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Oakgrounds releases a self-assessment website within the Home Performance Resource Center (www.hprcenter.org). These free online career resources enable job seekers to assess which career pathways might be right for them. The Career Resources section provides an innovative set of online tools that are designed to help job seekers in the Bay Area learn more about the industry. If they are eligible, they qualify for subsidized training through community college courses funded by the Department of Labor.
The resources include video profiles of home performance contractors, and key information about the labor market including specific job profiles. In addition, and most importantly, it includes a free self-assessment tool that provides instant results about users’ preferences and skills as well as how these align with specific home performance careers. The self-assessment asks users about their preferences and skills in five areas: physical aptitude, social and technical problem solving, basic construction knowledge, sales skills, and work environment preferences.
This tool enables participants to assess their fit within the Home Performance Industry and then helps them match their skills with key skills needed for the home performance industry. Results can be viewed online or mailed to a user. For job seekers in the Bay Area, these innovative resources are bringing job seekers together with workforce investment board recruiters who are offering subsidized training at Ohlone College, Skyline College and Canada College. This website was the result of a direct collaboration between Strategic Energy Innovation, Gyst Media and Oakgrounds Inc.
"People think they are in the same building." says Ward Bouwman, owner of Oakgrounds. The Oakgrounds client doesn't have cable nor DSL internet access and their buildings are too far apart for a direct internet connection. By beaming the internet in from two miles away to all buildings, and by configuring the local area network, employees at one building can access the server, print documents, or chat with anyone else as if they where sitting at the desk next. Hardware was provided by Web Perception.
All high school students at Terra Linda now have access to a suite of Autodesk software thanks to the Marin School of Environmental Leadership. MarinSEL was able to secure a TL-wide software license donation for Maya, Revet, Auto-CAD, and Inventor. These 4 Software packages by Autodesk support creative thinking and design. The software will be taught as part of the project-based learning approach at MarinSEL in order to support designs around water, food, transportation and energy. We look forward to seeing how the students use creativity in their community service based learning projects. Thank you Autodesk!
Introducing Maya Animation for Teens
"Teens will get their first experience working with Maya", says Nat Hunter, Principal at Sixit and former Disney modeler and animator. Maya is a 3D modeling program by Autodesk and is widely used by film and game companies in the Bay Area. Usually taught to college students, these Maya courses are geared toward the capabilities and levels of middle and high school students. "I hope this class will open opportunities for some kids to enter interesting internships next summer", says Nat Hunter.
For more info on Maya Classes, see our classes page: (click here)
Oakgrounds completes a successful Scratch summer camp. Scratch, an award winning computer animation program for kids by MIT, was taught this summer. With the help of Brian, 13, and Danny, 9 (scratch enthusiasts and class assistants), Lynn Meza and Ben Weiner keep the kids engaged with programming, animation, as well as outdoor activities. "We love the scratch camps," parents stated, "our kids are able to get so much more creative with the computer."
The program will continue to be taught as after-school programs in the Dixie School District Elementary Schools as well as again as a Summer Camp at Marinwood Community Center.
For more info. on Scratch Classes: see our Classes Page (click here)
Oakgrounds Inc. taught a successful series of classes called Computer Animation 101 for local kids wanting to learn computer animation skills. From the start, the enthusiasm of the kids was contagious. We had 6 kids, ages 8-11, motivated to develop their own ideas and integrate the skills they learned from each lesson. For example, an 8 year-old created a game set at a sunny poolside in which the player could toss a beach ball across the pool, but only if a pair of barking puppy eyes didn’t cross its path first. Another created an underwater scuba scene in which the two swimmers had a bubbly conversation. All kids were taught how to create a Mad Libs game and an interactive storybook. By the end of the course students had practiced how to create their own “sprites” or characters, which they could program to glide, float, dance to a beat, talk, change color, hide, and chase the mouse. They also learned how to program their games to keep score and to upload their masterpieces to an flashdrive.
The Oakgrounds Inc. Core Team and Working Group members are professional developers, designers, administrators, and managers who work hard collectively to take your company to new heights in a relatively short period of time. Oakgrounds Inc has some wonderfully talented people taking Apple Mac Server concepts to the forefront of industry standards by integrating them with leading third party technologies.
Apple Mac Server is a major leap forward and represents the most exciting release in the history of affordable solutions for small businesses.
Businesses in Marin County can now rely on local consulting services through Oakgrounds Inc. for all of their Apple-based products. In fact, Oakgrounds Inc. supports the most up-to-date Apple servers, which means that many small and medium-sized businesses can depend on the solid Apple Mac brand to build a solid, dependable IT infrastructure.
Oakgrounds Inc. employs trained Apple Certified Consultants for both individual computers and large-scale Apple servers. With over 10 years of experience, Oakgrounds consultants look beyond the short-term fix to provide businesses a stable, reliable IT infrastructure.
Oakgrounds Inc. is now part of the elite group certified by Apple Inc. for Snow Leopard OSX 10.6 Macs and Servers. Oakgrounds demonstrates its commitment to its clients by obtaining the latest training and delivering the highest quality of service. By committing to a rigorous training program, keeping up-to-date with the latest technology, and passing high-pressure exams, we at Oakgrounds Inc. deliver the highest standards of service to our clientele. This continued training program ensures that Oakgrounds Inc. can offer a solid and secure IT infrastructure for your company.