Jon Robson and his crew from Cafesociety.org worked with our students here on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona USA in 2002 and 2003. Our young Native American students had a great learning experience and a lot of fun while working on the “Digital Story Telling” projects.

Jon is an excellent educator who has certainly got the knack of working with young kids globally.
He educates students not only on the technological side of the projects but also integrates core areas of the curriculum like maths, and language arts.

We were so impressed with the initial project that we invited Cafesociety.org back the following year to work with our students and participate in the ‘Access Native America Technology Conference’.
Since 1997, the Access Native America Technology Conference has brought together educators, technology experts, and administrators from the 185 Bureau of Indian Affairs schools to learn from each other and from others outside of our school system about how to integrate technology into our schools.

Jon, along with his colleagues and a selection of our students made a presentation on the importance of storytelling with an emphasis on using new technology to reach a global audience. The presentation was a great success and made us proud of the work our students had produced during the digital storytelling workshops.

Our students really miss him and his British accent. We wish him all the best.

Jack Sharma
Head of technology
Gila Crossing Community School.

I have known Jon for a number of years, whilst I have been working as an Advanced Skills Teacher for Citizenship in Hull, based at Winifred Holtby School Technology College on Bransholme.

I had heard of Jon’s reputation whilst the school was engaged with a number of artists through Creative Partnerships and as school coordinator, I engaged him to complete a transition project that had stalled. He injected energy and a connection with our students that gave them the confidence to finish the work in an innovative and fresh way……their way.

I naturally had to use him again, and through Creative Partnerships, used Cafesociety as often as possible, building upon his work in Sierra Leone to enhance the confidence and literacy skills of Year 9 students, taking risks with the material and trusting the students. They repaid us by presenting a workshop at a national CP conference, reflecting Jon’s “can do” approach to problems.

He has since worked with History students on the Making an Impact project, other literacy work within the school and is known by many of the students. Jon has also begun CPD work with a number of staff on Adobe software.

He is committed to digital storytelling and we still have the aim of Hull Schoolchildren having the opportunity to “say who they think they are”.

Finally, I have passed Jon’s name to a number of other schools in my work as an AST, and the feedback to me is always the same…..high standards, innovative and willing to take risks.

Lance Boanas.
Advanced Skills Teacher.
Winifred Holtby School – Hull.

I am writing to thank you for the project work that you have carried out with our students during the last four years.

As you know we try and introduce new experiences and skills for our students on a regular basis. This is something that all schools do to enrich the curriculum, but for us such programmes have a special importance as the Seychelles islands are physically very remote. Within this context we have welcomed a good many facilitators over the years, but your contribution to developing this ‘added value’ curriculum has been unique.

Students working under your supervision have benefited so much. Many of them have taken the skills acquired further, to tertiary institutions for example. This is not just an issue of familiarity and competence with technology, although I must say that the manner in which you encourage confident and effective use of sophisticated equipment is exceptional. It is also an issue of enabling creative thinking and problem solving. Students working with you become better at responding to challenges and working as part of a team to resolve difficulties. They think ‘outside the box’ and are able to layer developments in terms of imagery, sound, concept and style. They can create professional products whilst maintaining a strong personal commitment to the content. I have noticed additional skills imported into the formal curriculum following involvement with Café Society projects, particularly in the areas of Art and Design and Literature.

Further, I must praise the way in which you engage with students; never patronising, sensitive to their agenda, but also clear about the need to produce work and create experiences that they feel proud to be part of. Your manner is engaging and productive; in short, the students really like you and enjoy working with you. They are comfortable working with you in your role as a facilitator, they enjoy the humour but are constantly aware of the prioritisation of work; they do not see you as a teacher, and I think that this is an enabling distinction actually! Many of them talk about you and the work that they made with you years after the event; if part of being a successful educationalist is to make an impact and convey sustainable and extendable skills then you certainly qualify.

Looking forward to the next series of workshops, Jon.

Martin Kennedy
Director, International Schools Seychelles