an intern at Springleaf Financial Services in the Human Resources Department. Upon graduating, she plans to continue following her passion for leadership with a career in higher education in student affairs.