Grand Valley faculty showcases evolution of tech in new media technology exhibit

by | Mar 12, 2020 | All Copywriting Examples, Rapid Growth Media

Technology plays an ever-increasing role in our daily lives and is constantly changing and evolving. But what happens to outdated technology after a new version is created?

Photos by Adam Bird of Bird + Bird Studio.

Technology plays an ever-increasing role in our daily lives and is constantly changing and evolving. But what happens to the outdated technology after a new version is created?

Grand Valley State University’s operations manager, Scott Vanderberg, has been collecting the school’s outdated media equipment for 35 years. Vanderberg has collected everything from video cameras and tripods to recording devices and landline phones and is currently showcasing his collection in the form of the first-ever Media Technology Exhibit at the university’s Allendale campus.

 

“Basically, as technology [changed] over the years [and] we get something new, I hang on to one of the old,” says Vanderberg. Vanderberg believes he has a lot of equipment, but that there is still a lot that he doesn’t have. “I have enough to represent the change in technology over the years,” he says.

 

Vanderberg has saved over 100 pieces of equipment including a Panasonic NV-8200 Omnivision II VHS cassette recorder, a JVC KY-2700 three-tube color video camera, and a Sony AV-3400 portable record/playback videorecorder.

 

The NV-8200 is a 34-pound VHS editing recorder/player and the KY-2700 is an 18 to 20-pound video camera, both are from the early 80s. The AV-3400 is the first portable color video recorder manufactured in 1969 and weighs 18 pounds.

 

He has been working with Grand Valley multimedia journalism professors like James Ford and Len O’Kelly to put this equipment on display. Professor Len O’Kelly has his own collection of audio equipment that he plans on sharing with the exhibit to fill in the gaps in the exhibits audio section.

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How a Westside scholarship program is changing the way local students view life after high school

by | Jan 23, 2020 | All Copywriting Examples, Rapid Growth Media

Challenge Scholars provides a way for families on Grand Rapids’ West Side to cover the costs of education after high school.

 

Photos by Adam Bird of Bird + Bird Studio.

 

Post-secondary education has become increasingly expensive over the years. According to an article from CNBC by Abigail Hess, the cost of a college education has increased by more than 25% in the last decade. Challenge Scholars provides a way for families on Grand Rapids’ West Side to cover the costs of education after high school. The program, funded by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, partners with Grand Rapids Public Schools and other organizations like Kent School Services Network and WestSide Collaborative.

Challenge Scholars offers an early scholarship promise so students and their families know, beginning in at least 6th grade, that a scholarship for college and career training after high school may be available to them. Challenge Scholars is only available for students at Harrison Park, Westwood Middle School, and Union High School.

Recently, the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Authority Board of Directors voted to approve the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Development Plan. This plan also provides tuition-free education to Grand Rapids students. “We are exploring how our Challenge Scholars program and the Promise Zone might complement each other,” says Audra Hartges, PR and Marketing Specialist for the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

Union High School’s class of 2020 will be the first group of Challenge Scholars students to receive a tuition-free education. Challenge Scholars Director Cris Kutzli says the program has been working continuously to improve their goal of “affordable educational attainment.”

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Youth drop-in center HQ evolves with commitments to local partnerships and expansion of services

by | Jan 20, 2020 | All Copywriting Examples, Rapid Growth Media

HQ is a drop-in center for youth who don’t have a safe place to call home, are sleeping outside, or just need a safe place to connect with caring adults.

 Photos by Adam Bird of Bird + Bird Studio.

 

HQ is a drop-in center for youth who don’t have a safe place to call home, are sleeping outside, or just need a safe place to connect with caring adults. This center is a free resource for youth ages 14 to 24 in housing crisis.

 

HQ partners with The Wisdom Center Counseling Services, Health Net of West Michigan, and Grand Valley Family Health Center to constantly improve their services and meet the health and wellness needs of local youth in crisis.

 

The drop-in center’s most recent improvement to its services was launching its Comprehensive Health Initiative in the fall of 2019. This initiative provides basic healthcare navigation and access, healing-centered therapy, and holistic wellness activities.

 

Part of HQ’s growth lies in the specificity of the population served. “We are quite firm on our age range. We hold this range to protect the youth we work with,” says Alyssa Anten, drop-in coordinator at HQ. Although the nonprofit provides an age range, no one is turned away, and the staff at HQ will help anyone in crisis get the resources they need. “We would never turn anyone away without helping them find the resources that would support them. We would point them in the right direction for their needs,” says Anten. 

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