100 North Carolina Students Take Home Desktops

One hundred students in North Carolina recently took home refurbished desktop computers as a result of the "Geek-A-Thon" charity event.

The Geek-A-Thon is a partnership between the Kramden Institute and the MetLife Foundation, which provided $25,000 in funding. For the desktop giveaway, teachers in the Raleigh area chose 100 students, more than half of whom are the children of veterans or current service members, who could most benefit from the refurbished computers.

"Building on the success of last year, over 250 MetLife volunteers took part in the Geek-A-Thon, refurbishing a record-breaking 400 computers, and loading them with an Ubermix operating system and the latest in educational software," according to a news release. "One hundred of the refurbished computers were donated to North Carolina school children. The rest will go to the Kramden Institute to be donated as needed."

"I can't wait to use my computer for Web sites like Khan Academy," said Saul Alto, a student at Barwell Road Elementary in Raleigh, in a prepared statement. "It's a learning Web site I can use to continue to improve my grades and earn points. I'm also looking forward to using it to access ABCYA, another learning Web site that also has games."

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • hand holding globe and environmental icons in front of a green background

    CoSN, SETDA, UDT Release Guidelines for Environmentally Responsible Technology Purchasing

    CoSN and SETDA, in partnership with IT and telecommunications solution provider UDT, recently released a set of Sustainability Procurement Guidelines designed to help K-12 school and district leaders, procurement officers, and technology directors make purchasing decisions that are both environmentally responsible and operationally effective.

  • digital dashboard featuring a shield icon, graphs, a world map, and network nodes

    IBM Launches Agentic AI Governance and Security Platform

    IBM has introduced a new software stack for enterprise IT teams tasked with managing the complex governance and security challenges posed by autonomous AI systems.

  • red brick school building with a large yellow "AI" sign above its main entrance

    New National Academy for AI Instruction to Provide Free AI Training for Educators

    In an effort to "transform how artificial intelligence is taught and integrated into classrooms across the United States," the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), in partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the United Federation of Teachers, is launching the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative that will provide access to free AI training and curriculum for all AFT members, beginning with K-12 educators.

  • tutor and student working together at a laptop

    You've Paid for Tutoring. Here's How to Make Sure It Works.

    As districts and states nationwide invest in tutoring, it remains one of the best tools in our educational toolkit, yielding positive impacts on student learning at scale. But to maximize return on investment, both financially and academically, we must focus on improving implementation.