FEATURE/Computer Donations to Technology-Deficient Schools Bring Power and Light to Students.

News/Assignment Editors

FEATURE...

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2000

One company's output is helping illuminate the minds of local students -- through computer donations.

For sophomore Chris Woersing at Huntington Beach High School that means casting a bright light on black holes. "Man, it's awesome," Woersing said as he and classmate Matt McCall surfed the Internet, studying the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Web site, "It does so much. When you don't have a computer for school work you really have it complicated. It's like being in the dark ages."

Chris, Matt and the other students in Bob Dreifus' science class do have computers -- multimedia, Internet-worthy, high-speed, state-of-the-art computers -- because of a donation to their school from Edison International, parent company of utility Southern California Edison. At 300 MHz with 36x CD-ROM drives, the systems have plenty of power. Dreifus said they're a definite step up in class.

"We got very nice, high-end machines," the teacher noted, "it's excellent stuff. Every one is networked to the Internet and ready for every element of our curriculum."

Nicole Iturriaga, a Huntington Beach freshman, said she's been on a pretty steep learning curve during her relatively recent exposure to computers.

"In the beginning," Nicole noted as she and fellow freshman Yolandi Jooste created a density graph, "I didn't know what I was doing. Now I know a lot more about it and it makes me feel good that I can do this."

Woersing said he fully understands what big a difference having the right equipment can make. "I was in a school where they had these old computers and it was torture. We hated to do the work because of those things." The six machines now installed in the Huntington Beach science class are part of a 1,000-computer donation by Edison to Orange County, Calif. schools.

The company made a $35,000 grant to the Detwiler Foundation to support its Orange County equipment donations. Half the machines were in the Pentium II class, the others are first-generation Pentiums. Edison has partnered with the Computers for Schools Program over the last three years to make sure some of California's technology-deficient schools get the equipment they need to get and stay online.

In spite of its role as the international center of computer technology development and advancement, California ranks 50th nationally, according to a recent Dunn and Bradstreet survey, in the ratio of students per instructional computer. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that all classrooms be connected to the Internet, and that no more than five students share each multimedia classroom computer.

The Edison donation to Orange County comes on the heels of a contribution of 875 computers, also Pentiums and Pentium II's, to Los Angeles County schools in November 1999. It also continues a partnership with Computers for Schools through which the company has placed thousands of computers in Southern California schools over the past three years.

"Our partnership with Edison has resulted in significant enhancement of education technology for the schools served," noted John Detwiler, president of the Detwiler Foundation and co-creator of the Computers for Schools Program, "It means so much for the children using the equipment. I don't know if we can overemphasize the importance of computer literacy and technology availability to today's student. Our partners at Edison truly understand that and work hard to give our children every chance to succeed."

The donations are especially significant in areas where lower-income students have limited access to computers. Edison sees its contributions as a way to attack the so-called "Digital Divide" between the technology "haves" and "have-nots." Beverly Ryder, Edison's corporate secretary and director of educational relations, believes the company's involvement is critical.

"For many families and students, the only place they will likely get access to computers is at school. We see the Computers for Schools Program as a unique way to fill this need and get computers into the hands of these children at their school under guided instruction."

Edison's contributions to this cause are just one piece of a bigger picture that illustrates the company's commitment to education. The corporation has provided more than 2,600 scholarships and invests $400,000 annually for teacher innovation awards and education partnership grants.

"Our collaboration with Computers for Schools," noted Ryder, "underscores our shared belief that education is critical in our rapidly advancing world, and that computer literacy is what today's generation needs to prepare for the competitive global workplace."

Sophomore Chris Woersing is already well aware of the importance of computer literacy, and Edison's contribution, even as he navigates the challenges of high school assignments.

"Using a computer for school, it makes you look like you have class," Woersing said, chuckling at his little joke, "It makes you look like you know something and that you care about how it looks. I would tell students who don't have a lot of time on computers to find one anywhere you can so you can be ready." Ready, he might add, to shine more light on black holes and other subjects that may now seem dark and mysterious.

Photos and signed release forms of students interviewed are available on request.