Hi Caroline, Your letter does a good job of conveying your message to the parents. Since I'm new here, I'm wondering how much those parents have heard about Sugar up to this point. Unless you are sure they have been hearing a lot about it, I would include a bit more explanation. I re-arranged your letter a bit -- take what you like. Bill Cowie - - - - - - - - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5COwner%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><style>  </style> We are very pleased to tell you about a new and innovative computer-based educational program designed especially for children. We call it “Sugar”. The kids at GPA had a wonderful time working with Sugar this summer, and we have put some pictures of their work on the World Wide Web. You can see them at (insert link here). Your son or daughter is one of the first to receive this program on a USB memory stick, which we call “Sugar on a Stick”. He or she will bring this memory stick and a CD home at the end of the GPA summer camp. If you have a computer at home, they will be able to try it and perhaps show you what they have learned. This memory stick is a brand new way of using Sugar on your computer, and we haven’t had time to test it on many different types of computers. It works on the computers at school, but we don’t know if it will work on yours. Please try it, but if it doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with your computer. We will continue to work on getting it to run on all computers in the months ahead. Please have your son or daughter bring back the Sugar stick and the CD on the first day of school in the Fall, whether or not it works on your computer. Parents and family can find out more about Sugar by visiting our web site at <a href="http://www.sugarlabs.org/">www.sugarlabs.org</a> If you have any questions, or would like to know about our plans for the Fall, or would like to volunteer to help in the Fall, please email <a href="mailto:caroline@sugarlabs.org">caroline@sugarlabs.org</a> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Thank you and we look forward to meeting you all in September! <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Sincerely <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Caroline Meeks <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Sugar Labs <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Instructions for booting your computer with Sugar. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Put in the CD <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Turn off the computer <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Plug in the USB <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Turn on the computer <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">If you have a Mac, hold down the “c” key as it starts up and as you hear the chime. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">Please don’t be frustrated if it doesn’t work! We’ll figure out why and fix it this fall. - - - - - - - - <div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 11:20 AM, Anurag Goel <<a href="mailto:agoel23@gmail.com">agoel23@gmail.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> looks pretty good to me. <div><div><div></div><div class="h5">On 7/30/09, Caroline Meeks <<a href="mailto:caroline@solutiongrove.com" target="_blank">caroline@solutiongrove.com</a>> wrote: </div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div></div><div class="h5">First draft - Comments? Suggestions? Do you think I put in too much background information? <div> Dear Parent, <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Your child will take home from camp a USB stick and a CD that they used in school this summer. Their work this summer is the first part of a school wide program to use “Sugar on a Stick” at the GPA. The GPA will be the first school that uses a USB stick to bring Sugar home. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Sugar is the name of the software and you can learn more at <a href="http://www.sugarlabs.org/" target="_blank">www.sugarlabs.org</a>. Your kids are the first ones to use it on a USB stick but almost a million kids are using it on the “One Laptop per Child” computers in countries like Peru and Uruguay. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> If there is a computer at home the students can try to use Sugar. We will teach them how to do it in class. It may not work on your computer yet. The stick may also stop working at some point. That is fine, we are doing a pilot test and we know there are still problems. We will work all next year to make sure it works for all students. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Please have your student bring the stick back to school on the first day of school regardless of whether or not it works. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> The kids all had a wonderful time working with Sugar this summer and produced some amazing things! Pictures of their work are up on the web: We may also be creating some videos that will include your children and their work, if you have signed a release form. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> If you would like to know more about Sugar and our plans for the Fall or if you’d like to volunteer to help in the fall please email <a href="mailto:caroline@sugarlabs.org" target="_blank">caroline@sugarlabs.org</a> <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Thank you and we look forward to meeting you all in September! <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Sincerely Caroline Meeks Sugar Labs <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Instructions for booting your computer with Sugar. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Put in the CD Turn off the computer Plug in the USB Turn on the computer <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> If you have a Mac, hold down the “c” key as it starts up and as you hear the chime. <p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Please don’t be frustrated if it doesn’t work! We’ll figure out why and fix it this fall. -- Caroline Meeks Solution Grove Caroline@SolutionGrove.com 617-500-3488 - Office 505-213-3268 - Fax </div> </div></div><div class="im">_______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) <a href="mailto:IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org" target="_blank">IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org</a> <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep</a> </div></blockquote></div> -- Anurag Goel _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) <a href="mailto:IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org">IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org</a> <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep</a> </blockquote></div>