Archive for the 'ECBACC S.T.A.R.S.' Category
Thanks to the The ECBACC S.T.A.R.S. program, Fat Momma was able to bring her super powered message of self acceptance to the students of Pepper Middle School in Southwest Philadelphia.
Nell Wilson appeared on the Sci-Fi Channels “Who Wants to Be a Superhero?” reality series. Her character “Fat Momma” drew unprecedented attention from the media, critics and viewing audience. Nell has been traveling around the world spreading her message of self acceptance. Recent visits include: Australia, England, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and many more!
This is one of ECBACC S.T.A.R.S’ educational events that leads up to our annual convention.
The students had a super time talking with Fat Momma.
During ECBACC’s 2008 S.T.A.R.S. workshops children participated in various activities to enhance their reading, writing, and drawing skills.
We do our best to spark their imagination!
Here are some photos of what they created.
The 12Comics Learning Support program is an exciting and unique program that makes learning fun through the creation of a custom comic book. The primary focus of the program is designed to empower and encourage students to enhance their knowledge and experience the incredible benefits of written expression. The students, in a class ranging from five to seven students, learn how to generate an online and printed Graphic Novel using a collaborative comic book “Superhero” script. The students are allotted eight calendar weeks to learn how to develop characters, settings and plots using persons and situations such as family members and friends. The program emphasizes student cooperation and communication as students work together to develop their character’s comic book stories. When the script is complete, it is reviewed and edited before being submitted to professional artists for artwork (pencils, inks and colors) and publication. At the end of the program, 12Comics publishes the comic book with each student receiving three copies. The comic will feature each of the characters developed in the class. Comic books are published and made available for sale on the 12Comics’ online store. A percentage of all sale proceeds, after production costs are covered, are paid to the students. At end of the program, students have the option to sign up again and repeat the class throughout the school year. Some students have used the program to start their own online business.
In our own words:
“We basically put into 12Comics everything we could’ve ever wanted in a program when we were kids. If Marvel or DC would have had a program where, for a fee, we would be able to apply what we were learning in school to create a character which would be featured in a comic book with Spiderman or Superman would we have been interested in such a program? Unequivocally YES!!!! Then as an added bonus they would throw in a cash earning incentive where our characters would have merchandise on the open market and we would receive royalties. Well that’s a no-brainer. 12Comics offers students the opportunity to become published authors and to apply their education with immediate tangible results. An ancillary achievement for the students is that in addition to being consumers of their local library or comic book shop they become contributors as well. This was the question we asked ourselves, and what essentially became the driving force behind 12Comics.”
12Comics Inc.
12Comics Learning Support Program
Infinite Possibilities
12Comics was started by Mark and Tracy Hair in 2003 with one goal in mind: To make reading and writing engaging, and fun through creating custom comic books.
Mark and Tracy, currently residing in Maplewood NJ., met each other at a church service 15 years ago. Each was a single parent of a lovely daughter, Sequoya (Tracy) and Angelica (Mark). They married in 2001 and now have their third daughter, Kelsey who is 4 years old.
Mark is a Team Lead in the Finance Dept of Deloitte and Touche and an avid 30 year comic fan and collector.
Tracy has been an educator for 20 years. She holds a Master of Science in Education from Bank Street College of Education and is currently employed at Ethical Culture Fieldston School.
Tracy along with her father, Dr. Simpson Gray, a 20 year veteran educator himself and former attorney, helped develop the 12Comics Learning Support program curriculum.
The curriculum was designed after the model of the New York City Department of Education’s Children First. It, like many of the programs designed for Children First, is a single, coherent system-wide approach for instruction in reading and writing.
Nell Wilson recently appeared on the Sci-Fi Channels “Who Want to Be a Superhero?” reality series. Her character “Fat Momma” drew unprecedented attention from the media, critics and viewing audience. Nell is proud to announce that Shocker Toys has released a “Fat Momma” action figure. Nell has also had two comic books released since the show.
Her innate ability to set a positive example among the series’ participants garnished her the lime light. This opportunity provided Nell with a stage to present her life’s agenda. Nell maintains that her goal is “…to help people feel good about themselves. To assist them in understanding to live life to its fullest and appreciate what you have in front of you.” Her message of building self esteem illuminates Nell and her mission.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Nell comes from a large family. Being sixth in a family of 10 made growing up very exciting. Coming from a very close knit family, Nell’s parents set a firm foundation. Her family ties are strong, solid and where she gathers her strength.
Being a single mother of three has come with many obstacles. Struggling to raise a family garnished her war wounds and scars. But through adversities light has always shined. Her aspirations are to host a talk show to provide people an outlet to discuss personal growth issues. Presently she is working on a book entitled “From Single Mother to Superhero”. The book will outline a path for single mothers and others to empower there futures. Nell also plans on writing children’s books with the “Fat Momma” character to teach children to be kind to one another and accept themselves the way they are. Nell enjoys visiting schools and talking to children about self acceptance.
Nell attended Pasadena City College and earned an AA. She continued her studies at Cal State Fullerton and worked on a BA in sociology. Currently she resides in Lancaster, CA with her three children Danielle 23, Alexis 15, and Daniel 5.
Nell has been traveling around the world spreading her message of self acceptance. Recent visit include; Australia, England, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Indianapolis and many more.
If you are interested in working with Nell, please contact her directly. You may visit her sites for recent update at: http://www.fatmomma.tv/ or www.myspace.com/fatmommasuperhero .
Akinseye Brown is a multi-talented illustrator whose portfolio consists of diverse projects and whose work ranges from graphic design, to paintings, to children’s book illustrations. His publishing company, Sokoya Comics, will make its mark on the comic book world by producing culturally-correct and Africentric titles that intelligently and powerfully blend fantasy, realism and African culture. Brown is currently the Education Committee Chairman for the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention.
