Program Building
Organization:
Grand Rapids Community Media Center VISTA Name:
Daniell Krawczyk
Program Start:
8/2001
Program End:
8/2002
Project Description:
Daniell’s entire term was devoted to the creation, expansion, and future sustainment of the MOLLIE Project. MOLLIE (which stands for Mobile Learning Lab for Information Education) was developed through a grant from the Federal Department of Education and exists to bridge the digital divide, primarily by teaching video production in schools, drop-in centers, and neighborhood centers.
He was given the primary responsibility of getting the program off the ground, including designing the logo, acquiring the equipment, creating the protocols, giving presentations, and implementing the program in the field. These were his foremost foci for the first six months of his term. The second half of his term centered on keeping the project afloat.
Project Outcome:
The number of schools and non profit organizations that MOLLIE was serving rose significantly throughout the early Spring, necessitating an exponential staff expansion. Though this increased the number of hours Daniell spent directly teaching video production at schools and community organizations, it also allowed him to focus his time back at the office on the following issues:
- the temporary and permanent storage of digital video,
- the development of a long-distance, high-speed, fixed-point, wireless network, and most importantly,
- the future sustainability of the program.
At the completion of his term, Daniell was hired full-term by the Media Center as the MOLLIE Technology Coordinator.
As part of the sustainability plan for the project, Daniell has recruited an Americorps VISTA volunteer (Amy McKenzie) that has filled the position he left vacant when he became full-time staff at the end of his term. He is currently serving as Amy’s direct supervisor.