Taylor Blair has already worked up her resume and her cover letter. The only thing standing between her and that coveted chemist's job is her video.

The camera starts. The Albany resident stutters and "ums" her way through her educational background, volunteer efforts and hobbies.

"I would like to find a solution to, um, instead of using fossil fuels for gas and diesel I would like to use alternative fuel and come up with that," she concludes, wincing as the camera shuts off. "I really sucked, didn't I?"

Jacob Johnson of the Boys & Girls Club of Albany suggests she try again. It can take more than a dozen takes to nail down the perfect video resume, he says.

Taylor, who is just two months shy of her 13th birthday, has time to practice before really applying at a chemical research firm. But by the time she does, both she and Johnson figure that firm will want to see not just a few stapled pages, but a full multimedia resume.

"My impression is it gives your employer a feel of what your personality is right up front," explains Johnson, who is filming video resumes as one of the activities for the Miracles Technology Academies at the Boys & Girls Club.

Preparing pre-teens for the technological demands they'll face in the future is one of the main goals of the Miracles Technology Academies, being offered for the first time this year at the Albany club.

Albany's is one of just three clubs nationwide currently offering the academies. Johnson, the technology director for the Albany club, is field-testing curriculum and drafting his own for use by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Created by film producer and philanthropist Todd Wagner, the original Miracles was an after-school program for inner-city kids to boost their technological, educational and life skills.

The Boys & Girls Club of America adapted the curriculum into the technology academies, two-year programs for students ages 10 to 13. Albany received a $140,000 grant to run the academy for three years.

In Albany, the academy is an umbrella for the Lego Robotics team, the Torch leadership club, homework help groups and "club tech" groups, whose members work with music, photos, graphics and web design.

"I like messing around with computers, and Lego Robotics sounded cool," says Taylor, who joined last fall and is now on the academy's board of directors.

Adds fellow board member Chantell Fulton, 11, who designed her own website this year: "It's just a big learning experience for everyone. If I wasn't involved in this program, I wouldn't know anything about computers."