International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

How good is the Ethiopian Public High School curriculum?

2009-06-19T19:45:00.001-07:00

I always had it that one of the major reasons students coming out Ethiopia's public high schools could not compete in academics with students from other countries, was because the Ethiopian curriculm was so antiquated. It did not prepare them for college and success in life. After a good discussion today with an Ethiopian who authored several high school textbooks in his home country, and is currently teaching in a Seattle high school, I learned that that is not the case at all. The learning objectives for core subjects in Ethiopian highschools are similar to the those found in any western public high school. Granted, the Ethiopian curriculum doesn't require nor expect students to use the latest technology available, but it's content is still comparable, even if it is not the best. It is the lack of qualified teachers and supply of adequate textbooks that has affected the quality of high school education, according to this teacher.
What is your opinion or better yet your experience?

Meeting with the BPC teams

2008-04-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Had coffee last night with the other teams. Will be strategizing with them on ways to win this competition. I'm always interested in knowing about the other teams and where they are coming from. Exchanged ideas on booth displays, etc.

Mine will definately be eye-catching. I'm looking forward to this competition so much!

We made it to the BPC Investment Round!

2008-04-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

Got the email this morning (see text below).

ILAE was one of the 34 finalist teams chosen out of 89 submissions from around the Pacific Northwest. This is one of the most enjoyable Business School events of the year for me.

I'm going to be meeting with Rabuor Sunflower Farm (and possibly another competing team) to go over what to expect and how to help them make the most out of this amazing networking opportunity.

In other news, a few days ago I got many shots in both arms to prepare me for my trip to Ethiopia. My buddy Naomi Belayneh is going to be teaching me Amharic (a few phrases a week) to help prepare me for this summer's upcoming trip.

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

Announcing the Advancing Teams

The Screening Round is complete and 34 teams have made the cut from a RECORD 89 submissions!
The next stage is the Investment Round on April 23 in the HUB West Ballroom.
Our sincere thanks to the 84 judges who worked over the weekend to select the advancing teams.

CONGRATULATIONS to

Advanced Motion Technologies - Gait Keeper (UW)
Athleon (UW)
Bioleco (Seattle U, UW)
BuySellFix.com (Whitworth)
Carbon Capture (UW)
ClearSky Systems (UW)
Empowering Engineering Technologies (UW)
Encompass Child Therapy Center (UW)
Energizing Solutions (UW)
Girly Girl Enterprises (Seattle U)
Golden Wellness (Seattle U)
GRIP (Seattle U)
Harmony (UW)
Hybiscus Technologies (UW)
Impel Neuropharma (UW)
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia (UW)
KeySpots (UW)
Kickass Careers (Seattle U)
Krochet Kids International (UW, Whitworth)
LiteTouch (UW)
mySoberLife.com (Seattle U, UW)
Pathable (UW)
PlayNSwap (UW)
Rabuor Sunflower Farm (UW)
RESET GAMES (UW)
Simian Systems (UW)
TechTrink (UW)
Tenfold Organic Textiles (UW)
TravelGeedo (Seattle U)
Vibe Globe (UW)
Voltan Biofuel (UW)
VoodooCat (UW)
Wrist Rocket (UW)
Wugaboo Entertainment (UW)

Alternates are LinkedSupport (UW), Paper Palz (UW), and BAO Sandwiches (UW)

GSEC Day 5- Final Round and Awards Banquet

2008-03-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

The teams were superb. I was very impressed and interested in my other teammates. I was especially impressed with my colleagues from Georgia. My new friend William Harper from the University of Georgia is also going to be operating in Africa, and we were talking to each other about the specific challenges that we were going to be facing in our businesses and how to address them. Mr. Harper is an MBA student and his business, Banque pour Tours, will be providing retail banking services in Mali using cell phone technology. I suggested that he seek a student based web team to develop his site. He promised to help me get in touch with an educational contact.

Talked briefly with one of the founders of KAITE, an organic farming company to be based in Zimbabwe. Linda Ramcke from Christian-Albrechts-Universitat in Germany did a superb presentation this morning that snagged her the grand prize of $5000.

After the dinner: I met with Dean Jim G. of the UW Business School. He has some high end contacts that he hopes to help us with. I also met one of the admissions officers of the Evans School of Public Affairs who wishes to help me with my graduate school application process.

I was contacted this morning by several key educational leaders from the Seattle area. Will be getting back to them ASAP.

Will write more tomorrow, need to get some sleep.

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

GSEC Days 3 and 4- Panel discussion and investment pitch

2008-02-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

Finally got a chance to write!

Yesterday: Attended a nonprofit panel that featured leaders with expertise in microfinance, education, and global health.

Met one of the founders of Ashesi University in Ghana. http://www.ashesi.org/ I was amazed at the similarity in our business goals and financial planning models that we each developed independently. It also gave me reassurance that my model is feasible and sustainable (seeing somebody else who had achieved it). I will be meeting her for coffee sometime in the next few weeks to exchange ideas and advice.

Today: Pitched the business model! The judges gave feedback that was very helpful. I look forward to discussing their feedback further at a luncheon I will be attending in less than fifteen minutes.

Tomorrow: I will be attending the business dinner held in honor of all the teams. This will be an amazing opportunity to continue to exchange ideas.

Must run, the luncheon starts in 10 minutes.

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

GSEC, Day 2- Coaching Round

2008-02-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

Gave my practice investment pitch and powerpoint presentation to a panel of UW Business School faculty and local nonprofit advisors. Will be working on the powerpoint nonstop until Thursday, perfecting the pitch and presentation. Got connected with a local nonprofit leader who sends computers to Africa for free, and also has human resource management skills.

Will be attending a dinner of local nonprofit leaders tonight to continue to pitch the idea.

Blogs might be short the next few days, I'll try to upload some pictures from the competition as soon as I am able.

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

GSEC, Day 1- Investment Round

2008-02-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition.

Teams began arriving at noon, I spent the early afternoon meeting the other teams from around the globe.

My current favorite: Do you have a male (or perhaps female) friend who spends way too much time playing World of Warcraft or the Sims? I have a new friend from South Africa who is seeking to capitalize on that addiction by creating a new computer "game" in realtime. For details, ask me....

My other new friend is seeking to start a network of sunflower oil farmers in Kenya. Asked her how the political situation is affecting her chances; she and I are going to be discussing ways to maximize her return, and also will be working to connect her with my own contacts.

As for the ILAE, got connected with several judges with high powered connections to people who have built schools in worldwide developing countries. One of them has experience in spearheading the development of 22 different schools. Will be pinging a couple of them within the next 24 hours.

Some things I learned at these competitions/trade shows:

1. Hard questions are good. If the judges really grill you with difficult questions, it's a sign that they see your business as a viable one and they really want you to succeed. I spent half an hour talking face to face with a woman who was asking me some of the most difficult questions regarding the current political state of certain regions of Ethiopia. She started off easy, then really started grilling me. I started answering, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know...." I was beginning to think she hated my idea and thought I was stupid. Turns out she's the founder of over 22 schools in developing countries around the world. She told me in the end that she thinks the idea is brilliant, and that it was the reason she came to my booth first out of all the competitors. She also has done work in Ethiopia before, and told me some insider knowledge on my target market that I never would have even thought to consider.

2. Help your competitors "win." One thing that really weirded out some of my competitors in the present and the past is the fact that I kept approaching each competitor and asking them about their business, and trying to get them to think out loud about their individual companies and how they think they could improve. Then I go through the list of people I think could be able to help them succeed (for many, it meant getting them connected with the African Chamber of Commerce, or the Columbia Tower Club). The most money I could possibly "get" out of this competition is $5,000. Maybe $10,000. Building valuable international relationships with like-minded innovators who could eventually get my team connected with people who can help me with our own business infrastructure is worth far more than a few grand won at a single event.

3. Having fun. I'm having a blast! There is much to be learned, but I'm having a great time!

Practice round is tomorrow! Gotta get up early for that one!

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition

2008-02-20T11:47:00.001-08:00

Selam!

The UW Annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition will be held next week at the UW Business School. I will be taking a week off of school to compete with Business Ph.D. and Masters teams from around the world as we exchange ideas in a symposium-like competition setting to discuss ways to eradicate global poverty.

Many of the events are open to the public, and I'd like to welcome any interested parties to show up. The competition schedule is availale online at

http://bschool.washington.edu/gsec/schedule.shtml

I can't wait!

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

UW President's Newsletter

2008-02-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

Just heard from Ed Kromer...

Of all the GSEC competitors, we are going to be featured in the UW President's Club newsletter (circulated to all donors of theUniversity of Washington that have donated above $2000 per year).

The issue will come out in March.

Laura Umetsu

Project Manager

International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

February update!

2008-02-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

Selam (Greetings), and well wishes to the supporters of ILAE!

First of all, a belated thanks to all for your generosity that made the Winter Gala a phenomenal success. The cultural show from the young Ethiopians attending UW was uplifting, each of the 3 proposed alternate design models of ILAE submitted by the UW graduate Architecture students were very impressive and the message from the ILAE founders and featured speakers was inspiring.

Our blog entry recording the gala’s success posted http://ilacademy.org/blog/2007_12_01_archive.html

To the left is my buddy Yonas making a speech and below are some pictures of the Ethiopian Dance Troupe, as well as the crowd of over 300 people.

It has been fascinating to note the rapid growth of excitement that the school has garnered over the past year of its existence. As I gazed at the models that the UW School of Architecture created over the past six months whilst collaborating with the UW School of Education, I was moved at the immense collaborative process that creating these models required.

The past month since the gala has been spent reflecting, reorganizing, and reprioritizing as we shift gears to plan the next few months. For those of you who generously volunteered your resources to help us get to where we are, we sincerely thank you for all that you’ve done! For those of you who offered to volunteer your resources, keep on the lookout for an email to come soon.

Over the next few months, our focus will be:

Management structure: As a result of the gala, we now have a long list of individuals who have offered themselves volunteers to make ILAE a success. We are developing a process for organizing and engaging volunteers effectively to accomplish a common goal and will be launching the volunteer program officially soon...

Business plan: The ILAE’s business plan was recently chosen from an initial pool of 80 applicants to participate in the UW Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition on February 25th and 26th. We will be showcasing our business plan as well as gaining feedback. We are also currently seeking businesspeople with experience in creating a multinational business plan for internal operations purposes that can help us create our own. If you are skilled in this area and are willing to help out, please email Laura at lkumelody@gmail.com.

Marketing strategy: We have several stakeholders committed to quality educationto whom we need to market our school: staff members, parents of tuition-paying students, donors, and other contributors. Each group requires a marketing strategy. Do you have marketing background? Perhaps this is the job for you!

Fundraising: Initial startup estimates of the school (are estimated at around $10.5 million. To donate, please visit our website, http://www.ilacademy.org/. Click on the “donate” button, and you will be redirected to our fiscal sponsor, Teachers Without Borders. There, you can donate through Paypal, BE SURE TO WRITE “IKON ETHIOPIA” IN THE NOTES SECTION. Also, we need volunteers who are willing and able to donate their time into helping us develop a long term FUNDRAISING STRATEGY. Please contact us if you’re interested and willing!
Financing: Related to the business plan- we are going to do some in-depth financial analysis regarding our school’s requirements. Do you have finance skills that you would be willing to contribute? We need you on our team! Let us know!

Curriculum design: Curriculum, who will teach what and how…. These are key issues we hope to solve within the next few months in partnership with the UW school of Education and several partner high-schools who are interested in globalized education. If you are an educator and would like to join our committee, please let us know.

Above all, SPREAD THE WORD! Network. Direct friends to our website. Find out how you think you can contribute, and email us with your ideas. We look forward to hearing from all of you!
Again, we sincerely thank everyone for your efforts in helping make ILAE a reality. Keep a lookout for more exciting updates on our progress!

Sincerely,
Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

Meeting with Mike and Julie

2008-01-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

Met with Mike Weiss of Nordstrom Co last Thursday morning for breakfast to discuss the future direction of the school.... Mike's very excited to get on board and stay involved in this project long term. One thing that excites him is the VAST POTENTIAL to do good in the world... Called the potential "A beacon of hope amidst a sea of despair."

If you look at Africa as a continent, much of this is true. So many lives are being torn apart as we speak by war, aids, starvation, lack of sanitation... the list goes on and on.

The beacon of hope is the POTENTIAL. So often we let others solve problems for us. What is exciting about this school is that it will be providing Ethiopia with the next generation of PROBLEM SOLVERS equipped with the education to solve Ethiopia's problems, and put an end to the cycle of misery and poverty.

Mike pointed out several key points to consider over the next few months.

1. We need to create a strong branding that shows what we stand for. Our integrity model that will last with us from the first cornerstone that's laid down to the graduate of our school that goes off to a university 50 years from now. What kind of wages will we pay our construction workers and why? What kind of counseling will we offer our university-bound graduates

2. Strong alumni association! The idea is that the students will continue to contribute to the school long after they graduate to continue to have a positive impact on the country. As a national sales director for Nordstrom, Mike has travelled all over the country and around the world. He has 25+ years of leadership under his belt, and knows how to run a team effectively. He pointed out that this is, not simply a charity, but a COMPANY. And we must run it such.

Next steps:

1. Meet with Ellen Tussig. In case you don't know who she is, she is one of our more recent additions to our board of directors and the founder of the Northwest School, a successful private high school in the Pacific Northwest.

2. Outline with two other founders a list of tasks for the next few months and prioritize these tasks and assign roles to different volunteers.

Related: I will be travelling to Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) this summer to network with the local educational community, and familiarize myself with the site. My buddy Julie will be taking me (she's a local educator with many ties in the Ethiopian community). My stay will include introductions to several local educators as well as professors from Addis Ababa University, as well as a tour of a combined orphanage/school.

Clothing: The only clothing I will bring will be the clothing I will wear on the plane.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, etc- Can be bought in Addis Ababa.

Leaving me.... TWO LOVELY EMPTY SUITCASES AND A CARRY-ON for...

1. School supplies: Children in Addis need the following- Pencils, erasers, notebooks, books, rulers, clipboards (some schools in Ethiopia lack desks and the kids use each others' backs to write on). There is a project that a friend of a colleague of mine is working on called "Ethiopia Reads," one of the first public libraries in Ethiopia. Problem is, they're short on books (children's books especially!). If you have any spare children's books, please let me know; I know somebody who would desperately love them.

2. Medical supplies: I'm going to see what I can do to get some first aid kits down there. One of the most poignant stories that I've heard yet is from my friend Julie, who visited a government school down the hills where there was a young boy who fell from the third story of an open stairwell of his school. Miraculously, he wasn't killed, but he hurt his leg... very badly. He was screaming in the principal's office with his leg immersed in blood when my friend Julie came to visit. She was horrified, and demanded to know why the boy wasn't being treated. The principal burst into tears and said to her, "Treatment? Treatment? We don't even have a first aid kit!"

Six months later, Julie returns with a 40 dollar Costco first aid kit. The principal again burst into tears, saying again and again, "Thank you, thank you.... You are the third American that has come by and seen our need... You are the ONLY ONE that has come back to help us...."

I wonder what ever happened to that young boy. I wonder what would happen to hundreds of other young boys and girls if we don't help them now....

I am starting a "Send Laura to Ethiopia Summer 2008" fund very soon. Details to come.

Gala overview and how you can help

2007-12-17T23:53:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

The gala was an unbelievable moment in my life. The HUB ballrooms were PACKED, with , members of the education, architecture, Ethiopian, business, and general miscellanious community of Seattle, all getting together to celebrate the first major milestone of the school's progression!

The evening was catered by PanAfrica Market. Wonderful Ethiopian food. http://panafricamarket.com/wp/

I sat in between Mike Weiss, the national sales director of Nordstrom, and a couple who represented another local firm. Chatted with them about leadership and how opportunity will often pave the way to success for highly driven people.

The evening kicked off with an AMAZING performance by students from the UW Ethiopian community performing a dance. Music provided by DJ Andre (my friend Maria's friend). My two friends Melon Feleke and Naomi Belayneh were among the dancers... I was amazed at their talent and proud to call them my friends.

Then came the speeches/presentations by 1. Haddis and David 2. The UW School of Architecture (as soon as I'm able, I will upload pictures of their accomplishments to this blog) 3. Mike Weiss, on leadership 4. Sharon Sutton (presenting the work the school of architecture did) 5. Ellen Taussig, the founder of the NW school and Yonas Seifu, one of my life's heros.

It ended with a rousing inspirational speech by Jim Diers, the former Seattle Director of Office Neighborhoods, on how to work together as a team to accomplish these goals. He came up with a great acronym, that summed up how you can help (We're getting many emails regarding this).

Community- Who do you know? What is your network? What are the skills within this network? Do you have ties to the media? We need you on our team!

Collaboration- Are you good at teamwork? Are you unsure of how your skills would work with this project but still are passionate about helping gifted students get the education they deserve? Contact me for more information. Everyone has a gift. Everyone can contribute.

Construction- We have the general design of the school (thanks to our lovely team of student architects). Our next goal is to help make this design a REALITY. In order to do that, we need people with construction skills; people who have the ability to plan out construction and construction management. This includes knowledge interior detailing (i.e. plumbing, wiring, etc) to interior finishing (drywalling, painting, etc) to the actual construction (groundbreaking/layout, etc).

Operations- We need people who can help us plan how we're going to run this school once its in operation. How will compensation plans work? Insurance? Hiring and internal management structure. Come aboard, we need your skills!

Finances- Are you good at fundraising? Are you good at planning finances? Are you an accountant? Do you know people with money who are passionate about projects like this?

We need your help! We can't do this alone, and time is running out for many of these kids that need a place to go to school NOW. There is simply too much riding on this for this to fail. There's a whole COUNTRY of kids with leadership potential that don't have a place to go to school, and we can't afford to fail them.

For more information on how to get involved, please email me at lkumelody@gmail.com. Or visit our website, http://www.ilacademy.org/, sign up for our newsletter, donate money (tax deductible) to the cause, tell all of your friends!

Thank you all for coming last Wednesday, and I look forward to collaborating with you all in the future.

Sincerely,

Laura Umetsu
Project Manager
International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia

Gala: GREAT SUCCESS!

2007-12-14T23:52:00.000-08:00

To our dear supporters,

We are still recovering from the lack of sleep and bustling about that it took to prepare for this wonderful gala... It was a marvelous event that I'm still amazed that we were able to pull off...

We will write the details of the event tomorrow as we are all getting our rest and catching up on sleep... Stay tuned!

Our deepest thanks to all who helped make the event a success!

Sincerely, the ILAE winter gala organizers in chief

Laura Umetsu
David Makonnen
Haddis Tadesse
Naomi Belayneh
Heather McKee
Li Lu Porter

P.S. In case you were still looking to donate: visit our website @ http://ilacademy.org/contribute.aspx

You can donate by check or through our paypal account through our fiscal sponsor, Teachers Without Borders.

Preparation for the Gala

2007-12-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

KOMO 4 News aired the interview with me, the lovely Naomi, and the incredible Yonas last Wednesday.

To view the show's segment, see

http://www.komotv.com/nwa/12230191.html?video=pop&t=a

Remember: Wednesday, Dec 12th! Get your tickets ASAP!!!

Laura

Empowering the world through education!

2007-12-01T23:48:00.000-08:00

Selam (hello), my name is Naomi Belayneh and I am a biology major from theUniversity of Washington. I aspire to become a physical therapist in the near future.

I am currently a collaborator of the ILAE project as I have tried to elicit awareness about this exciting school that we are all determined toestablish and am currently coordinating an Ethiopian dance group to perform atthe December 12th ILAE Winter Gala kick off. I am trying my best to be of any extra help to Laura, the current project manager in making sure this event is asuccess.

My inspiration to join to the ILAE project primarily had to do with the fact that it impacted the area of education, but also because I once took qualityeducation for granted, thinking that everyone had access to it. It wasn't untilmy first trip to Ethiopia (about a 3 month stay) that I realized there were manyyoung and bright kids strolling around the streets shining the shoes of older,educated folks. There was obviously something wrong with this picture. I immediately came to realize that the infrastructure of the educational system inEthiopia was in turmoil.

While the rate of literacy in Ethiopia has increased over the years, there's still a hole in implementing programs that allowstudents to make a transition from high school to college. That's where the ILAE steps in and what it my opinion makes it a truly gifted school. By providing aquality academic education in state of the art facilities, the ILAE will allows students to pursue opportunities to higher education throughout the world.

My experience within these last two months of participating in the ILAE project has impacted me profoundly. Watching the collaborative process of this projectand the diverse skills and knowledge people have been able to contribute iscompletely amazing. It's my dream that the launching of this school that will godown in history and be recognized for producing leaders with values such as empathy, dignity and respect who will potentially contribute to the positive changes and differences we want to see in this world.

Empower the world through education!

Naomi Belayneh

ILAE media exposure and beyond!

2007-11-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Attended a business leadership dinner last night, had the opportunity to be introduced to Amy Sanbo, head editor of a local Seattle newspaper known as Northwest Asian Weekly.

Sanbo was reminded that I was one of the roughly two dozen Asian American students featured in her newspaper four years ago as a valedictorian (fun trivia: Amy was once Bruce Lee's girlfriend!). Promised to reconnect with her soon.

Spent this afternoon chatting with Ed Kromer, managing editor of the UW Business School Alumni Journal, to talk about the school. He interviewed me and the lovely co-coordinators of ILAE's upcoming events Heather McKee and Naomi Belayneh over pizza and coffee.

The Business School Alumni Journal will be following ILAE as we compete in the UW Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (YES! We were chosen as one of 25 of 80 competing teams from universities from around the world!) and feature our school in an upcoming Spring 2007 issue. More details to come.

And we're going to be on T.V. next week!

Tune in next week WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, 2007 @ KOMO 4 T.V. at 3P.M.

Northwest Afternoon will be featuring our interview with me, as well as our lovely c0-coordinator of our December 12th Winter Gala Naomi, and the marvelous Yonas Seifu.

To learn more about my friend Yonas's amazing story of immigration and what education has meant to him, check out: http://www.yonasseifu.com/

Amazingly, he survived, and now his mission is to help out others in his home country. He will be one of our guest speakers at our December 12th Gala.

Speaking of which, have you bought/reserved your tickets yet? BUY THEM NOW. THEY ARE SELLING OUT QUICKLY.

http://www.ilacademy.org/newsandupdates.aspx

Gotta run! More emails to catch up on!

Laura Umetsu

First entry!

2007-11-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

My name is Laura Umetsu and I am a senior at the University of Washington majoring in entrepreneurship. Since January of 2007, I have been acting as project manager for the International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia.

Flashback to last January:

I get an email from my business school professor, Dr. John Castle of the UW School of Entrepreneurship telling me about two Ethiopian Americans, Haddis Tadesse and David Makonnen,

Little did I know what I was getting into...

It started out with just the three of us, writing things on napkins in a coffee shop. Man, did we come up with some crazy ideas while brainstorming (if you want any details on some of the weirder ideas we came up with, give me an email).

Anyways, fast forward to today. A few months ago, David got to meet with various members of the Prime Minister's cabinet. Negotiations are underway for a land grant (15 acres of prime real estate!) in Addis Ababa.

We just launched our website a few weeks ago and have developed several major partnerships both domestically and abroad. I attended the annual Business Luncheon for the African Chamber of Commerce to exchange ideas in a symposium, and got to meet with several ambassadors.

We got an article in the University of Washington Daily featuring the school's progress. I've got two enormously talented young ladies, Naomi and Heather helping me out. Heather helped me the other night take video footage and Naomi got us prime media coverage. The support is overwhelming! We're getting emails of support from all over the world from Seattle to Switzerland to Addis Ababa to Beijing!

I just got back KOMO 4 News this morning. Northwest Afternoon is airing a feature story next week to inform the Pacific Northwest region about our school. I'll try my best to upload a clip of the interview ASAP.

Our latest goal: fill the HUB West Ballroom at the University of Washington with supporters as we celebrate the unveiling of the school's models.

I have to run now and answer emails, but I'll definately keep you guys updated on the happenings!

Laura Umetsu