Jeff Dunwoody is just one of several Crooksville teenagers who is involved with the Crooksville MIRA projects. He handles the audio-visual aspect of Clay Valley Television and will start training other teens on how to manage the public access channel to keep the project's momentum going.
SPADE (Saving Pictures and Documents Electronically) currently is displaying digitized home videos from the 1920s in the town hall in hopes that some of the people will be identified and to let people see the history of Crooksville.
Crooksville residents now have an Arts Council thanks to MIRA funds. One evening a year, residents participate in an art walk displaying the work of at least 40 local artists. This event has sparked people's interest in volunteering and taking part in community activities.
ASCK (Advancing Seniors Computer Knowledge) was the first MIRA project started and completed. MIRA funds paid for all Senior Center residents to have email accounts and Internet access for two years. The Senior Center has continued to pay for the Internet service provider (ISP) while senior citizens enjoy doing genealogical research and keeping in touch with family members over the Internet.
FRIEND (Former Residents in an Electronic Database) was up and running, however, it has been put aside due to lack of interest on the public's part. The original idea was to develop a database that people from all over the country could use to search for present or former Crooksville residents. Mayor Cannon plans to try this program again.
COLAB (Computer Operations Laboratory) is located in the old high school that has been converted into a recreation center and computer resource center. This recreation center has a unique feature - a climbing wall. There are four world-class mountain climbers in town, and they designed the wall. There is also an archery practice area where 10 local archers donate their time one evening a week to teach people about archery. This activity has even been highlighted in Archery Magazine.
The computer lab first started with a survey on what kind of computers Crooksville residents owned and what they thought the computer resource lab should contain. The lab has mainly PCs and one MAC donated by a local minister. Several computers are set aside for games while all of the computers have Internet access. There is no adult supervision, but there is a check-in list and a security camera. Computer support continues through the Wellness Grant Family and Children's First Council.
Mayor Cannon has been connected with Frank Guajardo (Texas MIRA Round 1) to learn about how Texas teenagers are using low-voltage radio and how to get Crooksville teenagers into this activity.
Leadership
Mayor Cannon's active involvement and leadership style of delegating work to local youth empowered this MIRA team. Also, Mayor Cannon's contagious enthusiasm for the city of Crooksville made it almost impossible for this multifaceted project to fail.
