KHOU Channel 11 News reports on our efforts to improve the academy performance of the children in North Forest.
Click on video for Wendell Edwards' 11 News report
Just before lunch, inside the Northeast Christian School, the future meets the present. Students as young as 2-years-old can be found in a computer lab all their own. They are typing and learning, just by doing.
"I teach the 3-year-olds, too. So, it even helps them with the alphabet,” said Fannie Pinder, the school’s assistant director. “We go over and drill it everyday. We drill it in." The computers are refurbished the Pre-K software is donated. It was all put here by a group called Bridging the Digital Divide, paid for with a $20,000 grant.
"When Houston Venture Capital said they had a grant, we knew that North Forest had a need,” said Bridging the Digital Divide’s technical director Johnny Molock. The need came in part because the local school district, North Forest ISD, has been under state scrutiny for more than a year because of financial and academic problems.
And the people in this group worried about the children who live in this troubled district. "This is where you got to get them now. You get them here now. If you catch them early, they will never get behind,” said Molock. Right now, they have about 40 computers in 10 different daycare centers. And they hope to expand.
The biggest obstacle now is securing more funds. The group says it will take about $500,000 to put computers labs in every licensed daycare facility in the North Forest area. A lofty goal, organizers admit. But more labs can only give the youngest minds a clear head start.
Link to story online:
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080222_tj_computers.1b01a657.html