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Starting an After-School Computer Club?
Kai_MH asks: "When I moved up to my high school this year (I'm a Sophomore), I was surprised to find that there was no 'computer' or 'technology' club at the school. Sure, there's A/V, but what fun is carrying TV sets around? So, I'd like to approach my school's administration about starting an after-school computer club. I'd like to educate my peers on the alternatives to Windows (Linux and Open Source), how hardware works and fits together, job offerings in computer-related fields, and anything else that may be of interest. Perhaps we can do fund-raisers to build and upgrade a computer for the club, which could be donated to the school or community? Does anyone have suggestions on this? Has anyone tried this before? I've had a lot of support from my peers, but I'm still not quite sure how to go about it."
Do NOT mention 'hacking', 'cracking', or anything like that, EVEN if you are joking!
:-)
Remember, older people on a whole know less about technology than younger people do. They may think you're serious and refuse to allow the club to be created. Worse yet, some control-freak of a teacher may try to use it as an excuse to shut the club down after it gets started.
On that note, that's another thing to watch out for: teachers who may have agenda of their own, or just be control-freaks, who don't want to see the students actually PLAYING with technology. And for God's sake, if you're going to do anything that you think your school might not be happy about, make sure you don't get caught. (Not that I did anything like that when I was in high school...
Don't take this the wrong way, the jokes kind of funny, but I don't think its either true or a good thing to go around promoting.
/. Whatever).
There are a growing number of computer chicks out there, and I happen to be dating one (I know, I've been told before that this can't be true as I read
My point is that this type of joke is just a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Geek girls exist, go find one and try not to talk about star trek.
The only way to get a CS club started is to convince at least one teacher first, and have him/her help talk to the adminstrators.
Another hint: don't try to sell them linux. Teachers, administrators, librarians, etc, like having something that they're used to on their computers. If you change it, you'll get the club disbanded.
Good luch. You'll need it.
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First of all, you need some sort of educational goals for the club. You seem that you have some good ideas. You want to teach peers about various things you know about technology. You just need to make sure that the other members who will join your club have the same goals.
Which means at every one of your meetings, you should have a topic to discuss and stay in that vicinity.
Many people, especially administrators, might see your club as a hacker group or a bunch of teenage warez traders before it even starts. So be sure that none of that type of stuff goes on in the club at all.
As far as all the warnings that you'll suffer wedgies, etc... I'd really not worry about it too much. A/V people are always depicted as being the brunt of the football team's abuse on TV, but at my high school the A/V people were actually seen as being pretty cool because they showed off exaclty what types of stuff they did.
Also, if "computers" is too broad of a subject for a club, you can change your focus, and at the same time de-nerdify it. Provide a project that students can put together and show off to the school at large.
For example, if you are interested in games, you could start a digital entertainment club. You can talk about game projects, stuff like SDL and OpenGL and then you might be able to wow the normal kids by getting a Linux kit for PS2 and making a simple game on it or something similar.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
Sure they exist. But in general, they are an even bigger PITA to deal with than the so called normal ones.
Uh, yeah. Geek girls exist. Cute, slim geek girls exist. Just because you've not found one, doesn't mean that they don't exist.
Oddly enough, I *am* a geek girl, and I would say that I'm less of a pain in the ass than my non-geek counterparts. I'm low-maintenance, and don't ask the stupid "What are you thinking?", "Would you still love me if I had no arms?" questions.
My husband never has to explain why he wants to upgrade [piece of hardware|OS] or why he wants [software|game|hardware|whatever]. I never have to explain why I want to do X instead of Y, or what I do for a living. Both of us drool over the latest hardware. It's nicer than dating a non-geek. It's super-easy to get along with someone who's got many of the same interests. [In our case, computers, crafts, and action, drama, and sci-fi movies, along with some anime.]
It's a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable. It's a lot wrong to say it's a suspension bridge.
Don't get me wrong, you sound like you make a hell of a geek wife, but alot of those things you mention are actually the things I love about women.
Sure there are times when I want them to just throw on a damn t-shirt so we can go to the grocery store, but there are also the times when I want them to spend time looking nice. Something just doesn't feel right if I'm not getting harrassed for buying the latest IPod. There is a nice system of checks and balances there.