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NPower is the latest participant in online design school's innovative Design Competition Program in line with mission of “preparing design professionals”.

New York (PRWEB) June 3, 2005 -- NPower chose Sessions.edu (Sessions) to help launch their Technology Service Corp program (TSC). TSC is an innovative technology training program focused on giving New York City young adults an entrance to a technology career, while simultaneously providing affordable and trained technology staff to nonprofit organizations. NPower in NY is part of a growing network of independent, locally based nonprofits dedicated to putting technology know-how in the hands of nonprofit organizations to expand the reach and impact of their work.

Sessions, Online School of Design, has worked with numerous not-for-profits to help with design needs on a pro bono basis. Those organizations include: Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Tuesday's Children; City Project; Urban Word NYC; Global Action Project; Cambodian Arts and Scholarship; and GenArt. Students compete on a pro bono basis to design and print Web marketing pieces and publications that will be produced and used by clients in the non-profit sector. A faculty panel judges the entrants and presents a list of finalists for final judging by the sponsoring organization. The student works with the organization through the final execution of the project.

Tuesday's Children (TC) was the first “client” of the Sessions' Design Competition Program. A non-profit family service organization founded by family and friends of 9/11 victims, TC has made a long-term commitment dedicated to the needs of every child who lost a parent on 9/11.

Chris Burke, Founder and President of Tuesday's Children, selected the work of Jason Greeley, an American student living in Norway . "I knew that the work would be good,” Burke said. “But the end result exceeds my expectations in every way.”

"Our objective is to offer students every opportunity to build a strong and diverse portfolio of design work so they will be prepared to reach their career objectives in design,” said Doris Granatowski, CEO of Sessions. “Our students already enjoy a rich classroom experience and portfolio-building projects with every course they complete, but we wanted them to also get a taste of the demands of projects delivered to an actual client and all the trappings that come with it: aggressive deadlines, specific creative needs, and a message that needs to be communicated visually.

“We believe this competition helps validate the online learning model in a way outside the typical job market. In 1997, in the infancy of online education, our premise was simple, yet daring: We believed we could transform the way creative people would learn design skills and concepts. Further, we believed we could transform online learning, and we did. We created a nurturing learning environment that fostered artistic expression taught by accomplished designers who are passionate about teaching.”

Another recent participant was the Cambodian Arts & Scholarship Foundation (CASF), based in Portland , Maine. CASF is a non-profit organization that collaborates with local communities in Cambodia to identify potential students, provides financial, emotional and medical support to these students and their families, and sustains this support for as long as the child wants to learn.

“I cannot tell you how grateful I feel for the opportunity to be a client of this competition,” stated Jonah Rosenfeld, Vice President, CASF. “Sam Fisher's (winner) work is amazing and his Web site design is going to benefit our organization in ways that are impossible to even imagine. You are making a huge difference in the lives of young people 10,000 miles away.”

The need for smart design is not limited to geography, gender or age. Sessions global community of students from over 100 countries can readily meet any client requirements.

GenArt, a non-profit arts and entertainment organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago, is dedicated to showcasing emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists. Founded by a group of young art enthusiasts in 1993, GenArt works to provide access to the film, fashion and art worlds for those that are interested in these areas. GenArt has a loyal following amongst a 21 to 35 year old demographic generally comprised of hip city dwellers who keep in touch with new developments in the arts.

Tali Sedgwick, Fashion Program Manager, Gen Art, said “In the end, Gen Art was so thrilled with the design that we wound up using the invitation for both our New York and Miami events. On the first day of sending out the invitation, we got 25 ticket purchases and a lot of positive response from people asking ‘who did your design for the invitation?'”

Given the high success of the Design Competition Program, Sessions plans on continuing the program for the foreseeable future.

“We welcome inquiries from any n on-profit company with worthy goals, limited design budgets, and urgent communications needs who wish to gain the services of talented student designers,” stated Granatowski.

About Sessions.edu, Inc. (www.sessions.edu)
Sessions.edu, Inc., founded in 1997, was created with the goal of bringing new media design education to graphic and web designers worldwide, through online education.

Once a pioneer and now a leader in the distance education industry, Sessions has delivered tens of thousands of courses to students in over 100 countries. Sessions is accredited by the Distance Education Training Council (www.DETC.org) and the first of only two online schools licensed by the New York State Department of Education . The expertise and experience that has created the proven success of the online school is now offered to select colleges, universities, and corporations that seek to enter or expand their presence in the growing and competitive world of distance education.

Sessions Online Design School, offers certificate programs and courses in graphic design, web design, multimedia, business marketing design and digital arts. For more information about Sessions.edu Online School of Design, visit www.sessions.edu

For more information contact:
Scott Chappel
Sessions.edu, Inc
e-mail protected from spam bots
(212) 239-3080

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Source :  http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb247038.htm