Digital Schoolhouse Foundation and America's Promise Join Forces to Battle `Digital Divide' in Inner-City Schools

Business Wire, May 17, 1999

LISLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 1999--

Partnership prepares students in low-income communities for

future in technology

The Digital Schoolhouse(TM) Foundation today announced a partnership with America's Promise--The Alliance for Youth and its chairman, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), to give students in low-income communities hands-on technology training. The partnership is aimed at fighting the "digital divide" which separates schools that have access to technology and training from those schools in low-income districts that cannot offer students such resources.

"America's Promise recognizes that as technology continues to alter our nation's social and economic fiber, technology education for children becomes increasingly critical," said General Powell. "Digital Schoolhouse provides an outstanding opportunity for technology companies to give back to the communities in which they operate and make a difference in the lives of our country's disadvantaged youth."

The National Center for Education Statistics(1) reports that, while 78 percent of public schools are connected to the Internet, only 13 percent of classrooms in low-income and minority neighborhoods have such access. While there is an increasing number of programs designed to provide technology to low-income schools, there remains a shortage of efforts that focus on educating students and teachers on how to use the equipment and incorporate technology in their classrooms. Digital Schoolhouse bridges this gap by partnering with high-tech companies to provide free technology training to fourth- through eighth-grade students and their teachers in specially designed "digital classrooms," where employee-volunteers provide coaching and discuss careers in technology with the children.

Digital Schoolhouse was founded in 1997 by PLATINUM technology International, inc., an Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based provider of software for managing and improving the information technology infrastructure. To date, it has trained more than 3,000 children and teachers from low-income communities of Chicago.

"We created the program as a way for our company and our employees to give back to the communities that we are a part of," said Andrew J. "Flip" Filipowski, PLATINUM's CEO. "It's a proven success, the next step is to expand Digital Schoolhouse, into new communities across the nation and, eventually, around the world."

"Digital Schoolhouse is about much more than technology training--it's about showing these kids that success is within their reach," adds Paul Humenansky, PLATINUM's chief operating officer and founder of the Digital Schoolhouse program. "With jobs going begging in our industry, this is the kind of program that can really make a difference in the lives of kids by making sure that they wind up on the right side of the digital divide."

About Digital Schoolhouse

Digital Schoolhouse was piloted in the 1997-98 school year and formally rolled out to Chicago schools at the start of the 1998-99 academic year. To date, the program has provided technology training to nearly 2,400 children and teachers from nine low-income schools and two neighborhood youth clubs in Chicago.

Rachel Carson Elementary School on Chicago's South Side was the first school to go through the Digital Schoolhouse program and continues to partner with the foundation for additional training. "For our students and teachers, the Digital Schoolhouse program is a huge hit," said Kathleen Mayer, principal of Rachel Carson. "Both our students and teachers have expressed a higher level of confidence in technology, which has fueled interest and enthusiasm for learning and exploring even more. The one-on-one attention really made a difference in their learning experiences and helped to make every child feel special and valued."

The program curriculum utilizes information and resources on Digital Schoolhouse's dedicated website, www.digitalschoolhouse.com. The Digital Schoolhouse website provides a safe, stimulating, and fun Internet experience that nurtures kids' newly learned skills and fosters ongoing technology education. Additionally, teachers can access curriculum and resources on the site to integrate technology in their classroom instruction.

Digital Schoolhouse represents the first step in the foundation's long-term "technology path" designed to provide low-income students with a marketable skill and motivate students to pursue technology careers--a job market that is expected to grow 70 percent during the next seven years(2). As the program expands, the path will offer at-risk youth advanced training, mentoring programs, internships with technology companies, and technology-based scholarships.

About America's Promise--The Alliance for Youth

America's Promise--The Alliance for Youth, led by General Colin Powell, is dedicated to mobilizing the nation's finest groups and organizations, representing every sector of American life, to build and strengthen the character and competence of our youth.

At the heart of America's Promise is a set of five basic promises made to every child in America. To point then in the right direction, to help them grow up strong and ready to take their place as successful adults, these five promises must be fulfilled for all children and young people: