[OLPC-Philippines] Message from the Core Team: Update, Incorporation, Your Help!!

[Ryan Letada]

“As a guy that has written numerous grants for schools I can honestly say
this would never get funding because of all the question marks.  We the
people who want this to happen for the Filipinas must answer the questions.”
                - Rick Hendricks

Hello Everyone,

We are truly excited to see the renewed momentum in the group. Be assured
that there are many of us who believe that Filipino youth deserve the
transformative benefits that the XO laptop has to offer.

Recently, a *core team *has been assembled to raise important questions and
to answer them. Thus far, the team consists of marketing, finance,
technology, and deployment specialist.  We are still in the process of
identifying key members, and are actively seeking an educator who is
well-versed on constructionism – an educational framework that serves as the
foundation for XO learning activities.

[Check:  http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Constructivism]

The core team is dedicated to learning best practices from other
organizations across the globe (www.waveplace.com, and www.olenepal.org),
who uses XO laptops and other technological innovations to enhance
educational opportunities. Our learning will hopefully position us to
successfully deploy pilot program throughout the Philippines, keeping in
mind a long term vision of leapfrogging youths into 21st century learning
and creating an educational standard where Information and Communication
Technology is part of the norm.

For sustainability and scalability reasons, the core team feels that
incorporation is a necessary step to garner the funds needed to finance
operational expenses and laptop purchases.  A pilot program will necessitate
full-time employees, who will provide continuous training and support for
participating teachers and students.  Our current volunteer model alone will
not be able to provide the constant monitoring and support that a pilot
program needs.

In essence, the incorporation process will address most of the question
marks that Rick and the others have raised.

As we work towards incorporation, we will simultaneously work on starting a
pilot program. We are looking for schools with progressive teachers and
administrators as well partner organizations who are aligned with our vision
[more in the following email]. So if you are interested in partnering with
us, please contact us at CoreOLPC.PH at gmail.com.

Most importantly, *WE NEED YOU*. Our core team cannot do it alone.  Feedback
and suggestions such as the ones from Rick, Janet and Mafe are needed. We
also need direct involvement in regards to marketing, finance,
development/fundraising, curriculum development, etc.  So if you are
interested in providing a helping hand, please join on our team:

Thank you and if you have any questions, suggestions or inquiries, please
feel free to contact us through this list serve or email:
CoreOLPC.PH at gmail.com

We look forward to working with you,



Core Team
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