Sweet spot 002 (#619)

* Add new newsletter for publication

* Use "Sugar Labs" as the author for the first newsletter

* Add image to post, and update donation to point to www

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Co-authored-by: Devin Ulibarri <[email protected]>

_posts/2024-09-20-sweet-spot.md

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 layout: post
 title: "The Sweet Spot – Issue 001"
+author: "Sugar Labs"
 date: 2024-09-20
 categories: community
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_posts/2024-12-29-sweet-spot-002.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "The Sweet Spot – Issue 002"
+author: "Sugar Labs"
+date: 2024-12-29
+categories: community
+---
+
+*Recent news for December 29, 2024*
+
+Welcome to the second issue of the "Sweet Spot", a newsletter for
+Sugar Labs-related news in development, student and teacher work,
+events, how to get involved, and other news and information. This
+newsletter will be published semi-regularly for now, but the plan is
+to publish it on a bi-monthly, perhaps even monthly, basis in the
+future. Our aim with this newsletter is to help keep the growing body
+of Sugar Labs contributors on the same page, all while documenting our
+growth for our own and others' reference.
+
+These first issues are meant to set a precedent of communication and
+documentation, as well as to help inform the community of our current
+status, recent progress, and future plans. Its predecessor is the
+[“Sugar Digest”][1], which still serves as an important catalog of our
+activities. Like Sugar Digest, this newsletter is intended to keep
+community members in the loop about everything going on within Sugar
+Labs. It will highlight any recent publications from us. It will
+occasionally include links to third-party news and updates that our
+community finds relevant.
+
+[1]: https://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/community-news/
+
+## Updates
+
+### Today, help Sugar Labs continue to transform education
+
+*December 3, 2024*
+
+<figure><img
+src="{{ site.baseurl }}/assets/post-assets/donation-banner.jpg;fit=max"
+alt="An image with Sugar Labs teachers, volunteers, and students."
+draggable="false"><figcaption>Your donation helps us in many
+ways.</figcaption></figure>
+
+Sugar Labs is in the middle of a campaign to raise funds necessary for
+outreach, software development, project maintenance, mentorship, and
+more. Having left Software Freedom Conservancy in 2020, this year is
+the first that Sugar Labs is investing financially in its own growth,
+and we’d love to have your participation in this pivotal moment. We’ve
+been particularly heartened to see volunteers in our community assist
+with various aspects of this campaign, such as making improvements to
+our website. You may also participate in our fundraiser, while getting
+something nice for yourself or a loved one, by purchasing Sugar Labs
+merchandise from our new store on Bonfire.
+
+Read executive director Devin Ulibarri’s letter to the community to
+learn more about the work we’ve done this year, consider making a
+donation or purchasing merchandise, and please help spread the word.
+
+
+* <https://www.sugarlabs.org/community/2024/12/03/help-SL-continue-to-transform-education/>
+* Make a donation to the current campaign: <https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign\_id=NEAV3YL4H6B5S>
+* See our new donation banner, created by volunteers in our development community: <https://www.sugarlabs.org/>   
+* Contribute to Sugar Labs by purchasing Sugar Labs brand merchandise: <https://www.bonfire.com/sugar-labs-education/>
+
+### Sugar Labs election information and results
+
+*December 19, 2024*
+
+Sugar Labs completed an election for three seats to its Board of
+Directors for the 2025-26 cycle. The results are out, and the winners
+are Devin Ulibarri, Sumit Srivastava, and Sebastian Silva. Read the
+articles to learn more about Sugar Labs’s election process and how you
+can prepare to participate in the next election.
+
+* <https://www.sugarlabs.org/community/2024/12/19/election-results/>
+* <https://www.sugarlabs.org/community/2024/11/22/elections-extension/>
+* <https://www.sugarlabs.org/community/2024/11/08/fall-board-elections-how-to-participate/>
+
+### Sugar Labs expands its social media presence to Bluesky and WhatsApp
+
+*December 9,2024*
+
+Sugar Labs is now on Bluesky and WhatsApp. Sugar Labs continues to
+maintain a presence on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Mastodon,
+Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Github. We decided to join Bluesky
+and WhatsApp in an effort to expand our reach. For those active on any
+of these platforms, please follow Sugar Labs to help our outreach
+efforts.
+
+* <https://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/marketing/2024-December/004160.html>
+
+Newly joined social media platforms:
+
+* Follow us on Bluesky: <https://bsky.app/profile/sugarlabs.bsky.social>
+* Reach out on WhatsApp: <https://wa.me/16177024088>
+
+*Note: For a complete list of our official social media channels,
+ please see the “Social and Communication Links” section at the bottom
+ of this newsletter.*
+
+### Reflections from Constructing Modern Knowledge 2024
+
+*November 27, 2024*
+
+This past July, Sugar Labs executive director and Music Blocks
+co-maintainer Devin Ulibarri attended Constructing Modern Knowledge
+(CMK). In this post, Ulibarri shares his experience at the teacher
+institute, what he learned, and what it could mean for Sugar Labs. He
+also shares his group’s “Lego Notation for the Blind” project, which
+is a step toward using physical Lego blocks as musical notation to
+convert to a programming language such as Sugar Labs’s Music
+Blocks. By taking Lego blocks, configured pitch-over-time on a
+baseplate, a camera connected to a computer can image the Legos and
+translate them into musical code. While the system is not yet
+complete, the article gives insight into what Music Blocks can do, how
+Sugar Labs is approaching outreach (as well as learning from other
+educators), and a glimpse at what we’re looking to create in the
+future.
+
+* <https://medium.com/@sugarlabs/reflections-from-constructing-modern-knowledge-2024-1ce7d60fbb1c>
+
+### James Simmons’s Sugar Story: Writing new Activities and sharing Sugar with youth
+
+*September 3, 2024*
+
+Sugar Labs community member James Simmons shares his story about his
+involvement with Sugar Labs. Simmons tells us how he began
+contributing to the Sugar Learning Platform by expanding the
+functionality of the Read Activity and adding support for e-texts. In
+addition to authoring Read ETexts, he also created View Slides and
+Read SD Comics Activities to support the ability to read comic books
+in CBZ format. Having had this experience writing Activities for
+Sugar, he wrote *Make Your Own Sugar Activities\!* as a manual for
+anyone interested in writing their own Activities for Sugar.
+
+* <https://medium.com/@sugarlabs/james-simmonss-sugar-story-writing-new-activities-and-sharing-sugar-with-youth-9282c66f9219>  
+* Download *Make Your Own Sugar Activities!* From Internet Archive: <https://archive.org/details/MakeYourOwnSugarActivities> (English) and <https://archive.org/details/ComoHacerUnaActividadSugar> (Spanish)  
+* See all of James’s Activities: <https://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/user/45>
+
+## (Volunteer) Help wanted
+
+Sugar Labs is seeking volunteer assistance in the following
+ways. Sustained, committed help in any of the following areas will
+help us grow as an organization. If you are passionate or curious to
+learn more about any of these roles, and are able to commit the time
+necessary, then we encourage you to apply. Send a notification of your
+interest to [email protected], including some information about
+yourself, what interests you about the volunteer role, and what
+experience/qualities make you a good candidate for the position.
+
+Sugar Labs is a growing organization. We don't currently have the
+resources to hire people to fulfill these roles. Our hope is that we
+one day will be able to, but, for now, we are looking for volunteers
+who can work with the executive director and the board to work
+diligently to improve our operations. What we can provide, in return,
+for your help, is assistance in conducting your role and mentorship
+(especially in the case of technical roles). Plus, you'll gain the
+experience and satisfaction of working with an organization that aims
+to do good in society.
+
+Please see: <https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Help\_Wanted> and
+<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ZLFBZkE34>
+
+## Upcoming events and meetings
+
+Sugar Labs hosts events and meetings for the community. The current
+list of scheduled events and meetings are as follows:
+
+* Music Blocks meetings: Every Sunday at 7:00 EST (12:00 UTC) on <https://meet.jit.si/ResponsibleMasksForecastHastily>   
+* Sugar Activity meetings: Every Wednesday at 7:00 EST (12:00 UTC) on <https://meet.jit.si/ResponsibleMasksForecastHastily>   
+* Sugar Labs Board of Directors meetings: Every Wednesday at 14:30 EST (19:30 UTC) on <https://matrix.to/#/#sugar:matrix.org>
+
+## About Sugar Labs
+
+Sugar Labs® is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a
+global mission to create educational opportunities in technology to
+youth around the world. Volunteer mentors and contributors work
+together to develop activity-focused software for children. All
+software is developed with learning as the primary goal, necessitating
+the need for source code to be published publicly for study, licensed
+under a Free/Libre license for explicit permission to share and remix,
+and openly worked upon within a community where students are invited
+to make contributions, under guidance of experienced mentors. You can
+learn about how to make a donation to support the work of Sugar Labs
+at <http://www.sugarlabs.org/donate/>.
+
+## Social and Communication Links
+
+Below is a complete list of all the official social media and other
+communication channels for Sugar Labs. If you are on any of the social
+media platforms, such as Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or
+X/Twitter, we encourage you to show your support for Sugar Labs by
+following us. If you are interested in testing and development, GitHub
+and Matrix are where you can report issues and ask questions.
+
+Communications on our official channels must abide by our [Code of
+Conduct](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-docs/blob/master/src/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
+
+* Bluesky – <https://bsky.app/profile/sugarlabs.bsky.social>
+* Facebook – <https://www.facebook.com/SugarLabsforall/>
+* GitHub – <https://github.com/sugarlabs>
+* Instagram – <https://www.instagram.com/sugarlabsforall/>
+* LinkedIn – <https://www.linkedin.com/company/sugar-labs>
+* Mailing lists – <https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Mailing_Lists>
+* Mastodon – <https://mastodon.social/@sugar_labs>
+* Matrix – <https://matrix.to/#/#sugar:matrix.org>
+* Medium – <https://medium.com/@sugarlabs>
+* Snail mail and phone – <https://www.sugarlabs.org/contact-us/>
+* Twitter/X – <https://twitter.com/sugar_labs>
+* Wiki – <https://wiki.sugarlabs.org>
+* WhatsApp – <https://wa.me/16177024088>
+* YouTube – <https://www.youtube.com/@SugarlabsOrg-EN>
+
+## Back issues of “The Sweet Spot”
+
+You can find this issue and past issues of “The Sweet Spot” at
+<https://www.sugarlabs.org/community-news/>