A few days after Jimi Plouffe Mentored High School Web Design Students, he stopped by Martell Elementary School (Troy School District) to present to a group of 30 students grades 3-5 on the internet, online safety and technology. Jimi has been working with Martell Elementary School on implementing new ideas and technology into the classroom for both the students and teachers. As the students tore into their Lunchables and juice boxes; Jimi asked a short, yet loaded question, “What is the internet?” The student’s eyes lit up and hands rose quickly to answer the question. Responses included: - “A place where you find things” - “A big web of information” - “Where I go to play Cool Math Games“ There were nearly 20 responses to the question to start things off and each student was right in their own way. One student actually asked about “binary code”, which really had Jimi and onlooking staff in awe. As the presentation went on, it was obvious that the students were eager to learn. There were a lot of questions asked and a lot of Smarties handed out. Towards the end of the presentation, Jimi started a fun hands-on activity to spice things up. “On my way to Martell, a great idea popped in my head. I stopped at the local grocery store and bought 4 playground balls, all different colors and sizes. I wrote in big black sharpie ”Website”, “E-mail”, “Tweet”, and “Video” on each of the balls. We then had students toss the balls around the classroom to show how data or information travels across the internet” stated Momentum’s CEO Jimi Plouffe. The students thanked “Mr. Plouffe” and asked him if they could have the playground balls that were brought in for the presentation. Jimi happily said yes. When leaving, Jimi overheard the students making reference to what they just had learned and saw them playing catch with the blue “tweet” ball. Momentum works closely with many local schools as an adviser, helping to provide a window into industry to shape future curriculum and programming. Educators with interest in having Jimi speak at their school may contact him at james@seekmomentum.com or 586-276-7496.

1. WHAT IS THE
INTERNET?

3. HOW DOES
IT WORK?

5. IT’S LIKE
A BIG
CITY, YOU
HAVE TO
BE SAFE!

6. HOW OLD IS
THE INTERNET?

7. IT’S ONLY
25 YEARS OLD!
March 12th 1989

8. WEB DESIGNERS
ARE LIKE
CONSTRUCTION
WORKERS FOR
THE INTERNET

9. YOU CAN
BUILD
ANYTHING
YOU WANT!

16. WHO WANTS TO ASK A
QUESTION?

17. THANK YOU
MUSTANGS!