 |
 |
|
School Children From Low-Income Neighborhoods Will Build, Keep Their Own Computers With Help From the University of Dayton
Brand-new computers are giving students from some of Dayton's poorest neighborhoods a better chance for success.
May 08, 2003
Dayton, Ohio -- Barry Ryder believes the fundamentals of reading, writing and 'rithmetic aren't enough any more to help children succeed in the classroom and in life. Ryder, a special education teacher at Patterson-Kennedy International Heritage Academy in Dayton, would add to those three "Rs" a "T" -- for technology -- and dreams of one day seeing each of Patterson Kennedy's 700 students equipped with a computer.
The University of Dayton's Raymond L. Fitz Center for Leadership in Community is working to make that dream come true for students at Patterson-Kennedy and other Dayton elementary schools. On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13 and 14, nine children from the Fairgrounds neighborhood will build from scratch two new desktop computers -- completing one each evening -- with the assistance of students in UD's chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery. The ACM students will build eight more computers in the same week, and all nine children will be given a new computer to take home.
The Computer Build project, implemented in 2002 by the Center for Leadership in Community's Rubicon House with funds from National City Bank, will take place from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Rubicon House at 1056 Brown St. One of the computers being built this year will remain at Rubicon for use by families in the Fairgrounds neighborhood.
The brains behind the Computer Build are undergraduates Jim Danis, a junior entrepreneurship major, and Charles Lockhart III, a senior computer engineering major, who volunteer with students in Patterson-Kennedy's Cyber Café -- an interactive-learning computer lab for students and families also created by UD with grant money. Danis and Lockhart organized the first build last spring with a donation of computers to 10 Patterson-Kennedy students.
Many of the school's students do not have computers at home, so their exposure is limited to time allotted in school, Danis said. "That really puts a bottle neck in the skills they can pick up. We wanted to find a way to get these kids computers for their homes, because it's amazing to see what children can figure out on their own when they have time. And the earlier you can get a computer into a child's hands, the better off they'll be in today's world."
Lockhart, who serves as president of ACM this year, agreed. "The world today revolves around computers, even in doing basic, everyday work," he said. "Students who have access to computers are on a more level playing field."
On the evenings of the build, UD students will show the younger students and their parents what each computer part is and how it works and how all the parts fit together. By buying computer components -- processors, RAM, mother boards, hard-shell cases, etc. -- rather than whole computers, each finished computer will cost between $350 and $400, Danis said, adding that Microsoft donated some of the Windows systems to the project.
"By building them ourselves, we not only save a great deal of money, but we believe showing the children how the components work will whet their appetites to learn more and even help them troubleshoot, if need be."
Citing an example of a suburban school that outfits each student with a laptop, Ryder said Patterson-Kennedy students are, by contrast, technologically behind -- simply because they are part of a "big urban system." "But the generosity of the University of Dayton and the student volunteers who are helping put this together are giving these students an edge," he said.
During last year's computer build, Ryder predicted the extra computer time would make the students who received computers academically stronger, a statement he stands by today. "One year later, they're still saying 'thank you.' They tell me they go to the library to borrow software, and the more they learn, the more they want to know. They're asking questions about 'what's next' that they wouldn't be asking if they didn't have access to their computers."
Students and families who participate this year will receive training in hardware and software use and can continue to train during open computer hours at Rubicon.
Ray Strickland, a graduate public administration student who directs activities at Rubicon House, says children and adults alike will benefit from the computer to be donated to Rubicon. "Anyone in the neighborhood who wants to learn can come and get training, including senior citizens," Strickland said. "There are elderly folks in the neighborhood who are positive that the tech age has passed them by, and we're out to prove otherwise."
For Danis and Lockhart, the work involved in coordinating the project -- on top of their studies -- is rewarded when they see the students learning their way around the machine. "It's like Christmas every day," Danis said. "Every time they click on something, a new present pops up. And the best part is, they're having so much fun, they lose themselves in learning without realizing it."
Contact: Pamela Gregg
OFFICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
300 College Park
Dayton, Ohio 45469-1679
(937) 229-3241
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Home
Press