Upopolis-An inspiring online social network for sick kids

Written by Adam Kertesz

Move over, Facebook.

I came across this inspiring story this weekend and I felt I had to share it with you. The article can be found here, but I'll give you the short version of it.

A few years ago, Christina Papaevangelou, now 23, tragically lost her close friend Katy to cancer. Throughout Katy's long stay at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital, Katy became very disconnected from her world- losing contact with her friends, family, and school mates. She repeatedly experessed her wish for a laptop so she can remain in contact with everyone- especially once she became too ill to walk to the computer room in the hospital.

Katy lost her battle in 2004, and Christina and her father, wanting to give back, thought the solution was easy- set up a fund that will help provide laptops to child patients in the hospital. Not so fast, they were told, as " children's hospitals can't offer open wireless access to the Internet because there are fears of cyberpredators and concerns the kids would be accessing inappropriate material. "

"Those two explanations lit my fire," recalls [Basile] Papaevangelou, who co-founded Kids Health Links Foundation with [daughter]Christina in 2004.

Fast forward to today. With the help of Telus, and donated laptops by Toshiba Canada, upopolis.com was born.

According to the info on the site's home page:

Upopolis™ is a private social utility that connects young hospital patients to their family, friends and school network .

Kids can use Upopolis to:
-Build a profile, create a blog and stay in touch with people they know
-Learn more about their conditions and treatment with kid-friendly medical information
-Keep up with schoolwork while they’re away from class
-Look up kids around them in hospital and share their experiences

According to the article, "the network is safe and secure because only children registered with the hospital can use it and only the contacts they've invited can communicate with them through Upopolis."

It's a truly incredible and inspiring story of two individuals who wanted to give back in a way that went beyond simply sending money and often not having any idea where that money is going. Upopolis is currently up and running in children's hospitals in Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa and it will launch at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital on December 9th. One of the planned features in the future includes a web cam that will allow the child to follow their teachers in a virtual classroom, right from their hospital bed!

I hope this inspiring story put a smile on your face on a weekend that is all about being grateful, and giving back.

We've been reviewed! (book review)

posted by: Mitch Zeltzer

The Character Is the Key book has been reviewed!

Here's a snippet:

" The activities created by Dynamix... are easily implemented, fun, and provide children with concrete examples of what is meant by each character trait. They also double as great family bonding experiences! "

Read the whole review here:
http://northernmama-northerngirl.blogspot.com/2009/09/character-is-key-book-review.html

The Dancing Baby!

In case you've been living under a rock and haven't received dozens of email forwards, facebook postings and twitter updates about it, here's that awesome video that will definitely bring a smile to your face and hopefully get you through the week.

Enjoy!

Book Launch, Join Us!!! - Character Is the Key

posted by: Mitch Zeltzer

We are very excited to invite you to a very special book launch! This Sunday, Sara Dimmerman with collaboration from Dynamix launches Character Is the Key, a must have for all parents and school libraries!!! (more info about the book seen below)

WHEN?
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 at 3 PM

WHERE?
McNally Robinson Booksellers
The Shops at Don Mills
In The Events Space, 2nd Floor
Don Mills Road & Lawrence Avenue East
12 Marie Labatte Road
Toronto, Ontario
M3C 3R6


Character Is the Key
How to Unlock the Best in Our Children and Ourselves

by Sara Dimerman
with collaboration from Dynamix
(Wiley & Sons on shelves August, 2009)

Character Is the Key is a book on how parents can model character for their children. Dynamix, in collaboration with the author, created family challenges and exercises to help families come together so that they can enact and fully understand the ten crucial character attributes.


I hope to see you there!

Dynamix teams up with JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)

We found out just over 1 year ago that our nephew James was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. As difficult as it was to hear the devastating news it took months to really understand the impact Diabetes has on an individual as well as an entire family. Since diagnosed James, 3, and his family have adapted incredibly well and has taken full advantage of the technological advancements made in recent years. James is currently on the "pump" which replaces the daily regimen of shots with a continuous flow of insulin in his body.

This past year Dynamix devoted time and energy to help JDRF (http://www.jdrf.com/) with their annual "Walk to cure Diabetes". Dynamix facilitators provided children with fun carnival programs and reached out into the community to raise money for this most important cause.

I would like to thank Daniel Beaulieu who did a phenomenal job as the team leader and congratulate him for receiving an award for leading a team who raised the most money of all corporate teams.

How to kick start the school year! My Top 3!!!

posted by: Mitch Zeltzer

It happens every year, but with each passing year the summers seem to get shorter and shorter! Once again, school is just around the corner. In less than 2 weeks the desks will be full of books and supplies, the walls covered in posters, and the seats filled with students.

So what are the best ways to kick off a new school year?!


Here’s my TOP 3
(ranging from big school-wide events to simple in-class tasks):

1. Make it a big celebration with a school CARNIVAL!
   (Plan your own or have Dynamix help you plan/run one, click here for more details)
   


2. Make a Time Capsule with your class on the first day.
   (see “Time Capsule Activity” below for a description on how to do this.)
   
   
3. Break the Ice with fun and silly games.
   (see “Toilet Paper Game” below for a crowd-pleasing ice-breaker.)
   
   

Time Capsule Activity:

1) Decorate an empty Pringles can, this will be your “Time Capsule.”

2) Have each child fill out a short worksheet. This is where you should get creative. The best worksheets are the ones that have tasks that fit your grade level. This way students can see the progress they made by the end of the year.

Some ideas: a handwriting sample, a tracing of their hand, a self-portrait, a logic puzzle, pop-culture questions, personal interest questions, etc.

3) Place each student’s sheet into the time capsule. Once they are all collected seal the time capsule and have a short ceremony to ‘bury’ the time capsule (i.e. put it in a drawer for the year).

Note: If you put the right questions on the worksheet, you can open the time capsules that night and learn a little bit about what your students like and what their abilities are!

4) At the end of the year you can have the students complete the same or similar worksheet. Open the time capsule to compare and measure their progress.



Toilet Paper Game:

Materials Required: 1 or 2 rolls of perforated toilet paper

1) Take out one or two rolls of toilet paper and tell the students to “Take as much as you think you'll need.” This may provoke a lot of questions, but DO NOT say anything more than this.

2) Send the roll around the room, or you can send two rolls one at both sides of the room to help things move along a little more quickly.

3) Once all students have taken the amount of toilet paper they feel they “need,” collect the unused toilet paper.

4) Now going one student at a time, the students must share one fact about themselves for each square they ripped off the roll.

Nothing but net!

posted by: Mitch Zeltzer

This is a great story that is guaranteed to make you smile. It's always amazing to see someone live their dream, like Jason does in this video. It's even more amazing to see the support and encouragement he gets from the crowd!



Enjoy!