iD News and Blog

iD Greening – SoCal Fires

Our Hearts go out the Families Affected by the Southern California Wildfires.

Although I currently live in Portland, OR, I grew up in Encinitas, California, in San Diego County. I was visiting my parents this weekend when the fires started. We sat, glued to the television, making up checklists of things we needed to get out of the house if forced to evacuate. Then the calls started coming in. My cousin had to evacuate, my aunt got two reverse 911 calls telling her she was under voluntary evacuation; we added to our checklist. Medications, cat food, insurance papers, bedding…we imagined setting up our air mattresses at the crowded evacuation center in Qualcomm stadium, thinking of the images we saw from Katrina.

The fires roared on, the air quality getting increasingly worse. When we left the house to go to the train station, ash was sitting on the cars; it smelled as if a campfire was raging in our yard. People walked the streets with masks on. We couldn’t open the windows. I realized how much we take fresh air for granted.

People say that higher temperatures and global warming may be to blame for the fires. We haven’t thought however of the effect of the fire on global warming. According to Professor Thomas W. Boutton, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Texas A&M University, the result of the burning of 384,000 acres across Southern California has resulted in the emission of 20 million tons of greenhouse gases or the equivalent of 3.5 million cars (25% of all of the cars in California).

This is a terrible tragedy for the people of San Diego County. Many people have lost their homes. Our hearts go out to the families affected by the fires and we hope they are contained soon.

Looking to find out if someone you know is safe? Check out the Red Cross Safe and Well list. https://disastersafe.redcross.org

As of this morning, my parents still haven’t had to evacuate.

The smoke heading toward my parent’s house October 23rd.

 

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Snacks – Pumpkin Cupcakes!

Hi, I’m Ruth! I will be writing a guest blog column called “Snacks!”

I have always been a big supporter of snack time so when I started at iD Tech Camps, I was determined to provide some seriously tasty goodies to my iD Family. Snacks = happy iDers = happy campers. As a result, this iD Snacks blog was created! (Disclaimer: The creation of an iD Daily Exercise blog might be needed after a few of these entries.)

Hello iD campers, families, and the general blogosphere! Have you missed me? Sorry about the two-week hiatus. It’s been pretty busy here at iD, and everyone is excited about making this coming summer camp season the best yet!! So to keep tabs on us, just keep checking back to our summer camp site and this blog. (Props to the iD Web team for making our awesome new website! If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you check it out.)

Anyway, back to the important stuff – this week’s snack! It’s officially autumn which means that pumpkins are popping up all over the place. They’re seriously starting to show up everywhere, especially with Halloween coming up. Kids, do you have your costume yet? If you don’t, just wear all your iD gear and dress up as a summer camper!

What was I blogging about again? Oh yes, pumpkins! This week’s snack is pumpkin cake with chopped walnuts topped with cream cheese frosting. Why cake? Well, why not? Kids love cake and everyone here at iD Tech Camps is a kid at heart. Moms and Dads, if you have a little gamer at home who can’t seem to get off the computer, I’m positive that the enticing smell of this pumpkin cake baking will be enough to draw his attention away for a nice break. This cake is super moist and not too sweet. Also, pumpkin is very healthy and good for you so there’s not too much guilt about making/devouring this cake.

Here’s the incredibly easy recipe:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together 2 cups of flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, and 2 tsp ground cinnamon. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of sugar with 1 cup of veggie oil then stir in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. To that mixture, blend in 2 cups of canned or fresh pumpkin and add 4 eggs, one at a time. Take your flour mixture and slowly integrate it into the pumpkin/oil/sugar/egg mix. Stir in 1 cup of chopped walnuts. You can bake this in a sheet pan (for 25 mins), or as cupcakes (for 12 minutes).

The cream cheese frosting was made by whipping together 2 8oz packages of light cream cheese, 1 stick of butter, about 2 cups of powdered sugar, and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon. You can also add some pumpkin so the frosting mix to give it a little more pumpkiny goodness.

And of course, gratuitous pictures of iDers enjoying my snacks!

On another note, my birthday is tomorrow so please celebrate with me by making this delicious cake and snacking on the iD way.

-Ruth

 

Posted in Summer Camps | 1 Comment »

 

 

Testimonial Tuesday – #4

iD Tech Camps is America’s #1 Tech Camp, but don’t just listen to us. Visit this blog each Tuesday to hear what our students and parents are saying. You’ll soon see why we have such a high return rate.

“iD Tech Camps exposed my child to web design and flash in a fun, positive, and educational environment.”

Sharon Wolpert, Parent, Carnegie Mellon University

“This is my fourth year at iD Tech Camps and every summer it is always a highlight for me. I will never forget my time spent here, and I hope one day to return at as an instructor so I can share with others an experience that has meant so much to me. iD Tech Camps ROCKS!”

Adam, Student, Emory University

For more testimonials, visit www.internaldrive.com/testimonials.htm

 

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Kids Achieving the Impossible

My name is Joy and I’m the VP of Camp Operations at iD, and mother of Max… a sweet, curious,  little 15 month old boy.

In a book that I own called, The Tao of Mom, I found a quote that reminds me never to underestimate my son’s capabilities.

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible – and achieve it, generation after generation.” – Pearl S. Buck

I remember the first time he signed “tree” in the Target parking lot. I was amazed as I had figured it would take much longer for him to learn to use sign language to communicate. Within a few months, he had mastered all the words that I had in my repertoire and he was ready for more. Luckily for me, learning more sign language to teach Max was easily accessible with the help of a book.

Languages.  There are many out there. Are your kids talking about learning languages that you’ve never heard of – Java, C++, Python, ActionScript, PHP, 1337? We can help at iD! Our instructors actually speak the same languages as our students. The quote above also reminds me of our campers at iD Tech Camps as well… they attempt the impossible and achieve it.

If you have never experienced sending your child to iD Tech Camps, I know you’ll be amazed at what they can accomplish in one weeks time. Every time I visit a camp, or attend a Family Showcase, I am utterly blown away by everything from the video games students create to the Flash Animations they design for their websites. Their thirst for learning moves them at a faster pace than you would expect while their imaginations take them places I would never think to go. Their creativity simply oozes out of their hands, through the mouse, and onto the computer screen.

As we get ready to launch our line up of our 2008 course offerings on November 1st, I imagine parents perusing our website and reading the course descriptions with their mouth gaping wide – wondering, “How did we get here? Seriously? My child can learn how to create a 3D model of a character using Maya in one week? Can I come too?”

When I think about what future technologies are in store for Max, it boggles my mind. Have you played with an iPhone yet? Have you seen kids “Boogie” with a Nintendo Wii? I think it’s all pretty amazing. If those toys are any measure of where we are now, what courses will iD offer in 2014 when Max is ready to go? I’m sure they’ll seem impossible to me.

 

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iD Testimonial Tuesday – #3

iD Tech Camps is America’s #1 Tech Camp, but don’t just listen to us. Visit this blog each Tuesday to hear what our students and parents are saying. You’ll soon see why we have such a high return rate.

“The staff went out of their way to make my children feel welcomed and comfortable. This was by far the best camp we’ve ever encountered.”

Martha Ossentjuk, Parent, Colorado College

“iD Tech Camps are the most interactive way to learn anything that has to do with technology. From the friendly and helpful instructors to the creative atmosphere, iD Tech Camps is the best summer program I’ve ever attended.”

Varun, Student, UC Berkeley

For more testimonials, visit www.internaldrive.com/testimonials.htm

 

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