Summer Adventures

Our Americorps Summer Vista Associates have been busy for the last couple of weeks, getting real life knowledge and hands-on experience in the world of work while learning more about their community. 

Here is a little look at what they have been getting up to.

Regional tech access and expanding tech enterprise are key elements to New Mexico TechWorks' mission. Our Associates have been learning about Open Wireless Platforms with local tech start-ups, IQComm and A Sound Look, for bringing internet connectivity to rural areas.

The Associates have also been central to our Summer of Tech initiative, helping out at Santa Fe Community College with computer science camps and teaching children the basics of app-making and coding. Do-It-Yourself workshops have been running over the summer months as part of our "1,000 Websites in a 1,000 Days" initiative to increase economic development and connectivity in northern New Mexico by getting community members online with their own websites. JC, Alexis and Liz have taken a leading role in these workshops and guiding people, step-by-step, through the process of building your own website.

We launched the first ever Rad Hatter spectacular hat-making activity at this year's Pancakes on the Plaza in Santa Fe. The glitter and sparkles got to our Associates' brains and you can see where their creative spirits led them with these crazy hats!

With over 500 community members busy making their own unique Fourth of July hats, our Associates were fantastic helpers taking photographs and assisting children with their creations.

We have partnered with Santa Fe Community College, the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe Filmworks to produce the Guadalupe Street Reconstruction Project documentary. This short will record and demonstrate how various agencies and stakeholders interact and manage interests when a road diet is planned and executed.

Our VISTA Summer Associates have been on site filming these interviews. 

But we decided they needed some more photography and interviewing experience so we organised for locally based, community-orientated photographer, Joshua Sage, to teach these guys a few things about photography in a private workshop. Since then, our Associates have been out and about in the community shooting portraits and recording interviews for mapping New Mexico' tech ecosystem. 

We want our VISTA Summer Associates to make memories here with us in Santa Fe and that is just what they have been doing!