Virtual Kindergarten / Virtual Pre-K

demet — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:51:19 +0000

The Web sites for Virtual Pre-K (http://www.virtualpre-k.org/) and Virtual Kindergarten (http://www.virtualk.org/) were originally built in 2001 and 2004 as part of an early childhood learning initiative at the Chicago Public Schools. These Web sites work in conjunction with a CD-ROM application and video lessons that are available for parents, teachers, and caregivers for use in the home, classroom and childcare centers.

The Virtual Pre-K and Virtual K Web sites are home to bilingual information that helps parents make the most of their children’s early learning. The program addresses key learning concepts with a focus on early literacy and on math, social studies, and science skills. Each lesson pulls together low-cost activities in the classroom, at home, and in the community to reinforce the home-school connection.

More than 400 public school classrooms and public libraries in the Chicago area use the program, as well as the Dallas Independent School District, a consortium of Southern California counties, the Washoe County (Nevada) School District, and the School District of Philadelphia. The Virtual Kindergarten site was a 2006 Webby Honoree and CODIE award winner.

The two Web sites were recently ported into Drupal for ease of maintenance and future expansion, as well as addition of new features, including a blog.

Ronald McDonald House of Austin

sprydev — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:11:41 +0000

When a child becomes seriously ill or injured, the whole family suffers, particularly if the loved one must be hospitalized or receive out patient treatment far away from home for extended periods of time.

To be together, family members often sleep on uncomfortable cots or chairs, sleep in their cars, or bear the expense of a hotel room. At a time when they want all their strength available, the simple demands of everyday life can seem overwhelming.

For these families, Ronald McDonald House of Austin is a temporary home-away-from-home where they can have a comfortable room and bed, kitchen and laundry facilities, and a play area. They can draw hope and strength from late night conversations over a hot cup of coffee, sharing with other residents their experiences that may be difficult for family and friends back home to fully understand. A child’s life-threatening illness brings much more than worry and financial hardship; it is a family’s most heart-wrenching experience. While we cannot ease the pain sick children and their families experience, we can help lessen their burden.

To do this, the Ronald McDonald House relies on the love, sharing and caring of hundreds of generous donors and volunteers from the Austin community. We welcome you to the “House that Love Built.”

Ronald McDonald House approached SpryDev in 2007 to create a new look to their website. They had 3 goals in mind: to increase donor participation, to motivate volunteers to work with the charity, and to provide information to families who are interested in using the facility. SpryDev create a Drupal site using several modules like views, CCK, Image, and the PayPal framework. After designing the site and implementing several non-core effects, we created a dynamic donation form using asynchronous javascript. We integrated PayPal and Credit Card payments for donations. The site was launched in January 2008.

Drupalcon Boston 2008 - kids

Virtual Kindergarten / Virtual Pre-K

Ronald McDonald House of Austin