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Read more about the article Mary Beth Henry Receives the 2016 Community Broadband Visionary Award
Henry receives 2016 Community Broadband Visionary award

Mary Beth Henry Receives the 2016 Community Broadband Visionary Award

  • Post category:All News

September 2016: The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) recognized Mary Beth Henry as the recipient of NATOA's Community Broadband Visionary Award. NATOA has been recognizing exceptional leaders and innovative programs that champion community interests in broadband deployment and adoption in local communities nationwide. "We are proud to honor our 2016 individuals, communities, and organizations that lead the nation in improving broadband connectivity to all our residents," said NATOA president Jodie Miller. "These pioneers were selected based on their extraordinary efforts, achievements and innovation in community-based approaches to broadband technology." The 2016 Community Broadband Award recipients are: Community Broadband…

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Read more about the article Mary Beth Henry Retirement Celebration
Staff pay tribute to Mary Beth Henry with a homemade shrine

Mary Beth Henry Retirement Celebration

  • Post category:MHCRC News

September 2016: Elected officials, MHCRC members, staff and community members/colleagues gathered last Thursday to pay tribute to Mary Beth Henry. Henry, a fierce advocate for local control of public rights-of-way, community media, broadband deployment and digital equity, retired from her position as Director of the MHCRC and Office for Community Technology with the City of Portland after 31 years of dedicated service.

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Read more about the article Portland Adopts DEAP

Portland Adopts DEAP

The MHCRC Chair, Carol Studenmund, along with many others, urged the Portland City Council to adopt the Digital Equity Action Plan (DEAP) during Council consideration of the plan on April 6. The Portland Council unanimously adopted the plan, which establishes a series of strategic actions for public, private and nonprofit partners in Portland/Multnomah County to undertake to address digital equity. The Council also directed the City of Portland's Office for Community Technology to implement the plan with community partners. View a pdf of the plan. UPDATE: Since the adoption of the Digital Equity Action Plan in April 2016, the DEAP…

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Read more about the article Makerspace Grant Opening

Makerspace Grant Opening

  • Post category:MHCRC News

MHCRC Commissioners and staff, along with other community partners and leaders, celebrated the grand opening of the Rockwood Library's Makerspace on April 2, 2016. The Makerspace is a new, hands-on addition to the Rockwood Library for young people to learn science, technology, engineering, arts and math skills using cutting-edge technology and skilled adult mentors. The MHCRC Community Grants program invested over $300,000 to create a modern and robust place of learning for the youth of Rockwood. The NW Film Center Hero's Magnificos Program, also an MHCRC grantee, held its Spring break film camp at the new Rockwood Makerspace. Some of videos made during…

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Read more about the article City Club Friday Forum: Digital Inclusion

City Club Friday Forum: Digital Inclusion

The City Club of Portland held a Friday Forum on Digital Inclusion and Tech Diversity in Portland. The panel included Patricia A. (Pat) McDonald, Intel Vice president of Human Resources; Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies and force behind TechTown; Dwayne Johnson, Social Alchemist from Innovate Oregon; Vailey Oehlke: Multnomah County Library District Director; and Malia Spencer (moderator), a Reporter covering tech, startups and funding for the Portland Business Journal. From the description: " How $300 million plus two coalitions are positioning Portland to disrupt the face of tech and who has access to it. With Portland's tech workforce at 67%…

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Read more about the article 2016 AcceleratED Conference

2016 AcceleratED Conference

MHCRC’s TechSmart Initiative Program Director Julie S. Omelchuck and TechSmart grantees from David Douglas, Parkrose and Portland Public school districts attended this year's AcceleratED conference in Portland. AcceleratED provides content workshops and opportunities for collaboration around successful strategies and practices for integrating technology into teaching and learning. Read an interview with keynote speaker Daisy Dyer Duerr, a rural educator and consultant from Arkansas. AcceleratED is sponsored by OETC, a nonprofit consortium of K-20 educational organizations designed to aggregate knowledge and expertise to support schools' integration of instructional technology in order to improve educational outcomes for all students.

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Read more about the article PPS announces Pilot Schools for TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant

PPS announces Pilot Schools for TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant

Congrats to Portland Public elementary schools - Sitton, Bridger, Lewis, Markham and Vernon - for being chosen as the first-year pilot schools for the MHCRC TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant! The grant covers the next 5 years and will identify and scale solutions that improve PPS students’ 3rd grade literacy outcomes.  The collaboration and resources provided through this project offer a tremendous opportunity to design and seed innovation that personalizes and deepens learning for each student. For more on the TechSmart 3rd Grade Reading grant click here.

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Read more about the article Friends of the Children New Site’s Open House

Friends of the Children New Site’s Open House

  • Post category:MHCRC News

MHCRC Commissioner Carol Studenmund and staff  attended the grand-opening of the Friends of the Children‘s new Rockwood facility in Gresham.  Friends of the Children, a recipient of several MHCRC Community Technology Grants, is a local nonprofit that mentors youth. The a new 8,000-square-foot facility was built to address the demographic shift of children in poverty to East County. The building includes a multipurpose gym, a teaching kitchen, a high-tech Arts & Science Room, a large “front room” for mentors to met with youth participants, meeting rooms and quiet rooms. MHCRC’s 2015 grant of $218,700 is a good investment the children of East Multnomah County!

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Read more about the article FCC Roundtable on Closed Captioning
Chair Studenmund at FCC Roundtable

FCC Roundtable on Closed Captioning

Carol Studenmund, President of LNS Captioning and MHCRC Chair, discussed closed captioning best practices and technical and practical challenges for community media (PEG) providers and the cable TV industry. She and Mary Beth Henry, MHCRC Staff Director, attended the FCC roundtable event on Close Captioning and Community Media in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, November 10, 2015. * PEG - Public, Educational, and Governmental access programming on Community Media channels  

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