TLAM Students Interview Women & Men of Success & Influence with Technology In 2023

TLAM Students Interview Women & Men of Success & Influence with Technology In 2023

Photo: William Jackson, Pamela Canepa sponsors of the Newspaper,
Podcast and Metaverse Club at Twin Lakes Academy Middle School.
Student writers Jenna and Abigail pictured.

William Jackson and Pamela Canepa in 2021 started new clubs at TLAM
to promote the growth of reading, writing, comprehension, blogging,
news reporting, content creation with audio, video and integrating
the Metaverse. The creation of the TLAM Newspaper, Podcast and
Metaverse Clubs were born with the support of
Principal Aurelia Williams.

The students (6th, 7th, 8th) applied the skills they learned interviewed professionals from WordPress (Web Development), WJCT (Radio),
WJXT (Television), Metaverse (Spatial) and Anchor (Podcasting).

February 2023 interviewed Rance Adams of WJXT (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rancea),
Topher DeRosia of HeroPress (https://www.linkedin.com/in/topher1kenobe/) and William Jackson, retired teacher from DCPS and CEO of
My Quest To Teach (https://myquesttoteach.com) to show the diversity
of men in technology.

Rance Adams (co-producer of River City Live) a well-known Jacksonville community reporter, and producer, directly participate with the
TLAM students with in-person visits.
The interview can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KwkMRiKcyg

Speaking with Topher DeRosia who travels globally speaking
about web development through his company (WEBDEV), the
WordPress global community is a respected and experienced web
developer with his wife (Kate) and daughter (Sophia). They manage
the Global HeroPress, interviewing people known across WordPress (https://heropress.com/ ).

Speaking with William Jackson, CEO of My Quest To Teach, Mr. Jackson
and his wife (Aida) are members of the World Metaverse Council,
GatherVerse Metaverse Community and WordCamp/WordPress
Community as speakers, organizers, and teachers. They have volunteered
to mentor students with the clubs for 2 years.

March 2023 (Women’s History Month) was celebrated as
“Woman of Success and Influence In Technology,” where women
interviewed sharing their experiences to inspire girls at TLAM to enter
into technology careers.

The speakers Melissa Ross of WJCT of “First Coast Connect,”
(https://news.wjct.org/show/first-coast-connect-with-melissa-ross),
Rose Ashford of “GatherVerse”, (https://gatherverse.org/she/speakers/rose-ashford/)
Rachel (Win) Winchester (https://VisualWebmaster.com),
Nyasha Green, ((https://nyashagreen.com/) “Software Developer at Howard Development & Consulting,”
and Aida Correa Jackson, “LoveBuilt Life, LLC” (https://lovebuiltlife.com/).

The students of the clubs have gained valuable knowledge, a better understanding of how technology will influence their lives. Stated by
Rachel Winchester, “girls and women have unlimited career opportunities
and can be business owners and entrepreneurs.”

All the programs that the students are using are free and available with tutorials to use and apply if students are interested. Schools are highly encouraged to have their students create these platforms to share
content that is local to the school and teaches students new digital
skills for future careers.

The knowledge of Ms. Canepa and Mr. Jackson play key roles in
helping the students to be successful using digital platforms. Technology opens a number of doors for students in the future, they have to be exposed, mentored, provided a chance to use the technology and teachers be allowed to be digital leaders like Ms. Canepa and Mr. Jackson. Duval County
Public Schools and other school systems in Florida are at key crossroads in preparing students for their futures. The influence of ChatGPT, Bard, and other AI bots will determine soon who is eligible, qualified, and skilled for a career, and who is not.

Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Web 3, the Metaverse and even
IOT (Internet of Things) will change career options, education options,
and life options. We are truly in a digital world with real world consequences. Where will our students be in just 5 years because of their tech skills or lack
to tech skills?