Students learn computer rehab at summer technology camp
August 18, 2010 - Students from five innovative high schools gathered in Raleigh earlier this month for a unique program that blends computer savvy with community service. For the second year running, small high schools in North Carolina with a focus on STEM themes -- science, technology, engineering and math -- sent teams of students to the Youth Technology Corps computer camp to learn how to refurbish used computers for use in their communities.
The Youth Technology Corps (YTC), a Chicago-based non-profit, builds and runs after-school programs designed to wake the interest of high school students in STEM. In YTC programs, students take computers apart, test the components, reassemble good components into working machines, and load open-source software.
Through that exercise, they gain comfort and familiarity with technology and the process of refurbishment. Students then donate, set up, and maintain computer labs in schools, churches, youth centers, senior homes and other places, chosen by the students with the community. Furthermore, YTC students teach community members how to use the computers, software and networks to communicate and do real work.
In doing so, students reinforce what they have learned and also gain basic teaching skills. Students can then use this technology platform to pursue other interests in structured YTC programs that let them explore, design, and implement real scientific research, new applications of technology, productions using video and web media, or entrepreneurial business ideas of their own.
In partnership with the North Carolina New Schools Project (NCNSP) and the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES), YTC expanded to North Carolina in August 2009 and further expanded this year. Students from these North Carolina schools participated in the camp this summer:
� Centennial Campus Middle School, Raleigh, NC
� Duplin Early College High School, Kenansville, NC
� Jacket Integrated Academy at Carver High School, Winston-Salem, NC
� Nash/Rocky Mount Early College High School, Rocky Mount, NC
� Northampton-West STEM High School, Gaston, NC
� Wayne School of Engineering at Goldsboro High School, Goldsboro, NC
The North Carolina students were joined by peers from eight high schools in the Chicago area. The YTC expansion in North Carolina is supported by the following organizations:
� After School Matters, Chicago, IL
� J.S. Morton School District 201
� North Carolina New Schools Project (NCNSP)
� Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES)
� OfficeMax
� J.P. Morgan Chase
