Here at Sifteo we spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a good neighbor. After all, neighboring is one of the gestures that make Sifteo cubes so unique. We make sure that our gesture detection technology supports the best neighboring experience possible, fine-tuning how quickly neighbored cubes detect each other, the audio and visual feedback they provide when neighbored, and how we can use these capabilities to design the most awesome games.

After so much talk about neighboring (and shaking, flipping, pressing, and tilting, for that matter), we started to wonder if perhaps our understanding of the concept was just a little too narrow. What if Sifteo cubes weren’t the only good neighbors sitting around in our office and we, too, became great neighbors to our surrounding community? And especially to the kids who inspire so much of our work??

Thus, Sifteo’s Neighbor Initiative was born. Some might call this a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, but we just call it good business. The Neighbor Initiative is officially due to launch next week on Sifteo’s 3rd anniversary, but we can’t help leaking the news a little early to our regular readers.

Basically, the Neighbor Initiative is a program designed to give support where youth, technology, and innovation intersect. It’s a special place where we want to develop opportunities for more young people to be imaginative and create; to cultivate skills and a passion for learning that will last a lifetime.

Like startups tend to do, we’re starting small but dreaming big—as Sifteo grows, we want to ensure that our giving program grows, too. Ultimately, we aspire to make contributions to educational and community-based programs for kids all over the country.

For the immediate future, however, we’re excited to make a donation of Sifteo cubes to a nonprofit organization here in Potrero Hill. Sifteo cubes are filling the computer labs of After School Enrichment Program (ASEP), which is designed to accomodate all grades levels with age-appropriate content, and is offered to students on a need-based sliding scale. We like how many students can benefit from ASEP, which is why we’ve chosen to partner with them to put cool technology in the hands of every student at the three locations their programs serve.

ASEP offers 1-on-1 and small group homework tutorials in addition to a wide range of elective classes, such as African dance and drumming, nutrition, beat-boxing, and Spanish language. They are looking forward to the donation to popularize its class on computational skills and to assist its students’ development in this key curricular field.

“Parents see the potential and always want their children to be exposed to technology in school,” said ASEP program director Grace de la Cruz. “And San Francisco schools are doing a huge push for literacy programs right now, especially to reach English Language Learners (ELL). At Daniel Webster, 90% of our students are ELL—Sifteo cubes will be a huge boost for those students because of the kinesthetic, hands-on experience.”

We think Sifteo is a fun, valuable tool for education because of the Intelligent play concept upon which our system is founded. Games like Mt. Brainiac, Cube Math, WordPlay, and Peano’s Vault have direct application in the classroom; the Creativity Kit has proven to be a tremendous resource for teachers, parents, and DIY game enthusiasts, who can easily create their own puzzles tailored to a specific idea or scholastic need.

And beyond the strictly academic, of course, we’re happy that Sifteo Cubes can offer ASEP students such a fun and unique play experience—after all, play is the best kind of reward for hard work!

We’ll be sure to say more about this in the next week or two to let you know more about the Neighbor Initiative, how you can get involved, and what’s new here in our neighborhood. Thanks for your interest in CSR! We welcome your feedback at neighbor@sifteo.com.

Want to pick up a full set of 6 Sifteo cubes for a possibly way-discounted price? Read on!

Sifteo has donated 3 sets of cubes to a silent auction in support of the students at the International Studies Academy (ISA), a small public school instructing grades 6 – 12, right here in our neighborhood in Potrero Hill.

ISA is special because it is committed to teaching with international relations and global diversity as core curricular components. With the intention of expanding their students’ perspectives, teachers plan excursions abroad for them each year. These trips are significant and often transformative experiences for the young travelers, most of whom have never left the state, let alone the country.

Chris Cary, ISA teacher of U.S. history, U.S. government, and economics, explained that the proceeds from the auction will help fund these international educational experiences.

“ISA serves a challenging student population. Most of the students live in the Hunter’s Point/Bayview area and experience poverty,” Cary said. “This year, our students will be traveling to Ghana to examine the origins and effect of the slave trade, to Panama to experience Latin American culture and the biological diversity of the tropics, to Germany, where they will reciprocate home stays with the students whom they hosted in October of last year, and to Washington, D.C., where students will see the nation’s capital and meet their representatives.”

When Sifteoans learned about this remarkable program, we agreed that the ISA studies abroad are a worthy cause; we were excited to pitch in and make a donation of Sifteo cubes. We thought it was a nicely appropriate auction item to support such a creative approach to education.

We asked Cary if he will be traveling with the students this year.

“I’m leading the D.C. trip for the second time,” he said. “I’m excited to introduce the travelers, most of whom are recent immigrants, to the government and its institutions.”

Rock on, ISA.

If you’re in the area, we hope to see you at the auction! The fund-raising event is from 6:30-8:30 pm TONIGHT (January 20) at the Rutter Center, USCF Mission Bay Campus. FYI, tasty appetizers and drinks will be served.