March Madness, Yestermorrow-Style

Here at Yestermorrow, we've been following the Big Dance in our own way, with a March Madness ping-pong tournament! Staff, interns, and Woodworking Certificate students entered the tournament, playing games at lunchtime and whenever the main studio was free. It's a double-elimination bracket, so everybody gets at least two games—winners advance in the main bracket, while people who lose in the main bracket have a second chance in the lower bracket.

Ben Cheney, Woodworking Certificate instructor, plays Dave Warren, Facilities Manager.

In keeping with the Yestermorrow theme of stacking functions, our ping-pong table doubles as the architectural model-making table in the main studio. It's a little shorter than a standard ping-pong table, and the ball gets lost amidst shelves of books and model-making supplies—there's a built-in breather in some games as players search the bookshelves after an errant serve.

Dave and Ben go hunting for the ping-pong ball.

We're down to the final game of the main bracket, slated for sometime this week. Design/Build Intern (and fierce kickball competitor) Chris will be up against Woodworking Certificate student (and champion derby girl) Heather; the winner of that match will play the winner of the lower bracket to determine the 2012 Yestermorrow Ping-Pong Champion. The prize? The Golden Paddle Award, designed and built by Woodshop Intern Patrick.

All About Presentation

Pecha Kucha, (pronounced "pe-chahk-cha") is the Japanese word for "chit-chat." It's a style of presentation in which the presenters get 20 slides to show and 20 seconds to talk about each slide. 

With only 6 minutes and 40 seconds to get your idea across, the format keeps the presentation short, concise, and visually interesting. 

Above is a video of the third in the series of Pecha Kucha Nights held in Montpelier, Vermont sponsored by Yestermorrow Design/Build School and Transition Town Montpelier. This Pecha Kucha centered on the theme of "A World Without Oil."

Recently the staff and interns at Yestermorrow had our own Pecha Kucha, where we each presented on a topic of our own choosing. It made for an entertaining and informative time. I highly recommend Pecha Kucha as a template for any orientation-style activity, as it is a great way for members of a group to get to know one another.

Happy Holidays from the Super Yester Crew

The Super Yestermorrow staff and interns gathered to celebrate the holidays and send off our departing interns Annie, Tonia, Lylee and Lindley. We'll miss you ladies!
(also missing from the group photo: Heidi, Lisa and Lisette)

Meet Lisa, Megan and Jacob!

We're excited to welcome three new staff to Yestermorrow this month.

Lisa Barnes joins us as a Kitchen Assistant. Lisa is a certified natural chef, trained in therapeutic cooking through Bauman College. She brings a passion for healthy cooking into the kitchen along with a repertoire of home grown recipes and knowledge of the nutrition behind them. She truly believes that a healthy body is a happy one.

Jacob Mushlin is one of our new Design/Build Interns. Jacob grew up in Hartland, VT where much of his childhood was spent building dams in streams and making awesome things out of cardboard. He studied architecture, design and studio art at various schools and has spent most of his professional life working for educational institutions and in carpentry. He brings with him a banjo, a road bike, and a clandestine interest in knitting.

Megan McNally is also one of our new Design/Build Interns. In 2008, Megan embarked on a self directed crash course in home repair by buying a fixer-upper in the annual tax foreclosure auction in her hometown of Buffalo, NY. Upon graduating with her undergrad degree in Environmental Policy this past May, Megan has pursued additional education in alternative methods of construction by working on various jobsites across the country. As well as taking classes and doing general intern stuff like shoveling snow, Megan hopes to learn guitar, read lots and lots and lots of books, and be master of snow football during her time at Yestermorrow.

Meet the rest of our staff and intern crew on our website at:
http://www.yestermorrow.org/staff-interns/

Happy Holidays from all of us at Yestermorrow!

(and Heidi too- missing from this photo)