Making Headlines

When Marcus Lindsey filled out an application for one of the 40 spots in Dell’s TechKnow program, he was not expecting a free computer.

He was among 100 or so students at Arthur Ashe Middle School in Fort Lauderdale who were in the running, and he was selected to participate.

As a result, he is eligible to receive a desktop computer that has been refurbished at no charge as part of a program to provide the machines to students in Fort Lauderdale. Computer repair has already been provided.

“Out of all the students, when my name was the second one called, I was very shocked. I didn’t think I’d get a chance to work on computers,” said Lindsey, 13.

Partnering with Dell, the Broward County School District is equipping students at the school with computers they can take home.

Designed to assist low-income families with little computer knowledge, Dell’s program supplies the school with computers and software valued at $800 each.

During a free, 40-hour course, students at the school learn how to disassemble and conduct basic Ft. Lauderdale computer repair.

Upon course completion, students are awarded a computer, software, and one year of AOL Internet access, all free of charge.

The school is currently the only one in Broward County offering the Dell program. No word on whether others will try to adopt it.

A month into the program, Lindsey and his fellow students had aced their hardware recognition test. They will also learn to identify the computer’s internal parts, such as the modem, memory card drive, and disk drives.

Students must meet a set of requirements to remain in the Fort Lauderdale computer repair program, such as maintaining regular attendance, a minimum C grade average, and "a demonstration of good citizenship."

The program provides the selected students their first hands-on computer training. All students have voiced surprise at being chosen and gratitude for an opportunity to participate in what could become a career path.

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