Manchester, VT - February 6, 2014 - Digital Wish is running a yearbook photo contest and entries are due May 5, 2014, on Cinco de Mayo.  We’ve teamed up with Olympus, Picaboo Yearbooks, and a talented photographer from USA Today to give away three Olympus digital yearbook cameras, as well as an iPad. We are also giving one of the winners a class set of 30 free yearbooks. Just simply enter the contest by uploading your photo to our photo contest website. This contest marks the launch of a new partnership between Digital Wish and Picaboo Yearbooks to equip schools with the tools they need to design and print yearbooks for less. You design the yearbook, we print it, and any money you earn goes directly towards funding new classroom technology.  Sign up and get started.

Build Your Yearbook Online for Less

The setup is easy, the printing is inexpensive, and its a great way to fund for technology in the classroom. Yearbooks start at $8.49 dollars for the first 20 pages which also includes 4 free customizable pages per student and a free online version. The online editor uses simplified drag and drop technology, so even the youngest students can participate in capturing their memories. Its great for small rural schools because there is no minimum amount for orders, and there is only a 3-week printing turnaround.

Digital Wish’s blog has great primer on running a yearbook club in your school, as well as, tips for teaching graphic design. Its easy to stay ahead of the year-end rush with our step by step yearbook how-to guide.

“Our high school charges $55 for a yearbook and a lot of the students can’t even afford it. This is a fantastic way to save money, plus the students can learn about publishing and develop skills they will use later to find jobs.”

Contest Prizes

All prize winners will receive a special "Cinco de Mayo" surprise box.

• Grand Prize: An iPad and an Olympus TOUGH TG-830 Digital Camera

• 2nd Place: Free printed yearbooks for all yearbook club members (limit 30) and an Olympus TOUGH TG-830 Digital Camera

• 3rd Place: An Olympus TOUGH TG-830 Digital Camera

• Top Honorable Mention photos: A Digital Camera Basics book.

Enter the Contest

Please invite all your students and teachers to enter the Epic Yearbook Photo Contest here:

http://www.digitalwish.org/contest

Build Your Yearbook Online

Get started building your yearbook here:

http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/picaboo

We are launching a new yearbook builder just in time for yearbook club. You design your yearbook and set the price. Students and parents can buy online. You'll save money on the cost, and the profits can be used to purchase new technology for your school. Its simple to create a yearbook just simply drag and drop pictures into built-in frames. There's no minimum order, and only a 3 week turnaround to receive printed yearbooks. Login and get started.

Free Webinar on Four Ways to Raise Money for Technology - Friday, Jan 31, 10:00 am EST.
We'll show you some fantastic tools for raising money for technology. Sign up, so we can send you all the information you need to participate. We'll show you great fundraising ideas including printed yearbooks, t-shirt drives, Recycle Forward, and how to find funding for technology through Digital Wish.

• Digital Wish Technology Fundraiser - Make a wish list and share it through print, email, and Facebook to generate donations.
• Printed Yearbook Fundraiser - Build a yearbook in record time online with fantastic design tools and generate funds for your technology needs.
• T-Shirts for Technology - Sell high-quality screen printed tees with zero upfront costs and zero risk. We ship directly to buyers, you keep the profits for technology.
• Recycle Forward - Get new technology for your classroom by recycling used electronics and ink cartridges for cash.

Sign up for the webinar here.
The recorded archive will be here afterwards. Read more.

Start a Yearbook Club - Here's how!
Read the new blog where we share tips from our after-school yearbook clubs. Start your own club to develop a printed yearbook online. With simple drag and drop skills, students can have a prominent role in yearbook design. Teach students the basics of graphic design, as well as, exploring the world of yearbook building online. Also starting at $8.49 for 20 pages, you can set your yearbook price and raise funds. Its a great way to fund technology in your schools. There's no minimum order on printed yearbooks. Get started.

Earn a Gift for Helping us Vote - Digital Wish could win $25,000 to help fund our classroom support programs in J.P. Morgan's Give-It-Away contest. If you can get a classroom of students to vote, please send me a note at [email protected]. We have some some nice classroom gifts available as a warm thanks for your help. You can also help by spreading the word to others. Please share the link with others by Facebook.

Technology deals and donation programs - Check out our current technology deals and promotions:

• Califone USB Computer Microscope for only $99.95 - 47% off.
• Set of 10 lightweight headphones for $55 - 5% off
• Dell Optiplex compact classroom refurbished computer only $182.
• HP slim form and fast 3 Ghz refurbished classroom computer only $169.
• Brocade wireless access points and controllers donations.
• Mobile Beacon 4G wireless device donations and low $10/month service.
• 10.1" Asus VivoTab with Windows RT - $279 - 44% off. Ends Jan 31.

Congratulation to our winners!  Thank you all for your lesson plans.  Digital Wish chooses grant recipients based on the quality of a lesson plan, grant criteria, and adherence to grant guidelines for entries.

Congratulation to our winners!  Thank you all for your lesson plans.  Digital Wish chooses grant recipients based on the quality of a lesson plan, grant criteria, and adherence to grant guidelines for entries.
 

November 14, 2013, Manchester, VT - Join Digital Wish for our HP Catalyst Academy eBook Hack-a-thon course starting November 18, 2013 at 4 pm EST. Participants will attend a webinar on how to create an eBook with Digital Wish’s new software, eBuilder. Enroll in the HP Catalyst Academy course, qualify for badges, and receive a free eBuilder account. You’ll get a certificate of completion from HP Catalyst showing 8 hours of professional development training and a badge, upon completion. Participants will learn how easy it is to build an eBook and deliver it to any mobile tablet, iPad, or smart phone. Register for any or all of 4 different eBook building webinars, or watch the archives afterwards. Every enrollee receives a free eBuilder account.

The eBook Hack-a-thon course is comprised of four activities, and for each activity there is a scheduled webinar. The course takes about 8 hours to complete; however, if you don’t have the time, just sign up for any of the individual webinars here.  We’ll be archiving every webinar after it runs, so you can easily attend those webinars whenever your schedule allows, or catch the archive if you are too busy. Work at your own pace and collect your badge as soon as you complete each activity.

The Course

Each of the HP Catalyst Academy mini-courses are structured with 4 bite-sized activities.

Activity 1 - Build your first eBook - The live webinar is November 18 at 4pm EST, and it orients the participants on the basics of eBook building.

Activity 2 Outline your eBook - Attend the webinar on November 19th at 4pm EST. It really gets into the nuts and bolts of eBook building.Teachers should come prepared with a topic taken directly from the upcoming curriculum to use in building their first eBook. Together we’ll review the types of sources supported by the eBook tools, and target the most appropriate types of media and source documents to include.

Activities 3 and 4 - Collect & Construct, Manage Your Marketplace Join the webinar on November 22, 2013 at 4pm EST and participants will get advanced tips on eBook construction, as well as, inviting readers and writers to their marketplace.

Classroom Projects, Q & A - Anyone with extra questions can sign up for the webinar on November 25th at 4pm EST.  This will be an open forum on eBook building and we can review any topic.

Ease of Use

Don’t worry if you are a beginner computer user. The free eBook building software was built with novice computer users in mind. The Executive Director of Digital Wish, Heather Chirtea said, “Anybody can do this. its not just for the savvy teachers, we designed it for everyone. If you can drag-and-drop, you can build an eBook!”

Request Your Free eBook Software

Anyone can request a free teacher account by emailing Lauren Chaves at [email protected].

Media Contact: Lauren Chaves, [email protected]

Digital Wish, PO Box 1072, Manchester Center, VT 05255

Telephone: (802) 375-6721

Website: http://www.digitalwish.org

Congratulations to our September Grant recipients!

Would you like an opportunity to win one of our curriculum packages, software, or hardware devices?  Simply submit a lesson plan to our lesson plan library.  Monthly grants are awarded to the best submission per grant category.

http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/grant_awards