Ray Rubio of Cubepixels Design Studio, in partnership with Corel and the Office of the Vice Mayor, has initiated a laudable campaign to provide essential training to Davao’s out-of-school youth. The campaign is called the CorelShares Program.

The program was launched last week at the City Council where Vice-Mayor Sara Duterte expressed her commitment.

CorelShares, as envisioned by Rubio, is a private- and public-sector community project that will hopefully engender skills in graphics design and animation among Davao’s next generation.

Rubio says the objective of the Program is “to produce a new breed of highly-skilled talents” who would contribute to the graphics design industry of Davao. The ultimate goal is “making Davao become a breeding ground for graphic designers.”

The graphics design industry is in dire need of more talent, and it is hoped that CorelShares will be one of the answers. The Program also has a nobler mission, and that is to contribute to the improvement of society. Other objectives include the following:

• Encourage out-of-school youth to develop their skills and talents in digital artistry
• For the participants to acquire the free training and echo this to their communities
• Inspire the training recipients to be actively involved in hands-on learning, to keep them from bad influences in society
• To create a pool of graphic designers to be deployed in companies with great demand for skilled workers

Here’s a rundown of the CorelShares Program:

Selection of Students and Recruitment Process

The Honorable Vice-Mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte will send invitations to beneficiaries of this Program. Selected candidates will undergo a screening process led by Program Training Director, Ray Rubio, for skills evaluation.

To assess qualified candidates, screening should be done.

Qualification Requirements

Candidates should be at least high school graduates, with knowledge in basic computer operation, and must show positive attitude and interest in learning graphics applications. We are looking for commercial awareness, the skill to achieve results to meet deadlines. Self-motivation must be apparent.

The Training Center

We will provide all the necessary training materials like computers equipped with licensed software from Corel Corporation and WordText Systems Inc. The official training center, Amigoas Internet Cafe, is located at General Luna corner Ilustre Sts., Davao City. It has a well-ventilated area and can accommodate more than ten trainees. Cubepixels Design Studio, Corel partner for Davao Region training, will handle the training.

Instructors

Our instructors are not only friendly and energetic teachers, but expert and experienced designers as well. They are credible and competent - a sure sign of our great desire to mold the students to become professionals in this field.

Training Guidelines

The training schedule will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for at least 3 hours per session. The first part of the training will cover Introduction to Computers. This will tackle more on the fundamental functions of a computer, and will touch on software applications as well. After learning the basic applications, the trainees will be introduced to the Corel Graphics Suite, which is the main subject of the training.

Graduates

Participants should accomplish all the subject matter and activities in the training. Training certificates will be given to special Corel graduates who will have accomplished the three-month course, and will be duly signed by Vice-Mayor Duterte, Maikee Aportadera (project head) and Rubio (Corel Trainer and Beta Tester).

Opportunities

After the training program, the graduates will have gained confidence, drive and the passion to pursue a career in graphics design. We will help them land a job, especially those who will pass with flying colors. Businesses like outdoor advertising, outsourcing companies, printing presses, desktop publishing houses, design studios are just a few of the new avenues for them to seek employment.

They could also choose to start their own businesses.

Kudos to Ray Rubio for yet another project that will certainly lead to the enhancement of Davao’s I.T. industry!