YOUNGSTOWN Donated computers help kids
GTECH donates the computers in an effort to bridge the 'digital divide' between those who can afford computers and those who cannot.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Twelve-year-old Jerry Soker wants to be a jet pilot when he grows up.
That's why the Paul C. Bunn Elementary School fifth-grader wants to raise his grades and catch up to the sixth-grade class.
He was held back. But on Tuesday he said new computers and software at the United Methodist Community Center after-school program are helping him pull up his marks.
Jerry is one of the many youngsters in the program using nine new computers donated to the center on North Pearl Street on the city's East Side.
GTECH Corporation, which provides a lottery technology to Ohio and several other states, donated the computers, Internet links, software and volunteers to the center through the company's After School Advantage program.
Computers are donated to after-school programs in disadvantaged areas in an effort to help bridge the "digital divide" that exists between those who can afford computer technology and those who cannot -- often minorities, low-income households, and families headed by a single parent. The programs target youngsters ages 5 to 15.
This is the ninth After School Advantage site in Ohio and the 68th in the country since GTECH began the program in 1999.
GTECH donates an average of $20,000 in computers, online technology, software and volunteer work to each lab. They have committed to donate $3.3 million.
"There are so many kids in the country who have computers at school and they have them at home. But for kids in disadvantaged areas or in a family who can't afford it, they don't have computers at home," said Donald Sweitzer, senior vice president of public affairs for GTECH.
Ceremony: GTECH officials joined area dignitaries and business leaders and the center's executive director Millicent S. Counts to launch the new computer lab Tuesday.
"You're giving these kids life," said state Sen. Tim Ryan of Girard, D-32nd. "You're giving them an opportunity to live life, to reach their full potential."
Ryan said educating children is key to helping revitalize the area. Educated children become educated adults who open businesses and build a community, he said.
Also commenting at the opening were state Rep. Kenneth A. Carano of Austintown, D-65th, Councilman Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, and Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court.
"Where do I sign up?" asked Judge Dellick, admitting that she is computer illiterate.
The judge said after-school programs are key to reducing juvenile delinquency.
The opening was marked by spiritual a cappella music performance by Cheryl Thacker and her son Pierre, 10. Pierre also was joined by his sister Nadia, 12, for a mime performance. The children and their sister, Desiree, 6, are all part of the center's after-school program.
Combining work, fun: After the performances, several pupils sat down to use software with such titles as "Math Blaster," "Where in the USA is Carmen San Diego?," "Orly's Draw-A-Story," "School House Rock," and "Jump-Start." Counts said the pupils who attend the after-school program don't have computers at home.
Desiree Jordan, 12, a sixth-grader at Bunn Elementary, said science is her favorite school subject. The new computers help her with schoolwork and may help her reach her goal of becoming a doctor.
Joshua Roman, 12, also a Bunn sixth-grader, said he started the after-school program at UMCC this fall. Since then, his math grades have risen from F's to C's. The math programs on the new computers are "lots of fun," he said.
viviano@vindy.com