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Hewitt file

Name: Amber (Noel) Hewitt

Age: 23

School: Penn State Altoona, human development and family studies

Family: Husband, Robert Hewitt

Career aspirations: Enjoys working with different types of people and would like to work in Pennsylvania in an entry-level human service position.

Amber Hewitt makes picture taking a snap.

The 23-year-old Penn State Altoona graduate developed a program to teach seniors at a comfortable pace how to "capture, create and edit" images caught on a digital camera.

The Fallentimber native, who graduated in May with a degree in human development and family studies, ran the popular workshops on the topic in area public libraries from March until May for a total of 100 people.

Demand was so high in Tyrone that she held it twice.

"Seniors need to learn in a way that allows them to learn it," she said.

She said most brought digital cameras still in the box.

Seniors did not grow up with technology, Hewitt said, so learning the basics was step one.

She said she taught participants everything from camera settings and taking a photograph to uploading the photo on to a computer and scrapbooking and printing.

"It would be awesome to do a program for all of them," she said of different technologies such as video cameras or cell phones.

She said the first 40 to 50 pages of the 240-page manual is a template for such workshops.

The manual started out at 162 pages in February, but it grew after Hewitt tweaked feedback from her participants.

Tyrone-Snyder Public Library director Jessica Ford Cameron said Tyrone was picked for the program because of the historical buildings throughout the area, but most who participated in the class were more interested in taking family photos.

"It was a fantastic program," Cameron said. "This really took off."

She said Hewitt did well at juggling the different demands of different camera types brought to class.

Participant Theresa Albright said she was enrolled in the first class held in Tyrone.

"She was a lovely person to work with," she said of Hewitt.

Albright said she gained confidence to stretch her photography muscles under Hewitt's tutelage.

Hewitt said 100 percent of participants she surveyed had an increased interest in library programs and technology and would recommend the program.

Hewitt said she studied research during her schooling, but the program offered her the chance to put a program into action.

"You really start to understand whenever you see how it's impacting one another," she said.

She said the workshop was made possible through a 15-week, 32-hour-a-week internship with the Blair County Library System and an Engage Blair County grant.

Hewitt donated copies of the manual to the Altoona Area Public Library.

She "wrote the manual in a way so somebody could pick it up and do it," she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Clegg is at 949-7030.