Huntsville's Promise
Our Children Our Future
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Click here to return to Home Huntsville's Promise names new director By Twila Lindblade/Staff writer Huntsville's Promise recently named a new executive director, and the organization is working to continue its success for the growth of the community. Scott Atnip, new executive director, came on board one week ago and has high hopes for the future of Huntsville's Promise. "We are extremely excited about the opportunities we have in front of us this upcoming school year. We plan on working with other groups in the community to implement more programs and activities that will use the entire community to build assets for Huntsville's children and youth," Atnip said. Atnip received his bachelor's degree at Sam Houston State University and obtained a master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He interned with the city of Huntsville while attending SHSU and was involved in the planning stages of Huntsville's Promise. Atnip, along with other Huntsville's Promise staff members, are working to implement new programs, revamp the program's Web site and continue the success of its computer courses. Working together is necessary for the future of Huntsville youth, officials said. Huntsville's Promise officials hope to build the collaboration through its six committees. "These committee meetings are an opportunity to bring together different aspects of the community to focus on building assets in youth," said JaMika Wilson, community outreach coordinator. The organization has six committees made up of volunteer community members. The committees include arts, church, community leaders, educators, parents and students. The committees were created more than a year ago and help provide well-rounded programming for the community. "We have to get others involved to decide what our needs are and what we can do to make it happen," Atnip said. Although programs for the 2003-04 school year have not been finalized, Huntsville's Promise officials are sponsoring a Festival of Arts, scheduled for Oct. 25. "It's geared at youth and arts," Wilson said. "It combines all art- fine arts, theater, music, poetry, visual ..." Youth participants in the Festival of Arts will have an opportunity to receive mentoring from a professional artist as well. Huntsville's Promise is also offering ongoing computer training courses. The courses discuss basic computer skills, the Internet and all Microsoft Office programs. "(The classes) help others learn how to take care of their computer at home," said Michelle Herman, executive training coordinator. "We want to help them with troubleshooting, changing properties and how to converse with the technology community." Although the computer courses have not gained high participation in the summer, officials expect participation to increase in the fall. In addition, Huntsville's Promise intends to add new courses to meet the demands of the community, Herman said. "We hope to have some Web site development classes by next summer. But we don't want to offer redundant courses that the schools already offer," she said. "We want to fill a void, but want it to be fun and educational." In he past, the Huntsville's Promise computer courses were free of charge. However, the courses are now $5 per class. "We had to recoup the cost until we receive more grant money," Herman said. In addition, the fee helps give participants an incentive to attend, she said. Scholarships are available for those who cannot afford the course fee and everyone interested can attend. "We're offering services to people who wouldn't have the opportunity for educational development on their own," Wilson said. The courses are a low-cost alternative to computer courses taught elsewhere. While computer training courses typically cost $35 to $60 each, the courses might not address the specific needs of the participants. "Technology can be an important factor to help build knowledge and increase capabilities. It bridges the digital divide. We want to make it (the computer courses) available to everyone, not just those who can afford it," Herman said. Huntsville's Promise is currently working to add a calendar of community events and resource directory to its Web site. "We want it to be a one-stop resource for Huntsville," Herman said. The Web site was created a year ago, but officials hope to make the changes by October. Huntsville's Promise builds Web pages for local businesses, organizations and nonprofit organizations who want to be a part of the Web site. For more information about Huntsville's Promise, call (936) 291-5956 or log onto its Web site at www.huntsvilletexas.info |
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