Maryland Business Finds Creative Way to Give Back in Uncertain Economy
Charitable giving is directly tethered to the health of the overall economy. Since the economy is in a precarious state, many businesses are tightening their belts and, as a result, corporate donations are down. However, one Maryland-based business owner is finding a creative way to give back – and invest in future generations.
Fallston, MD, April 08, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Charitable giving is directly tethered to the health of the overall economy. Since the economy is in a precarious state, many businesses are tightening their belts and, as a result, corporate donations are down. However, one Maryland-based business owner is finding a creative way to give back – and invest in future generations.
Earlier this year, Matt Pramschufer, a partner of web design and development firm E-Moxie, was approached by a technology instructor from Harford Technical High School. The instructor asked Pramschufer if he was interested in mentoring students for the upcoming SkillsUSA Maryland contest. SkillsUSA Maryland is part of the national SkillsUSA organization, which helps high school and college students prepare for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. Pramschufer accepted the challenge.
For six weeks throughout February and March, Pramschufer left the design studio behind for the classroom at Harford Tech. There, he mentored students Eric Foltz and David Cobb on all aspects of website design and development, preparing them for the web design portion of the statewide SkillsUSA contest. Pramschufer taught them how to plan a project, storyboard a website layout, and use Photoshop; he also taught them about various technical aspects of site development. Foltz served as the designer on the team, while the Cobb was the developer.
Pramschufer wasn’t the only person at E-Moxie involved in the project. Other members of the staff helped out as well. For instance, while Pramschufer was on location mentoring the students, the other firm partner, Chris Stone was back at the office working to optimize the website code written by Cobb. Pramschufer would then explain to the students why Stone’s code worked more efficiently.
On March 21, 2009, the statewide competition was held at the Community College of Baltimore County. Contestants had to take a test to evaluate their knowledge of current website coding and design standards. The teams then had several hours in which to design a website for a fictitious company that targeted young men and women interested in a modeling career. Foltz and Cobb, the students Pramschufer mentored, came in first place.
“Helping these kids win made me realize that the little bit of mentoring I was doing actually paid off big time,” Pramschufer said.
Foltz and Cobb are now eligible to compete in the national level SkillsUSA Championships, which will be held June 26-29 in Kansas City, Missouri. Pramschufer will continue to mentor the pair as they prepare for the contest ahead.
“A lot of times, as business professionals, we tend to undervalue our knowledge,” said Pramschufer. “But in mentoring these kids, I realized how valuable imparting a little bit of knowledge and expertise to a student can be. And I think spending this time with these students, mentoring them, has made more of an impact then if I were to just write a check.”
Established in 1999, E-Moxie’s mission is to offer customers affordable, industry-leading web design, hosting, and development services. For more about the company, please visit www.e-moxie.com.
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Earlier this year, Matt Pramschufer, a partner of web design and development firm E-Moxie, was approached by a technology instructor from Harford Technical High School. The instructor asked Pramschufer if he was interested in mentoring students for the upcoming SkillsUSA Maryland contest. SkillsUSA Maryland is part of the national SkillsUSA organization, which helps high school and college students prepare for careers in trade, technical, and skilled service occupations. Pramschufer accepted the challenge.
For six weeks throughout February and March, Pramschufer left the design studio behind for the classroom at Harford Tech. There, he mentored students Eric Foltz and David Cobb on all aspects of website design and development, preparing them for the web design portion of the statewide SkillsUSA contest. Pramschufer taught them how to plan a project, storyboard a website layout, and use Photoshop; he also taught them about various technical aspects of site development. Foltz served as the designer on the team, while the Cobb was the developer.
Pramschufer wasn’t the only person at E-Moxie involved in the project. Other members of the staff helped out as well. For instance, while Pramschufer was on location mentoring the students, the other firm partner, Chris Stone was back at the office working to optimize the website code written by Cobb. Pramschufer would then explain to the students why Stone’s code worked more efficiently.
On March 21, 2009, the statewide competition was held at the Community College of Baltimore County. Contestants had to take a test to evaluate their knowledge of current website coding and design standards. The teams then had several hours in which to design a website for a fictitious company that targeted young men and women interested in a modeling career. Foltz and Cobb, the students Pramschufer mentored, came in first place.
“Helping these kids win made me realize that the little bit of mentoring I was doing actually paid off big time,” Pramschufer said.
Foltz and Cobb are now eligible to compete in the national level SkillsUSA Championships, which will be held June 26-29 in Kansas City, Missouri. Pramschufer will continue to mentor the pair as they prepare for the contest ahead.
“A lot of times, as business professionals, we tend to undervalue our knowledge,” said Pramschufer. “But in mentoring these kids, I realized how valuable imparting a little bit of knowledge and expertise to a student can be. And I think spending this time with these students, mentoring them, has made more of an impact then if I were to just write a check.”
Established in 1999, E-Moxie’s mission is to offer customers affordable, industry-leading web design, hosting, and development services. For more about the company, please visit www.e-moxie.com.
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