Tiana and Marcus Enter College!!!!!! What a great month January was here at Hopeworks for two more youth began their college careers.  Both Tiana Davis and Marcus Ford entered Camden County College.  Both worked extremely hard this fall and have taken full advantage of the Hopeworks program.  After a full month, Marcus reports, "It is not as bad as I thought it would be!" Literacy Program Gets Great Results Youth participating in the Hopeworks' Literacy program are seeing tremendous advances.  Our day trainees are averaging a full grade level increase in their literacy skills and a 2 grade level increase in numeracy.  Our Hope Through School youth are showing even more progress with an average 2.5 grade level increase in literacy and a 2.0 grade level increase in numeracy Click to see chart of results).  Jim Bopp, SJ, continues to create and roll out a creative and excellent Literacy Program!!!! GIS Youth to Present at NCGIS 2005 On Friday March 4th 2005, Dr. Rita Hagevik of North Carolina A&T University has invited Hopeworks to present our program for the NCGIS 2005 conference at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem North Carolina. Hopeworks trainees Yesenia Nieves and Elyse Smith together with Hopeworks' staff Jim Bopp and Manthu Tekhna will be presenting on the Hopeworks GIS program. Kaya and Marcus:  Welcome to Web Production!! This month, Hopeworks Web Production Team welcomes both Kaya Ramirez and Marcus Ford.  Kaya completed her personal web site on Jennifer Lopez and then passed her production test.  Marcus created a personal web site about the R&B Hitmakers of 2004 as well as passing his production test. Marcus and Kaya have gone straight to work on our many client projects! Interactive Map Presented Before Camden City Council & Featured In Courier Post The Interactive Map of the City of Camden developed jointly through a partnership of Vertices and Hopeworks 'N Camden was presented to Camden City Council (1/25/05) and featured in an article by the Courier Post (2/7/2005). The map is accessible at www.camdenresources.org,  a site which includes neighborhood resources, demographic data and PDF and Geoclip maps about Camden. Seeing Things From A Different Perspective On January 6th Hopeworks HTS youth took a trip to Media, Pa to meet with a youth council in Glen Mills, PA. The youth discussed the differences and similarities in their culture, environment and financial status. Through this discussion the youth decided to meet every other month and support each other on projects and goals they have each set for their programs. The youth will meet again in March.  Thanks to Angel Rodriguez, Jordan Peters, Luis Rodriguez, Jorge Torres and Samantha Mojica for their great participation! HTS Team of Advanced Trainees Forms The Hope Through School Program, which began in July 2004 now employs five trainees who have completed personal web sites and passed the production test.  They are Nicole Reyes, Angel Rodriguez, Jamal Johnson, Jorge Torres and Luis Rodriguez.  Beginning February 2005, Nicole and Luis will take on the roles of Hope Through Trainers alone.  Angel, Jamal and Jorge will begin the HTS Advanced team.  They will be working on client projects and advanced web training. Web Production and GIS Move To A New Home Hopeworks now occupies the 2nd Floor of 543 State Street.  As some may know, previously we occupied only the 1st and 3rd floors.  During early January, trainees, staff and volunteers all pitched in to give the second floor a much needed renovation.  Now, Web Production and GIS are fully functional in the new space.  Both offices are completely wireless.  We also now have a conference room!  Bishop Galante Visits Hopeworks Bishop Joseph Galante visited Hopeworks February 10th.  This was Bishop Galante's first visit to Hopeworks since becoming Bishop of Camden.  While here, Bishop Galante met a number of Hopeworks youth and had an opportunity to visit with the Hopeworks' staff.  It was great to have him here. Hopeworks Youth Tour Rutgers On January 31, 2005 Jordan Peters and Yesenia Nieves visited the Rutgers, New Brunswick campus.  Before the tour Jordan and Yesenia were asked to sit with the Dean of Admissions and share with her their future aspirations.  A student guide then offered our youth the tour. According to Yesenia, “It was very helpful to be able to ask questions of the dean and the student."  "Thank You's" To Many Jose Sanchez for all of his time in helping with the renovations at Hopeworks! Many generous donors this past holiday season! Hutchinson Business Solutions Veritas for their donation of office furniture and supplies. These groups, through their generous funding and equipment donations help make possible the good works at Hopeworks!