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Executive Director's Letter 
As we start the new year, I am pleased to have had the time to look back and reflect on the progress ACME has made and to share with you some of our key activities, success metrics and performance
outcomes from our quarterly report.
As we measure our performance, I am reminded that engaging in the process of review is its own reward. And because we announce the student winners of the 1st semester animation competition in this issue, I particularly want to share with our educators and students our key message about participating in the competitions:
Everyone who enters our competitions gains from the experience. Students receive peer recognition and the feedback of a professional mentor, and classrooms profit by using the competitions to engage students in discussions and collaboration, strengthening the classroom community. ACME thanks everyone who entered the last competition, and we hope you will all continue to engage in the next one.
Latest Success Metrics: ACME received our evaluation for the 2010-2011 school year from our independent third party evaluator. The report shows ACME is keeping students in schools and pursuing 21st century skills at the highest levels yet:
- 99% of our participating high school seniors were slated to graduate by June 2011;
- 92% of our high school seniors were planning to matriculate to college; and
- 86% of our college students reported they will be completing their AA degree, B.A., technical program or graduate degrees.
- For more metrics, click here.
ACME Performance Report: I am pleased to announce that ACME is on track to meet or exceeded its organizational goals and targets. ACME is dedicated to helping learners obtain the real-world skills they need and to pursue their dreams by immersing them in the practice of mentorship. ACME's curricular content and community of industry professionals, students, and educators work to make education more engaging and to inspire individual performance and life-long learning. Just as we do for our students, we set the bar high for ourselves; we measure our efficiency and refine our efforts. As a federal grantee that was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the California Emerging Technology Fund, ACME's organizational targets and goals are rigorously scrutinized. Results to date:
1. Training target: ACME delivered 6,058 training units, a 67% completion rate towards our target goal of 9,000. With two-thirds of the academic year still to be counted, we are on track to deliver against the target goal of 9,000 units.
2. New content creation: Expand technical and visual skills based training. ACME posted 33 curricular and instructional videos, a 253% completion rate against the target goal of 13. ACME also hosted the 1st semester competition (results announced below).
3. Broadband adoption and training program outreach: ACME's online and video conferencing programs, by their quality of engagement, seek to inspire broadband adoption in the home. Homes that do not have broadband Internet access have been proven to be tangibly disadvantaged in this digital age.
- ACME made 12,702 broadband adoption outreach contacts, a 126% completion rate against our goal of 10,000.
- ACME's total broadband adoption completions to date total 463, a 154% completion rate against the target goal of 300.
Finally, I reflect that in 2004, ACME served 300 students. Since 2004, we've served over 52,000 students. In fact, because of ACME's online ability to scale, we were able to serve over 8,000 students last year alone. We've come a long way, and with the recent launch of our V.3 online mentoring platform, our aim is to serve tens of thousands more. Our process is always to reflect, always to improve. It goes back to what we tell students: do it, get feedback, then revise it. Participate!
Sincerely,
Deborah Brooks Executive Director
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What's New?
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Announcing Our First Semester Competition Winners
And the Winner is:
Student's Name: Sharon Chao
Animation Level: 1 (Beginner)
Teacher's Name: Kent Baker
School Name: Capistrano Valley High School
Reasons class selected this artwork: We felt that Sharon's park scene was the strongest entry for the quality of the story and animation skills. The situation is one you can imagine happening and the staging and movements work well to heighten the comic effect.
Judges' Comments: The bouncing guy is pretty great. I really liked the way he turned in space, though I would have done a little more to describe the beginning of his fall. On the other hand, I could not really tell what was happening with the figure on the bench; it was a bit too hard to see.
Runner-up:
Student's Name: Fayth Davis
Animation Level: 1 (Beginner)
Teacher's Name: Brad Schofield
School Name: Campbell County High School
Reasons class selected this artwork: The class thought this animation captured the spirit of the competition with the boy bouncing the basketball and shooting it. The young man first dribbles the ball, then shoots it and bounces it off the backboard. Finally, the ball
bounces off the court and off the stage. Two different camera angles made the animation more interesting, and the class felt the timing, staging, and squash and stretch, and the different types and angles of bouncing was good for a first year animation student.
Judges' Comments: Good use of Flash style animation and very nice, clear design. I would have liked to see the player animate on more than two drawings. On the other hand, I liked the bounces. The cut to the point-of-view (POV) shot worked really well and the animation of the ball going through the hoop and bouncing away is timed really well. Arcs are good too. Nice work!
Our winner will be receiving an ACME T-shirt and the following books:
Figure Drawing Boot Camp by Sheldon Borenstein
Character Animation Crash Course by Eric Goldberg
The Alchemy of Animation by Don Hahn
Our runner-up will be receiving an ACME T-shirt and the following books:
Figure Drawing Boot Camp by Sheldon Borenstein
Character Animation Crash Course by Eric Goldberg
As a special THANK YOU, we will be sending out ACME T-shirts to all teachers who participated in this competition.
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Announcing our Broadband Signup Drive Dell Laptop Winners
ACME congratulates:
Karen Barreto
Jocelyn Romero
Kimberley Zecena
Who won new laptop computers as part of the broadband awareness campaign, sponsored by the California Emerging Technology Fund and Get Connected! Read more about our campaign here.
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Educator Spotlight- Rodayne Esmay, UVU Meet Rodayne Esmay, Utah Valley University, ACME educator, Arts advocate Utah Valley University offers a Bachelor of Science Degree in Digital Media, with an emphasis in Gaming & Animation. Associate Professor of Digital Media Rodayne Esmay of UVU currently has two classes participating on ACME. Recent graduates have gone to work at Pixar, Nickelodeon, Sony Imageworks, and local gaming companies. "We had five UVU students advance from Level 1 to Level 2 on ACME Animation in a matter of weeks," Ray Seay, Program Specialist, recalls. "The quality of artwork met our rigorous criteria in professional review and the quality of their comments to other students was exceptional. Their transition and work inspired our online community." Rodayne Esmay and his students are no strangers to inspiring those around them! Read the full article here. |
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ACME Streams The Annies
The ACME Network will be streaming animation's highest honor, The Annie Awards. The very funny Patton Oswalt will be hosting this year and it will be taking place at UCLA's Royce Hall. The show and live feed will begin at 7pm this Saturday, February 4th so click here and don't miss out on the fun! Or tune in to The ACME Network.
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Announcing 2nd Semester Competition - Artwork Due May 4th
Competition theme: The meaning of tolerance - how we accept and respect the beliefs, practices, feelings, and/or habits of others, especially when they differ from our own.
Please click here for full contest information; registered On-line program members can read all about it on the Events tab on ACME animation.
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