EAST LANSING, Mich. - The statewide after-school technology program started at Michigan State University known as KLICK! (Kids Learning in Computer Klubhouses) is planning a summer celebration that will showcase students' skills in areas such as robotics, digital video and Web design.
The celebration, which will involve 50 middle school students from Detroit to Lansing to the Upper Peninsula and a number of dignitaries such as U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at the Erickson Hall Kiva on the MSU campus.
"This is an opportunity to recognize the students and the tremendous progress they have made as technology experts and resources in their schools and communities," said Yong Zhao, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education and the project's director. "KLICK! has been a terrific success and as we expand the program to 20 more Michigan middle schools, this is a good time to highlight what the students have learned."
KLICK!, established in 1998 with a $4 million U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, initially had 10 clubhouses in nine urban and rural middle schools ranging from Detroit and Jackson to Cass City and DeTour.
Earlier this year, MSU and a consortium of middle schools were awarded another $8.2 million federal grant that paved the way for a major expansion of the innovative after-school program. The $8 million grant allowed 11 more middle schools to establish clubhouses and join the expanding network. It is estimated that the program will now serve more than 5,000 Michigan students and more than 6,000 community members.
The current KLICK! partner school districts are: Armada (Armada Middle School), Baldwin (Baldwin Middle School), Battle Creek (Springfield Middle School), Bay City (Handy Intermediate School), Bear Lake (Bear Lake Middle School), Cass City (Cass City Middle School), Clare (Clare Middle School), Custer (Mason County Eastern High School), DeTour (DeTour Middle School), Detroit (Amelia Earhart, Emma L. Munger, P.J.M Hally Magnet, Clippert Academy Middle Schools), Gerrish-Higgins (Roscommon Middle School), Jackson (Middle School at Parkside), Kaleva-Norman-Dickson (Kaleva-Norman-Dickson Middle School), Laingsburg (Laingsburg Middle School), Lansing (Dwight Rich Middle School), Muskegon (Bunker Middle School), and Watersmeet (Watersmeet Township School).
Administrators, teachers, parents, students and community representatives from 20 Michigan schools will be attending the event. The students will also take part in the graduation of the KLICK! weeklong summer leadership institute. For more information, please contact Yong Zhao at (517) 353-4325.