In The News
Friday, August 10, 2001
Students get wired at tech camp
Non-profit program aims to bridge 'digital
divide'
By Ray Khirallah Jr.
The responses to the question - 'What do
you want to do when you grow up?' - were as varied as the
ethnicities of the middle schoolers at Crossroads for Kids
summer camp in Duxbury.
"I want to be a pediatrician,"
one camper shouted.
"An FBI agent," another said.
"A Japanese animator," said another.
These were the kind of answers that Paul
Deninger looked for as he monitored the WiredWoods camp-ending
celebration yesterday. WiredWoods is a nonprofit program that
teaches low-income middle school students about technology.
Deninger, the chairman and CEO of Broadview
Holdings, funded WiredWoods this year, to help bridge what
he called "the digital divide."
"The key of this program is to be a
catalyst to get kids excited about computers," Deninger
said. "When they get older and are looking for a summer
job, they will realize that with the experience they have
they can do something other than flipping burgers."
For 65 years, Crossroads for Kids has been
working with children at risk of developing problems such
as drug and alcohol abuse or becoming involved with gang violence.
This is the first year a technology-intense program has been
added to the curriculum.
Caiheem Kindell, an 11-year old from Dorchester,
has been attending Crossroads for Kids for the past four years.
The addition of a high-speed Internet connection, digital
cameras and HTML instruction gave him a new experience this
year.
For this final project, Kindall developed
a web page with pictures of his friends from camp and a link
that plays their favorite songs. Yesterday, he clicked through
several windows on a computer screen to expose the coding
behind his web creation.
"These codes are talking to the computer,"
Kindall said. "Then, I took the pictures with a camera
and put them on a grid."
Tyneshia Oliver, a 12-year old from Cape
Cod, produced an online brochure for WiredWoods. She took
pictures of camp facilities and showed streaming video of
activities.
Several speakers encouraged the children
to continue using technology when they left the camp.
"I think it's outrageously important
what's going on out here," said Gerald Dottin, a Lotus
Notes system administrator in Boston. "These kids, by
touching technology and accessing it, are, I think 70 percent
ahead of the game when they get to college."
Six computer-savvy teachers taught the campers
throughout two-and three-week sessions. One hundred campers
took part in WiredWoods.
"They were very receptive and excited
about everything they were learning," said Ellen Murphy,
a middle school computer teacher from Bennignton, VT. "This
was actually better than teaching in a school because we had
the kdis for a longer priod of time, and there were more resources."
Deninger plans to continue the program next
year, and will eventually try to accommodate more students.
"These kids came in here at ground zero,
and it was extraordinary to see some of the things they were
able to do," he said.
Ray Khirallah may be reached at rkhirallah@ledger.com
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