Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 12-1-15 Edition

All About You! Local
Happy Birthday
BLUE J.
Celebrating my birthday on December 2nd. It’s my birthday and I’ll do whatever I think I want to... oh yeah, I do that any- way!
Computer Mentors Facing Funding Challenges
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Computer Mentors, a popular program that pre- pares Hillsborough County students for careers in com- puters and information tech- nology, is facing some hardship.
The expiration of a $1 million federal grant in June – coupled with the end of a grant from the American Honda Foundation – has forced the organization to downsize its staff from 22 to eight, said founder and exec- utive director, Ralph Smith.
Mr. Smith, who founded Computer Mentors in 1997 to help bridge the digital divide among minor- ity students, said prior to the cuts the staff was a mix of ad- ministrative and program mentor positions. Now, those who remain are program staff with Mr. Smith per- forming the majority of the administrative work.
The change in personnel means that the program – which boasted about 80 stu- dents – now will enroll half that number, Mr. Smith said.
RALPH SMITH ...Computer Mentors Founder, Executive Director
Other changes include combining locations that have poor attendance, Mr. Smith said. Computer Men- tors currently operates seven locations, including its main office on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Computer Mentors teaches a STEM-based cur- riculum (science, technology, engineering, and math) through computer program- ming via in-school and after- school programs via its Kids Code and STEM Corps pro- grams. In addition to learn-
ing about computer lan- guages, students learn web design, mobile app develop- ment, and robotics and how to apply STEM concepts to the real world.
Mr. Smith said the set- backs come on the heels of an otherwise stellar year for the program. Student participa- tion increased and a new program for elementary and middle schools students, Kids Code, was launched last fall to great success.
“We plan to bounce back,” he said. “While these blessings are going on, we have these challenges going on, too.”
Additionally, impending renovations at the Lee Davis Neighborhood Service Cen- ter in East Tampa will re- quire the program to close its computer lab there, Mr. Smith said.
Opened in 2012, the Lee Davis location was a partner- ship between Computer Mentors and the state’s Ac- cess Florida program. Com- puter Mentors volunteers manned the site. Patrons could apply for public assis- tance programs and take computer courses at the lab, which had more than a dozen
computers available for free. Visitors also could use faxes and phones in the lab to search and apply for jobs and to access the Internet to
check e-mail.
The Lee Davis location
served about 2,200 people a year, Smith said.
Hillsborough County, which operates the service center and funded the con- struction of the lab on the first floor, had sought to relo- cate the lab elsewhere in the building. However, there was not enough money to cover the costs, Smith said.
“We’re really sad about it because the majority of peo- ple Computer Mentors serves were there,” he said.
Smith said Computer Mentors is already staging a comeback. Other funding av- enues have been identified and explored and board members recently completed an individual fundraising campaign to great success, he said.
Smith said Computer Mentors’ future is bright.
“When God closes one door, He opens another, sometimes even wider,” he said. “We’re encouraged.”
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11