Expanding the Kids Computer Kamp
"FREE PCs FOR KIDS"
program globally is fast, fun and easy
Many Youth Agencies and Schools are underfunded and understaffed.
Even the time it takes to read this page could have been spent
with a child or preparing activities for the children in your care.
So, our goal is to make sure your time spent here is worth it!
The FREE PCs FOR KIDS program is easy to set up at your facility,
and as the class explains, after 1-2 weeks, the lab takes care of itself
so very little staffing is required; each batch of students becomes
the tutors and teachers for the students below them. This is part
of our philosophy; "Each One Teach One.".
While always free for Kids, the classes can be profitable when taught
to adults. The free aspect can help obtain government grants, grants
for education, grants serving at-risk youth, battered women and
seniors and this can also generate some capital for buying equipment
such as benches and replacement keyboards.
But remember: the equipment required to run the labs is free
and once your techs have built a few
PCs for Children, including specialized 'Child PCs' that have educational
tools built in, you will find your pile of parts starts to grow.
DON'T THROW THAT PILE AWAY!
Instead, expand your program to assist other youth centers in your
area and in turn, these centers can become DROP-OFF SITES for
donated gear. This reduces your time collecting equipment for the
labs substantially. Also, you can visit the youth center drop-off
spot and give them a few working PCs in exchange for a truck full of
parts. Everyone wins!
WHO BUILDS THESE WORKING PCs? Your students of course, and in the
process they can exchange an older/slower PC they made last month for
one of the new faster/hotter PCs/motherboards in the donation pile.
Just watch when your students spot a fast motherboard in the pile and
scramble for it. Explain that whoever builds a PC for ABC Youth Center
with their old PC at home can install the new gear in their computer
and take it home. Pretty soon you will have a whirlwind bench of techs
making new computers for youth centers and family centers all over your
community.
It is hard to imagine just how fast the excitement grows, but it
really does take off like a rocket once you start the labs!
- Make a small flyer describing the benefits of free PCs for
the kids who come to youth center and daycare facilities. From
better grades to technical skills, a free PC to take home is a
huge asset to a child. Simply ask for 'piles of scrap PC parts'
in exchange for 'working PCs'. They will want to know more about
this program.
- Make a list of youth centers and send out your postcard. Have them
contact you by email.
- When they write back, explain that there are a lot of donated
PCs (usually not working) in their area and if they will collect them
and bring them to you, you can repair them and give them working PCs
in return.
- Side Benefits: your parts pile will grow huge (give it all away via
working PCs...there are plenty more)
and soon your kids will be the hottest techs in your area, and as the number of 'fast PCs' increases, your
kids will have the best gear and have plenty of good gear to send out
to other agencies.
Don't forget kids in foreign countries!
Letting your children develop 'SISTER SITES' with youth agencies
in developing regions means exposing them to new cultures and expanding
their minds. Once or twice a year build a 'Pile' of working PCs' and
contact firms such as UPS to arrange for free shipping to a distant
youth center. You can find them online. Develop a relationship with one
center and then another and soon your kids will have friends around the world.
Make these activities part of your grad program!
- Each team (2-4 kids) is responsible finding a youth center or senior center or center for battered women.
- Each team competes to see how many working PCs they deliver and set up at the facility they choose.
- Each team competes to see how many donated PCs they can bring to your site to build your inventory and the donate pile.
- Extra credit for teams who work with overseas agencies!
- By encouraging these types of activities, kids learn both technical and humanitarian skills and develop an appreciatation for foreign cultures.
Not sure where to start? First, build a 2 foot by 4, 6 or 8 foot long bench. Simple plywood is fine.
Classic Example
of Overkill
A San Francisco Youth Agency loved our labs and wanted to
have them at their large site. We thought GREAT!
We told them to set up the simple benches and we'd help them
get the labs going. Instead they spent over 4 months building gorgeous
formica benches, but forgot to spend a dime on bringing power to the
area. When we arrived, with large orange extension cords to solve
the electrical problems, we also
found out the formica benches had no holes cut (in back, behind
the monitors), for power cords to drop down so...
Luckily one of our best students in 2005 (Kat), was a whiz with
a cordless drill and we (she) had one in her truck and had actually
come to teach, but instead we started that day drilling about 15 holes
and getting power to the area.
We finally started getting the lab going, but found a lot of
students had lost interest in those 4 months and didn't show up
and those that did felt the lab was not only poorly planned,
but the equipment was set up like a 'learning center', rather than
a 'PC Repair Bench', so we spent another hour or so getting
that straightened up.
By the time we finally got some momentum going, the head of the
facility had accepted a job out of state and the new Admin saw
the poor attendance, poor electrical feeds, dysfunctional equipment
(early labs have a high ratio of non-working PCs compared to
working ones) and decided to cancel the labs.
Rather than just putting down a SIMPLE PLYWOOD BENCH these
folks spent a fortune making gorgeous tables that were really
never used. The new Admin had them all torn out and did some
other project in that area.
HUGE LESSON: do not make 'furniture' an excuse for your
sites inability to deliver a great technical education to the kids you
serve. Painted plywood benches, card tables,
banquet tables, anything that resembles a flat surface is
fine. You will be dragging PC cases across it and there is
little to be gained by making a gorgeous bench only to have
it scratched up or waiting 4 months while some contractor
puts the lab up without even considering the electrical requirements.
These labs aren't about pretty benches; they are about kids
tearing PCs apart and putting them back together.
In short, no excuses: collect the PCs, review the classes
at this site and get going! |
Try a Fair or Fiesta where you offer:
- The KCK 101 Lab - let the kids build from piles of dead parts. It doesn't
matter if they drop or break anything. Kids who want a free PC can take the
final exam and walk home with a working compuer.
- Offer a 'reading circle' for younger kids. Story time and art/crayon
activities can help them expand their imaginations.
- Offer an 'internet circle' and kids who have never been online can
learn about email and finding answers to homework online. At least one
PC in he donated pile should be working well enough to get online.
If not, one of your staff (or a kid) should be able to build one
within a day or two with the classes presented here.
- Offer a music class, such as basic guitar or piano or both!
Kids who learn music traditionally do much better in school.
During the fair make sure all the parents know YOU NEED DONATED
PCs; WORKING OR NOT! and ask them (with a little flyer) to clean
out their garage or office space of unwanted junk.
Once your lab is moving forward, focus on the KCK 101 lab until
you have plenty of students and teachers (all kids) and then move forward
with the advanced classes such as networking, setting up an Apache Server,
writing HTML etc. While the advanced classes are great for labs that
have lot's of student teachers, if you only do the KCK 101 lab and
tons of kids get tons of Free PCs...that's just fine!
Once your lab is going strong, expand the free PCs you give away
to the local community and global village we all share. In the process
you will find your children develop an acute sense of appreciation
for the things they have, the things they can give and all that they
learned while in your care.
And THAT is the finest gift of all.
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