Our Lady of Assumption principal, Enza Maggiacomo and Grade 7 teacher Heather LeBlanc talk about the impact of the Kids, Cops & Computers program. The Kids, Cops & Computers program launched in the school yesterday.
Grade 7 students participating in the Kids, Cops & Computers program this year are in for a treat. They will be able to take their brand-new Toshiba C650 laptops home in a handy eco-friendly bag donated by Downsview Park. Also included in the bags are Downsview Park bookmarks and lip balms.
"The bags from Downsview Park are a perfect fit," says Natasha Bowes, office manager at Kids, Cops & Computers. "They ensure that the kids have something to carry their new laptops home with and the goodies inside each bag are an added bonus!"
The Park has provided the Kids, Cops & Computers program with 350 of each item, free of charge.
"We're just so glad they could benefit an organization such as yours," said Lisa Hastings-Beck from Downsview Park.
Downsview Park is a unique urban green space and year-round destination for events, sports and recreation. It is home to many attractions, camps, schools and stewardship programs. With many park construction projects underway, Downsview Park prides itself for "building a park while being a park."
Mulligan sales at the 2011 Esso Invitational Golf Tournament did more than just give golfers a do-over in their game, they helped level the playing field for financially disadvantaged kids.
The tournament's "Buy A Mulligan" campaign raised $10,500 for the Merry Go Round Children's Foundation's Kids, Cops & Computers program and will ensure that deserving kids in Toronto have the technology tools they need to succeed in today's digitally dominated world.
The campaign provides an opportunity for Imperial Oil (Esso) and their valued customers to give back to the communities in which they do business. This year, the Imperial Oil Foundation selected Merry Go Round as the recipient of the proceeds of the campaign.
The Kids, Cops & Computers program enables financially disadvantaged students to achieve excellence in their academic and personal pursuits by providing them with brand-new computers, Internet access (where applicable) and police mentorship.
“Esso employees and their guests really dug deep this year, purchasing a record dollar amount of ‘mulligans’. We were honoured to have been selected as the charity of choice this year and are extremely grateful to all who supported our cause. We will be able to bring 25 kids on to the program as a result of this event,” said Clayton Shold, Executive Director of Merry Go Round.
The Kids, Cops & Computers program equipped an additional 16 students during its Launch event at St. James Catholic School, yesterday.
With smiling faces, the selected kids and their parents arrived at the event eager to learn more about their participation in the Program and, of course, receive their brand-new Toshiba C650 laptops.
Shauntel M., Grade 7, says she's thought and dreamt of this moment since completing the Program survey in June.
"I thought about it all summer. It's something that I really want to have and will help me get my school work done faster," she explains. "I share a computer with my family and can't always get the time I need to finish research. With the new laptop, this won't be a problem," she says, smiling.
With a goal of improving digital literacy and connecting students with positive role models, the Kids, Cops & Computers program provides financially disadvantaged kids with brand-new computers and police officer mentorship through monthly lunchtime 'Lead & Learn" sessions.
The sessions with the police are something that Shauntel says she is looking forward to.
Kids, Cops & Computers has connected more than 1,100 kids like Shauntel, by providing them with brand-new computers and Internet connections. Three hundred more kids are expected to be connected in the 2011-2012 school year.
Our proposed mentorship program inspires youth to help youth. Kids, Cops & Computers Mentorship program will have senior high school students in Grades 11 and 12 and/or Kids, Cops & Computers alumni mentor students. Mentors will provide motivational support as well as scholastic mentoring to students in Grades 8 through 10. They will have the opportunity to fulfill their 40 hours of community service to graduate, develop their skill sets and be role models to youth within their communities; those being mentored will grow up with the positive influence of a fellow youth. Our objective is to introduce 20 senior high school mentors/alumni into this new program by December 2012. Interaction between mentors and mentees will be facilitated both virtually and in person. It will cost us $30,000 to implement the program with costs going towards a part-time volunteer co-ordinator ($10,000), office supplies ($5,000), and mentor honorariums for student volunteers ($500 per volunteer X 30 volunteers, for a total of $15,000). The student volunteer honorariums are contingent upon volunteering for one year, graduating from high school and enrolling in post secondary studies.
Impact
By encouraging youth to be peer mentors, we are empowering them to open doors of opportunities for themselves. Mentors will see themselves as positive members of society by being role models to younger youth, while those mentored will receive the motivational support from a fellow peer and may aspire to be future mentors.
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Kids, Cops & Computers' first 2011-2012 school launch came at a perfect time for Dilfahr G.
The Grade 7 student said the monitor of the computer that he shares with 5 siblings to do homework stopped working recently.
"So this is perfect timing for me," he explained. Dilfahr, along with 11 other kids from St. Andrew's Junior High School, walked out from the evening launch equipped with their brand-new laptops and Kids, Cops & Computers USB sticks.
When Dilfahr heard that he has been selected to be part of the Kids, Cops & Computers program he was ecstatic to the point of disbelief.
"Yesterday they called me down to the office and told me you are going to get a laptop and I freaked out. I said 'Who me?' I didn't believe it," he said, noting how it was only until his principal reminded him of the Kids, Cops & Computers survey he filled in June that he came to believe the exciting news.
Dilfahr, who has been in Canada for only one year, said the computer will be helping him greatly with homework and school projects.
"I'll be using it to go on Google translator, research assignments and type my homework. "
With his relatives in Iraq, Dilfahr said the computer will make it easier for him to connect and stay in touch with them. "I'll be talking with my grandma and my grandpa and my uncle and my aunts. But still the best part of the laptop is I'll be able to do my homework on it."
When asked what he aspires to be when he grows up, Dilfahr was quick and confident with his response: "I want to be a singer, just like my uncle in Australia," he declared.
