Ray & Kathy Blavatt view the April 8, 2024 Eclipse on the OB Pier.

BLAVATT STUDIO / home is in Ocean Beach San Diego, CA. The beach town‘s beauty, uniqueness and quirkiness are inspiration for Ray and Kathy’s creativity.

San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park: A History Book by Author Kathy Blavatt relates the many transformations of this beloved park and looks to its future.
Author Kathy Blavatt (Pearson) grew-up on Sunset Cliffs Blvd., and later lived in the family home with her husband, Ray. The couple was married at Dan Dixon’s cliff side “Villa Surf” overlooking “Garbage Beach.” Kathy’s other books include: Ocean Beach, Ocean Beach, Where Land and Water Meet incorporates her photos, historical photos and documents. BOOKS AVAILABLE at: Olive Tree Market, Stumps Market, OBMA, Rite Aid, CVS, Online sites and Amazon. Purchase directly from Author (leave contact info. for delivery in OB or PL).
REVIEWS: San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park: A History,
OB RAG ; Peninsula Beacon; Pt. Loma OB Monthly– A Page from History: How Albert G. Spalding became the father of Sunset Cliffs Park
Blavatt interview SUNSET CLIFFS INTERVIEWS of Kathy Blavatt by Chalie Landon:
Ocean Beach Living; Activism in the 70s and 80s Along the Cliffs; Along Sunset Cliffs, is a spot known as “Garbage Beach” (57,000+ Hits on YouTube)Ray and KathyBLAVATT STUDIO / home is in Ocean Beach San Diego, CA. The beach town‘s beauty, uniqueness and quirkiness are inspiration for Ray and Kathy’s creativity.

San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park: A History Book by Author Kathy Blavatt relates the many transformations of this beloved park and looks to its future.
Author Kathy Blavatt (Pearson) grew-up on Sunset Cliffs Blvd., and later lived in the family home with her husband, Ray. The couple was married at Dan Dixon’s cliff side “Villa Surf” overlooking “Garbage Beach.” Kathy’s other books include: Ocean Beach, Ocean Beach, Where Land and Water Meet incorporates her photos, historical photos and documents. BOOKS AVAILABLE at: Olive Tree Market, Stumps Market, OBMA, Rite Aid, CVS, Online sites and Amazon. Purchase directly from Author (leave contact info. for delivery in OB or PL).
REVIEWS: San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs Park: A History,
OB RAG ; Peninsula Beacon; Pt. Loma OB Monthly– A Page from History: How Albert G. Spalding became the father of Sunset Cliffs Park
Blavatt interview SUNSET CLIFFS INTERVIEWS of Kathy Blavatt by Chalie Landon:
Ocean Beach Living; Activism in the 70s and 80s Along the Cliffs; Along Sunset Cliffs, is a spot known as “Garbage Beach” (57,000+ Hits on YouTube)

Above- Vinod Lobo recieves First Place XPRIZE Award.
Left- The Learning Upgrade Team (Ray lower right) The Learning Upgrade team: Top row from left: Denis Lobo, Shyla Merle Lobo, Sheryin Lobo, John Banks. Bottom Row: Vinod Lobo, Drew Robinson, Ray Blavatt. Learning Upgrade is family run business with a group of good friends. Ray Blavatt, Animator has worked with Vinod Lobo, Founder, making edutainment/educational titles since 1990. This talented hardworking team are making a positive difference in the world. Learning Upgrade’s Adult Literacy app is being used in 60 countries by over 2 millions users. See more info. at: Learning Upgrade –A wonderful way of leaning  through animation, interactive games, lessons, and music.
San Diego Union Tribune:
Full Article at: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/technology/sd-fi-xprize-barbara-bush-learning-upgrade-20190216-story.html#share=email~story

Exert: San Diego’s Learning Upgrade named co-winner of literacy XPrize: Abril Parra shows how to use the Learning Upgrade app as part of an adult education program. The company was named co-winner of the Adult Literacy XPrize
Mike Freeman Contact Reporter
For more than two decades, San Diego’s Learning Upgrade has developed “handcrafted” video games that use music to teach reading and math.
A core group of about 10 workers stayed together through the ups and downs at the small family business, helping it navigate technology evolutions from computer compact discs to web-based online lessons to smartphone apps.
Last week, those years of under-the-radar work received big-time recognition. Learning Upgrade was named the co-winner of the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPrize, beating out more than 100 teams from 15 countries.
“We were in complete shock,” said Vinod Lobo, founder of Learning Upgrade. “Most of my team – meaning the artist, the programmer and my parents – have been working together for 20 to 25 years. Yes, we have helped 2 million people over the years who enrolled in our courses, but no one knows about us. So this was a mind-blowing event in the history of the company.”
Learning Upgrade shared the XPrize with People ForWords – a team based out of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Each will receive $2.5 million, in addition to the $100,000 they took home last summer for being named finalists.
Launched in 2015, the Adult Literacy XPrize — presented in partnership with the Dollar General Literacy Foundation — challenged teams to develop mobile apps that could teach literacy to adults who were reading at or below the third-grade level.
According to the XPrize Foundation, 36 million adults in the U.S. have low literacy skills. Former First Lady Barbara Bush believed literacy was fundamental to success. Unemployment rates among low literacy adults are twice the national average. And there’s a generational carryover. More than two-thirds of children of low literacy parents struggle with reading.
“Just imagine trying to find a job, get a driver’s license or understand your child’s report card without the ability to read and write,” said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a statement. “We launched this project to leverage the power of competition to infuse innovation and fresh ideas into the adult literacy landscape.”
The Adult Literacy XPrize winners were announced Feb. 7 by Jeb Bush on a yacht cruising off the coast of Miami. The event was part of the Florida Celebration of Reading, a fundraiser for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Lobo and his wife, Sheryin, were flown out for the event — along with representatives of other finalist teams.
“This is the 30th anniversary (of the Florida Celebration of Reading) and also the first time both Barbara Bush and George Bush were not there,” said Lobo. “It was kind of an emotional event.”
Upon returning to shore, Vinod and Sheryin set up a conference call with family and key employees on the West Coast to share the news.
Learning Upgrade is a tight-knit outfit. The company is owned by the couple and Vinod’s parents, who moved to the United States from India when he was 7. There are no investors and no debt.
“We have done everything on a shoestring,” he said. “You do it because you love doing it.”
Lobo’s mom, Shyla Merle Lobo, is a teacher and songwriter who pens the music for Learning Upgrade’s lessons. Video game designer John Banks and animator Ray Blavatt have been with the company for years. So have many of the singers, said Lobo.
Everyone works out of their homes. The lessons themselves have a “Schoolhouse Rock” feel but with more depth.
“We handcraft these lessons that are music and video and games,” said Lobo. “We have humor, variety, songs of different genres. It’s entertaining.”
Over the years, Learning Upgrade has produced roughly 1,000 literacy and math lessons. About three years ago, the company saw a dramatic shift in its business when it began offering smartphone app versions of lessons that previously were tailored for online computer users.
More adults began using its technology — including at the Umi Learning Center for North African refugees in San Diego and the Sweetwater Adult School program in Chula Vista. Three school districts in Los Angeles use the app version of Learning Upgrade in migrant family education programs.
“In our case, we can track all the learning,” said Lobo. “We can tell you Joe played on Saturday night, and he is having trouble with double vowels. Suzie is reading stories well, but her social studies textbook reading is not as good.”
The non-profit XPrize Foundation organizes contests to spark big leaps in innovation. Past competitions involved building a private, reusable spacecraft and a handheld medical diagnosis device similar to the fictional Tricorder from Star Trek.
Last summer, the Adult Literacy XPrize narrowed the field of contestants to five finalists. One dropped out, leaving Learning Upgrade, People ForWords, AmritaCreate of India and Cell-Ed of Oakland.
The finalists’ apps were tested on a combined 12,000 adult learners in Los Angeles, Dallas and Philadelphia. Winners were determined by the greatest literacy gains among both native English speakers and non-English speaker
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush presented the XPrize to Learning Upgrade in Florida last week.
Learning Upgrade won $1 million for the best test results among English speakers, while People ForWords took a $1 million prize for non-English speakers. The two firms split the $3 million grand prize.
The contest is not over. There’s also a $1 million Communities Competition this summer. It aims to get the four finalist apps into the hands of as many low literacy adults as possible – either through traditional programs at libraries and schools or non-traditional methods such as employers, public housing providers or YMCAs.
For example, a chicken processing company with thousands of employees plans to offer the apps to its low literacy workers, said Lobo.
Organizations and employees who participate in the Communities Competition are potential future customers for Learning Upgrade, said Lobo, which should help the company grow.
“Now we can say without anyone arguing that our program does help a learner make a significant gain,” he said. “So now it is a little easier to go to a Google or a Gates Foundation or whomever and say, A: It works with a large sample, and B: All people need to do is download the app and use it.”
He continued, “Can we serve millions of users every year in a sustainable way? That would be the dream, to scale up to serve millions of users.”
Union-Tribune columnist Diane Bell contributed to this report
“This is the 30th anniversary (of the Florida Celebration of Reading) and also the first time both Barbara Bush and George Bush were not there,” said Lobo. “It was kind of an emotional event.”
Upon returning to shore, Vinod and Sheryin set up a conference call with family and key employees on the West Coast to share the news.
Learning Upgrade is a tight-knit outfit. The company is owned by the couple and Vinod’s parents, who moved to the United States from India when he was 7. There are no investors and no debt.
“We have done everything on a shoestring,” he said. “You do it because you love doing it.”
Lobo’s mom, Shyla Merle Lobo, is a teacher and songwriter who pens the music for Learning Upgrade’s lessons. Video game designer John Banks and animator Ray Blavatt have been with the company for years. So have many of the singers, said Lobo.
Everyone works out of their homes. The lessons themselves have a “Schoolhouse Rock” feel but with more depth.
“We handcraft these lessons that are music and video and games,” said Lobo. “We have humor, variety, songs of different genres. It’s entertaining.”
Over the years, Learning Upgrade has produced roughly 1,000 literacy and math lessons. About three years ago, the company saw a dramatic shift in its business when it began offering smartphone app versions of lessons that previously were tailored for online computer users.
More adults began using its technology — including at the Umi Learning Center for North African refugees in San Diego and the Sweetwater Adult School program in Chula Vista. Three school districts in Los Angeles use the app version of Learning Upgrade in migrant family education programs.
“In our case, we can track all the learning,” said Lobo. “We can tell you Joe played on Saturday night, and he is having trouble with double vowels. Suzie is reading stories well, but her social studies textbook reading is not as good.”
The non-profit XPrize Foundation organizes contests to spark big leaps in innovation. Past competitions involved building a private, reusable spacecraft and a handheld medical diagnosis device similar to the fictional Tricorder from Star Trek.
Last summer, the Adult Literacy XPrize narrowed the field of contestants to five finalists. One dropped out, leaving Learning Upgrade, People ForWords, AmritaCreate of India and Cell-Ed of Oakland.
The finalists’ apps were tested on a combined 12,000 adult learners in Los Angeles, Dallas and Philadelphia. Winners were determined by the greatest literacy gains among both native English speakers and non-English speakers…..
Full Article at:  //www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/technology/sd-fi-xprize-barbara-bush-learning-upgrade-20190216-story.html#share=email~story

HOW DOES MY GARDEN GROW?
KATHY BLAVATT writes articles with photos for the OB Rag  about local horticulture and landscaping. She  incorporates historical content and information about what is happening in terms of local and San Diego horticulture.
Red Sky at Night – Gardener’s Delight
Love or Hate the Daisies, Eucalyptus and Native Plants of Sunset Cliffs, its all History
The Many Shades of Red
Holidays with a bit of history and food from the garden
Scary Food From My Ocean Beach Garden
Think Vertical…Up,Up, and display
Smell the Roses and the Freesias
Louise Peirson and Her History Making Garden in Ocean Beach
Nature’s Garden Dance Under a Full Moo
Tis the Season of the Agave
Greens Make The OB Holidays Greener
Inspirations Blooms-Remembering Fran Conley
How Does My Garden Grown