Just a random collection of cool stuff where I live.
OLPC’s for Lincoln Schools
The Cooper Foundation, a local grant giving institution, has given a grant to buy XO laptops in Lincoln Schools.
“President Art Thompson said the final grant approved for the year was $8,000 to the One Laptop Per Child Foundation for 40 laptops. Under their Give One Get One Program, 20 of the laptops will be sent to a developing nation and 20 more to Lincoln.
The One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s mission is to stimulate initiatives designed to enhance and sustain the effectiveness of laptops as learning tools for children living in lesser-developed countries. The laptops coming to Lincoln will serve that same goal for children here.
The Cooper Foundation is working with the Foundation for the Lincoln Public Schools to develop plans to distribute the laptops.”
From “Cooper Foundation grants more than $1 million in 2007” in the Lincoln Journal Star.
I’ve heard tell of people in other locations whose schools have not even heard to the OLPC program, so the fact that LPS has taken the initiative to pilot the program is great.
Blogging Police Chief
As Michael Stephens recently pointed out, Lincoln’s police chief, Tom Casady, has his own blog. He’s a great blogger, and amazingly frank. A great example of engagement is this post, where one of the people he wrote about responded in the comments. Oh, and you can also learn the chief’s stand on zombie attacks.
It’s like geocaching for people without a GPS
Lincoln has a new initiative called “Lincoln Safari” where you use a map to go visit some out of the way places in Lincoln, take a rubbing of the signpost, and for some locations you’ll get a trinket. From the website:
“Lincoln Safari will get families and other groups of people off the couch and into unstructured corners and hidden places within Lincoln thus encouraging a sense of exploration and discovery. It will provide opportunities throughout the year to experience the natural environments in the Lincoln community.”
People can get the kits at any local library. Sounds fun! And, it’s free. I’m going to go pick up my kit today.