March 22, 2009

Students receive free computers

By Heather Darenberg
Staff Writer

DULUTH - After the computer was securely loaded into her mother's car, Dominique Vaughn smiled brightly.

Bercita Baker, right, watches as her son, Austin, learns how to use a computer program called “Real Lives,” software that simulates life in different countries. Computers for Youth provided sixth-graders at Radloff Middle School with free computers loaded with educational software as long as the students and their families attended a half-day seminar to learn how to use the machines. Staff photo: Heather Darenberg

"I think it's great to have my own computer," the sixth-grader said.

The machine came at a price that could make anyone smile: free.

Dominique and her mother, Tamesha Smith, paid no money for the refurbished desktop computer loaded with educational software. All they had to do to take it home was attend a half-day seminar Saturday at Dominique's school, Louise Radloff Middle, to learn how to use the computer and the provided programs.

Every sixth-grader at Radloff Middle was invited to attend a seminar and receive a computer from Computers for Youth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income middle school students do better in school by improving their home learning environments, said Jeanne Artime, co-director of Computers for Youth in Atlanta.

Radloff Middle is the first Gwinnett County school to partner with Computers for Youth, which will provide about 900 computers this year to students at six schools in the Atlanta area, Artime said. Schools where 75 percent of the student population participates in the free or reduced lunch program are eligible to apply to the program.

Computers for Youth has corporate partners, such as Given Imaging in Duluth and Cisco in Lawrenceville, that donate their used computers as they upgrade to newer systems. The refurbished computers given to students are valued at about $800, Artime said.

About 140 sixth-graders and their families attended seminars Saturday, and another 140 are expected to attend sessions March 28, Radloff Middle principal Patty Heitmuller said. About 370 sixth-graders are enrolled in the school, so at least 75 percent of students at that grade level should receive a computer.

Heitmuller said the computer software will allow students to practice concepts they've learned at school and to complete homework assignments. More importantly, the training seminars encouraged parents to become engaged with their children.

"Research shows it's real clear kids whose parents are involved with their learning are going to do better in school and stay in school longer," Heitmuller said. "If a lack of technology is a barrier, that barrier is being removed."

Radloff Middle's partnership with Computers for Youth is ongoing, so the school's next class of sixth-graders will have the opportunity to receive free computers as well, Artime said.

Computers for Youth targets middle school students because research shows students in those grades show the steepest decline in academic achievement, Artime said. It's also the time when children begin to disengage from academics and parents begin to feel less capable of helping with increasingly complex homework assignments.

"We believe parents want their children to succeed, but sometimes they just need the resources and assistance," Artime said.

After learning about some of the educational software, Norcross resident Adrianne Richardson said she thinks the computer will help her son, Adam, academically.

"I think it will prove helpful," she said.