C4K Equips Tennessee Youth With Computers

By Mandy Hale, Public Relations Specialist, Connected Tennessee

In the final installment of our back to school blog series, we examine Connected Tennessee's innovative and successful Computers 4 Kids program, which helps gives youth across Tennessee access to their own home computer.

Kids across Tennessee will be going back to school next week armed with not only summer memories, but with new computers, thanks to Connected Tennessee’s Computers 4 Kids (C4K) program.

C4K has been making its way across the state this summer, from Union City in far west Tennessee to Kingsport in far east Tennessee, awarding a total of more than 1,400 computers to deserving youth across the state. Both teens aging out of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services program as well as active participants in the state’s Boys & Girls Clubs received computers – the DCS youth awarded with laptops to carry with them into the next phase of their lives, while the Boys & Girls Clubs were outfitted with new computer labs, available to the children to work on projects, complete homework assignments, and in some cases, even check out a laptop to take home for studying purposes.

“Many participants come from low-income, single-parent homes and don’t have computers,” explains Michal Cranford, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga. “With take-home computers, doing research papers may be easier for students, and those in high school will be able to find more financial aid opportunities for college.”

In Knoxville, the Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year Nadia Valdez will start at the University of Tennessee this fall. Thanks to the C4K computers available to her through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Knoxville, Nadia will have somewhere to go to work on college assignments and connect with new friends in social network settings. Nadia’s experience with the Boys & Girls Clubs has equipped her with both social and educational tools that will last her far into the future:

“I recently competed for the Southeast Region Title and made it to the top three. It was an amazing experience and a wonderful way to meet other Youth of the Year across the region,” says Nadia. “I am super excited about attending the University of Tennessee next month; the summer has just completely flown by. Summer Orientation was a blast, and I cannot wait for classes to start! Thank you once again for all of your hard work and compassion.”

As summer turns to fall, the next phase of the C4K project will be kicking into high gear, with various training opportunities taking place at both DCS and Boys & Girls Clubs locations across the state. And the project will continue to award computers and host other educational events for the next two years, impacting nearly 60,000 youth across the state by the time it reaches completion.

Debbie Gray, executive vice president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga, sums the C4K project up well:

“What a great opportunity this will be for the kids.”

Connected Nation Reaches Out to Schools to Identify Connectivity Needs and Successes

By Lauren Hightower, Manager Policy & Research Communications

As part of our back-to-school blog series featuring stories about education and broadband, today we will highlight Connected Nation’s efforts to identify access and connectivity to the Internet at schools.

Seventy miles past Ely, Nevada, there is a one-room schoolhouse called Duckwater School. Nestled between farmland and an Indian reservation, the K-8 school appears to be old-fashioned. But on any given day, Duckwater students are taking an online quiz at their desktop computer, school board members are attending a school board meeting via videoconference, and Lyn Huston, the teacher at Duckwater School, is teaching with a document camera that projects a view onto a screen.

“When I started working at Duckwater School I started learning how to draw cartoon characters to help me illustrate words for the students,” Huston stated. Today, Huston relies on technology to teach. She recalls a teaching moment when she was trying to convey to her Spanish-speaking students what the word avalanche meant. Huston turned to the Internet and brought up a video of an avalanche. It was an “ah ha” moment for the students Huston said. “Technology allows my students to have access to the same resources that any other student at any other school has access to.”

This is a clear example of how broadband connectivity at schools is changing teaching methods and is enhancing the learning experience for students across the country. Connected Nation wants to ensure that gaps in connectivity at schools are identified and successes such as those at Duckwater School are shared.

Connected Nation is gathering information on school connectivity through an online survey process and partnerships with statewide associations across 11 states and 1 territory: Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

This data gathering process is part of the United States Department of Commerce’s State Broadband Data & Development Grant Program through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. All data that is gathered as part of this process is submitted for inclusion on the National Broadband Map.

Both nationally and at the state level there is significant value to capturing connectivity data for schools. Having this information available on the National Broadband Map will better equip state and local leaders, providers and educators with essential information and data that will assist with directing future broadband efforts.

Additionally Connected Nation is highlighting stories of both success and of need in newsletters that are being distributed across these states. Duckwater School was highlighted in the first issue of Connect Nevada’s newsletter which was recently released and shared with schools and other institutions across the state.

Connected Nation invites all schools, libraries, hospitals and public safety institutions to participate in our Community Anchor Institution surveys. Please contact Lauren Hightower at lhightower@connectednation.org for a survey password and visit the websites below:

Connect Alaska
Connect Florida
Connect Iowa
Connect Kansas
Connect Michigan
Connect Minnesota
Connect Nevada
Connect Ohio
Connect Puerto Rico
Connect South Carolina
Connected Tennessee
Connected Texas

7.8 Million Kids Heading Back to School With One Strike Already Against Them

Summer is nearly over, and that means kids will soon be returning to the classroom. This week, Connected Nation is looking at how families with children are using technology, as well as steps that schools are taking to make sure that all of their students can access broadband and all the opportunities it represents.

Unfortunately, a large number of students are starting out this school year at a disadvantage. According to The e-Learning Foundation, students who can’t access the Internet at home have grades one grade lower than their Internet-connected peers. Our research across twelve states plus Puerto Rico shows that about 14% of households with children in these states/territories do not have Internet service at home.



If this percentage is projected to the entire United States, it means that about 7.8 million school-age children will be at a disadvantage when studying for tests, conducting research, or interacting with their peers and teachers online (based on U.S. Census estimates of the number of school-age children in America). The top barrier to broadband adoption among households with children who don’t subscribe is the monthly price of broadband service, which is cited by one-quarter (25%) of these households.

There are several groups that are trying to make computers available to more children and provide better access to technology for low-income children. Tomorrow we will highlight an innovative program called “Learning On the Go” that uses E-rate funds to get tablet computers into the hands of low-income students.