For Thursday, March 2, 2000 Drummer Column, Gibbs, 728 words

Help kids login

Like sports boosters and band boosters, we now have Benicia technology boosters. A group of Benicia parents have formed a committee to support and accelerate the rollout of technology at Benicia High.

Our purpose is clear. We all agree -- parents, teachers, administrators, and students -- that children need to learn as many computer skills as possible ASAP. Both the job market and the college research curriculum demand it.

We're entering a digital age. New paradigms are forming around business, energy, telecommunications, and social order. Our children must have extra RAM and bigger hard drives if they're going to thrive.

Regardless of their career aspirations, everyone needs to know how to login. Students must acquire in school a clear understanding of computers, common applications, networking, and Internetworking. This includes not just the underclassmen, or the little ones waiting to move up, but the seniors graduating this June.

This year we are working on a state grant, which when approved will provide us with technology funds beginning next year. Next year!

That's seven years in Internet Time!

The parents don't want to wait until next year. They want to start now at getting the students ready. We can't afford to graduate another wave of young adults without giving them all the skills to network successfully in the real cyberworld.

The club held its first meeting at the high school on the evening of Wednesday, February 23, and identified all the places where help was needed. We met again last night, but because of a time warp, I haven't been there yet.

At the first meeting we identified the many specific needs for money, time, and talent. The school is being wired for the Internet, and every teacher has a classroom computer; however, kids need to learn skills the teachers don't have, and there is little money for teacher training. We have two antiquated labs. Teachers have computers but no printers. Many teachers need furniture. The list goes on, and can be found in a PowerPoint Presentation connected to our message board. I'll give the address at the bottom, in case you'd like to join or learn more.

Several parents volunteered to do fund raising to take care of pressing needs. They could use more help if you're interested. We need groups to contact local businesses and industry, major corporations, grant and alternative funding sources, and Benicia parents.

We would also like to schedule some volunteer guest speakers, Benicians with technical talents that they're willing to share with teachers and students. An expert at Java Scripting or Macromedia design or photo and graphics rendering could easily pack our small multimedia theater with eager students.

We need someone to build us a web page that pays tribute to the parents and merchants that support the program. We need network technicians willing to volunteer for troubleshooting. We need public relations people to help us inform the public of our accomplishments. We need people willing to help proofread the Digital High Grant proposal. We need parents with no technical experience whatsoever, but with children in the system and/or a willingness to help out.

Our group will stay in touch online between meetings via email and our message board. I can't say when our next meeting is, but I want you all to come to it. We will post the date on our message board hopefully late this evening.

We encourage everyone with an idea -- all parents, all employers who need employees with technical experience, all future parents, all concerned non-parents and interested students, all Benicians and all non-Benicians -- to come share your ideas and suggestions with us on our Internet message board.

Our message board is called BHSDHS and is hosted at www.ragingbull.com, which is primarily a stock market site, but one that eagerly offers free space to organizations like ours. It's a clean, simple, easy message board. Go there and type in BHSDHS as if it were a stock symbol. Join to post.

Soon we will set up a Shopping Portal. When we do I will mention it in this column. Whenever you shop online, if you go to your favorite ecommerce site via a link from our Shopping Portal, we get a few percent of the sale. It's like digital scripts.

Email me if you'd like to join the technology boosters and I'll add you to the email tree.