Used computers sought for students

    PRESQUE ISLE – TRiO Upward Bound officials are looking for community donations of used computers for a project that they believe will help high school students get to college and succeed once they get there.
    The organization, dedicated to supporting high schoolers as they prepare to enter college, is looking for about 30 used computers so students can both participate in new online mentoring and tutoring services and better prepare for college-level work.
    Upward Bound already has collected 30 used computers from the Universities of Maine at Presque Isle and Fort Kent and is hoping to secure about 30 more for its students in need.
    “We just started our online mentoring and tutoring, but I have students who can’t participate because they don’t have access to computers and Internet connections at home,” Tammy Smith, the AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for TRiO Upward Bound in Presque Isle, said.
    The new services are meant to provide the area’s 120 Upward Bound students – many are from economically disadvantaged households and will be first-generation college students – with more resources and support. This is especially important because of the ‘distance barrier.’ Students attend 16 area high schools and live from Katahdin to Fort Kent, making it hard to get tutors in all those different areas. However, even with the online services, students can only participate during their study halls or after school.
    “With the computers, our students will have the access they need at home, which means they won’t have to cram the mentoring and tutoring into their class schedules, stay late after school or pay for the extra gas to travel back to school in the evening,” Smith said.
    For more information about TRiO Upward Bound or to donate a computer, contact 768-9544 or e-mail tammy.smith@maine.edu.