Education

Concentrate Speaker Event: Harnessing Robot (and Volunteer) Power

●

February 26, 2013

As any non-profit organization will tell you, much of their efforts are powered by ordinary folks donating their time. That couldn't be truer for 826Michigan, a hip Ann Arbor-based tutoring and literacy nonprofit that mobilizes hundreds of dedicated volunteers every year. Concentrate's Speaker Series has invited executive director Amanda Uhle to explain the methods and challenges of attracting energetic volunteers and how 826 leverages their unique identity to thrive. Sign up now for this Feb. 28 event!

Latest in Education

You gotta have art: Chelsea Center for the Arts adds new classroom

By Tanya Muzumdar

●

Arts and Culture

●

January 16, 2013

The recent morphing of a garage into an art classroom is another coup for the arts community in the village of Chelsea. And it's certainly what aspiring potters and sculptors have been waiting for. Next week, the Chelsea Center for the Arts will begin holding classes in the new room, converted from the garage portion of its circa-1923 brick building at 400 Congdon St.. New plumbing, heating, air conditioning, walls and ceiling, electrical, and lighting were installed. A windowed garage door lights the space. "What makes it so nice is that it can be open. We have a garage door... that can be fully opened up to our secured garden area in the rear of the building," says Lisa Baylis Gonzalez, the center's executive director. "It's going to be a great open space, a great open studio, in the summer months, in the nice months." The $30,000 project was funded with a grant from the Worthington Family Foundation. The center now has a pottery wheel and kiln in the classroom addition – amenities it lacked before. Open studio time will be available, and Baylis Gonzalez anticipates class sizes of about eight students each. "This is certainly a project that we needed to add classes and hopefully add programs like crazy, which will hopefully lead to more staff time as we build the program," Baylis Gonzalez says. Source: Lisa Baylis Gonzales, executive director, Chelsea Center for the Arts Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Ann Arbor’s “human capital” is tops for small metros

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

January 16, 2013

Business leaders call them "human capital," economists call them educated people. Either way you slice the tomato, both consider it a key factor in regional growth and development. Richard Florida takes a look at what human capital in suburban vs urban settings looks like. Excerpt: "Perhaps not surprisingly, college towns predominate when we add smaller metros (with populations of less than one million) to the list. With nearly 70 percent of adults holding bachelor degrees, Ann Arbor comes in first, followed by State College, Pennsylvania (69.2 percent), Iowa City (55.9 percent), Bloomington, Indiana (54.8 percent), Corvallis, Oregon (53.1 percent), Boulder, Colorado (50.9 percent), Columbia, Missouri (50.4 percent), Madison, Wisconsin (48.1 percent), Lawrence, Kansas (47.6 percent) and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (47.4 percent)." Read the rest here.

Echo360 acquires U-M spin-out LectureTools, grows staff

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

November 14, 2012

Echo360, a Virginia-based educational technology company, has acquired LectureTools and plans to continue growing the start-up in Ann Arbor. LectureTools' technology is working to reinvent the software programs used for educational materials, such as course packs, handouts and quizzes. It was originally developed at the University of Michigan and spun out of the university two years ago. The company now employs five people and an intern. Details of its acquisition were not released but it does appear the start-up will stay rooted in its downtown Ann Arbor office. Echo360 specializes in educational learning tools and plans to use LectureTools' technology not only in its own software but also to build up the brand independently. "One of the reasons we were acquired is so we can build it out to our true vision quickly," says Jason Aubrey, co-founder of LectureTools. "We're also building it out with Echo360s products." Aubrey expects to begin really scaling LectureTools technology in January. The company recently hired one person in customer development and is looking to hire two more people in design and user-experience. Source: Jason Aubrey, co-founder of LectureTools Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Colleen O'Brien and Tiffany Cho at Ozone House in Ypsilanti

WorkZone Helps Youth Get Ready For Employment

By Patrick Dunn

●

General

●

October 17, 2012

Finding work in today's job market is tough enough. For at-risk teens, it can seem impossible. WorkZone, a program created and run by Ozone House, helps young adults to develop job-seeking skills and hone them through training and paid internships.

Chelsea’s TorranceLearning continues to grow, hire

By Newsroom

●

Innovation News

●

August 22, 2012

TorranceLearning is taking a more comprehensive and scalable approach to its business. The downtown Chelsea-based e-learning firm is moving from providing just e-learning solutions to providing a best-practices education solution that can be easily customized for clients. TorranceLearning has also strengthened its strategic partnerships with other local firms, like Brightwing and SRT Solutions, that allows it provide a more comprehensive product. "Customers aren't just looking for e-learning," says Megan Torrance, CEO of TorranceLearning. "They're looking for a broader solution." The new approach also gives TorranceLearning the flexibility to scale up to its meet its clients requirements. The five-employee firm, which also has the occasional intern, has hired two people in the last year as it works to provide more "end-to-end solutions." "We have bid on a number of interesting projects in the last year," Torrance says. Source: Megan Torrance, CEO of Torrance Learning Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Teresa Angelini and Fran Loosen at Summers-Knoll School

Summers-Knoll School: Fresh Spirit In An Old Space

By Patrick Dunn

●

General

●

August 1, 2012

From a dairy to an organ donation headquarters, the building at 2203 Platt Road has morphed and mutated over the years, making it a challenge for anyone new to call it home. Enter the progressive private school Summers-Knoll, which saw a diamond in the rough. Now classroom "front porches," courtyard gardens, and a cavernous music room are key features in this ambitious architectural transformation.

Zingerman’s renovates Dexter’s Hoey Farm, opened for school tours and catering

By Tanya Muzumdar

●

Arts and Culture

●

July 18, 2012

The distance between farm and table is being measured in feet rather than miles, with Zingerman's Roadhouse chef Alex Young's recent purchase of the Hoey Farm property on Island Lake Road in Dexter Township. The 27-acre property at 8540 Island Lake Road adjoins Young's Cornman Farms, a sustainably raised livestock and vegetable supplier to Zingerman's Roadhouse. Over 27 types of vegetables comprising over 130 varieties are grown at Cornman Farms. Young's new farm purchase accompanies his recent participation in the James Beard Foundation Food Activist Boot Camp, whose goal is to "try to effect more positive change in terms of agriculture in this country." Hoey Farm will be used for school tours, as a catering destination, and for livestock raising. "We have a small dairy goat herd," Young says. "We're going to be milking goats there as well. And we're going to grow some pigs. A small herd of pigs, a medium-sized herd of goats, and then a handful of cattle." On the near-term horizon is a major restoration of an 1854 farmhouse on the property, a couple of barns, and a smokehouse. "They haven't received any love or care in 20 years, probably," he notes. One building will be converted into a dairy parlor, another is to be a shelter for school tours and a place to eat. Cornman Farms currently has five people on staff. "We'll probably be nearly double that next year," Young says. He plans to open the property to the public in the spring of 2013. "My work through Cornman Farms has been very rewarding, and being able to share it with kids and make great food for the restaurant is fun." Source: Alex Young, chef, Zingerman's Roadhouse Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Adventures in Pizza Making

By Tanya Muzumdar

●

General

●

June 27, 2012

Ever wanted to spin pizza dough on your fists like a New York pizzeria pro? At Zingerman's Bakehouse aspiring pizzaiolos and deep dish devotees come from as far away as the coasts to learn how to properly knead, shape, and cook their pies. Concentrate's Tanya Muzumdar offers a first hand account of the growing popularity of culinary tourism.

U-M teams up with TFA Detroit to teach entrepreneurship to teachers

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

June 27, 2012

The University of Michigan's Center for Entrepreneurship and School of Education are partnering to bring a more entrepreneurial mindset to Teach For America's Detroit teachers. The new partnership will help 20 Master's of Urban Pedagogy students at U-M who are also working as teachers in Detroit for Teach for America think more like small business owners when they return to their classroom this fall. The idea is that a start-up mentality will help bring innovation and problem-solving to urban classrooms. "The entrepreneurial mindset is how do you approach problems with limited resources and drive change," says Moses Lee, assistant director for student ventures at the university's Center for Entrepreneurship. Typical problems for Teach For America teachers range from poor communication within the school to lack of parental participation to chronic truancy. The new partnership at U-M will provide a week-long workshop that will focus on the ideas behind social entrepreneurship, such as how to identify problems, assess needs, solicit feedback from customers, solve problems in creative ways and execute a solution with limited resources. "We're hoping the teachers will feel empowered to bring these methods to Detroit," Lee says. "We hope they will be inspired to try new things. Source: Moses Lee, assistant director for student ventures at the University of Michigan's Center for Entrepreneurship Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.