Hi! My name is Heather, I’m an entrepreneur, a fellow with the Halcyon Incubator, a front-end developer/designer, and I’m trying to build my dream company: NewsEase. You can check it out here: http://newsease.co. Suffice it to say, NewsEase is an online newspaper publication platform designed for the classroom that allows kids to become columnists inside their favorite stories. Essentially, think back to when you were a kid and imagine if your homework could have been about your favorite video game, comic book, movie, or whatever. That’s what NewsEase will do for today’s kids. We make it easy for teachers to build online class newspapers and give kids the chance to play inside their favorite stories, all while building key literacy skills and habits.
The idea is based on a Harry Potter site I ran as a teenager through which I tutored over 400 kids. It was so successful that it has been analyzed and lauded in two collegiate textbooks from MIT & Harvard. It was also studied by the MacArthur Foundation. It even ended up in a feature length documentary movie that premiered at SXSW. (You can watch it online - google “We Are Wizards.” I’m Heather with curly hair.)
So I have some solid, independently verified proof of concept. I’m also in negotiations with several top Hollywood studios and educational publishing companies who are eager to see how a beta goes and possibly jump in after that for a public launch.
But what’s the problem? I don’t have a programmer. I have tried so hard to learn, but I just don’t have a programmer’s brain. I’ve designed the system, I can make it look pretty, I know how it will function, but I need someone to help me build the back end.
I’m hoping that maybe you can help.
If you think this sounds cool and would like to chat, please feel free to email me! I would be so grateful even for just some advice about where to go to meet other programmers who might be interested. Or if you’d be interested in helping me build it, well, I’d love you forever.
Thanks very much!!
