The second web design class wraps up this week and today they finished their websites. We shortened the class down from three months to two, and I’m very proud of the work they’ve done on their sites. Have a look, read their stories and if they’ve included their email feel free to drop them a line.
View the latest websites from the Powerhouse Web Design Class.
Something I had a chance to experiment with at my former job at WRAL.com was creating 3D panoramic images. The basic idea is, you take 6 shots around a circle, then one up and down. Using some powerful software (I use PTMac), you stitch all the images together into a cube which allows the user to view a scene from your point of view 360 degrees around and 180 degrees up and down. For more technical info on how this is done (for the geeks out there), check out this page. I hope to shoot many more of these in the remaining months we’re here, so stay tuned!
UPDATE (12/7/2008) – See the video of the graduation below where one of the students, Nelly Makhubela, gives a speech followed by singing and dancing.
The past three months of teaching the first web design course at the Powerhouse has flown by. I am very proud of the 11 students who graduate today and of the websites they created! 
It’s great to see how far they’ve progressed from the first class until now. Most had never even spent much time on the web, let alone designed a web page. Now they can all create web pages, including using CSS! I look forward to seeing how they use the skills they’ve acquired in the course.
Please check out the class website where all their sites are displayed. Some of them include their emails on their site, so feel free to send them a note of encouragement.
Powerhouse Graduation from Nathan Clendenin on Vimeo.
For more than a month now I’ve been developing and teaching an advanced-level class at the computer school offered at the Powerhouse. The class is on web design, meets three times per week and will run through the end of November (for those interested, I am teaching Dreamweaver). All the students have graduated from the intro-level computer course where they started with the very basics (“This is a mouse,” etc.) as well as mastered the Microsoft suite, learning Word, Excel and Powerpoint and even some Access. Near the end of the web design course, I hope to introduce them to blogging and perhaps even help them figure out a way to make some income from that. Any of you out there with ideas, please share them. Sometime in early 2009 I hope to start another advanced-level course in Photography. I’ll be sharing more info with out on that soon, but start looking around for used digital cameras to donate!
Teaching the class has been a real joy. Beyond just teaching web design, I also get the opportunity to encourage them as individuals with God-given talents and abilities. Today we discussed their hopes and dreams and it was exciting to think this course will, Lord willing, help them in the right direction (most of the students are taking the web design course in hopes of using the skills they learn to earn income). Some of their dreams include being a: gospel singer, flight attendant, McDonald’s franchise owner, designer, policewoman and salesman. Some also shared that they hope they can provide for their families, own a car and be happy.
My dream? To see them succeed at whatever God has called them to on this earth.
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