Bakersfield College’s Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement program has been given a $10 million grant that will be used to provide program members with free laptops in return for community service. The grant was provided by California Connects and according to program director Consuelo Gonzalez, is funded by President Barack Obama’s National Wireless Initiative.
The initiative aims to increase the amount of high-speed wireless services in America in five years.
President Barack Obama stated in his State of the Union address that this will help benefit our economy by decreasing the current deficit by $9.6 billion and will help ensure the United States role in the future economy by increasing digital literacy.
Gonzalez made clear that they’re not just giving away these laptops. The students involved need to be either math, science, or engineering majors and need to be a member of MESA.
Gonzalez explained that each member involved needs to fulfill a minimum of 12 hours of community service. “Our students who will receive a laptop are going to have to go out there in the community and serve at least seven people . we’re trying to reach the gap between people who don’t have access or don’t know how to use a computer or the Internet.
“In our county there are a lot of people who are low-income who don’t have access to Internet or computers. And if they do, what they know on the computer is probably very low key, or something that’s not going to better their lives, like YouTube or Facebook,” Gonzalez explained.
MESA members contributions, Gonzalez said, will consist of them teaching people how to do simple tasks online including: online banking, accessing medical files, registering for BC, taking classes online and using various computer programs.
Gonzalez explained that members of MESA are also low-income students; some of them the first generation in their family to pursue higher education.
Adolfo Rojo, BC student and member of MESA, spoke of his involvement in the program, said, “I broke my laptop last year and it’s really hard to get a new one. Since I go to school full time, I work full time. Coming back and forth constantly, I just have enough money to get by. So this laptop is an amazing thing for us.”
MESA members are given assessment tests that ensure their computer abilities. The purpose of this, Rojo explained, was to make sure they understand how to do certain tasks on a computer that they will then teach members of the community.
Another part of the grant that has yet to be put into action, Gonzalez said, is a Microsoft certification. Students will be able to receive a certificate in programs like Excel, Word or PowerPoint. “We are going to open that to people from campus who are non-MESA students. First we’re going to make sure we take care of this particular group, then we’re going to disseminate it across campus to people who might not be science majors, but would like to get a certificate and are willing to help.”
Another project in talks includes having MESA members help high school students prepare for the California High School Exit Exam. Gonzalez shared, “we also have another one that’s called English USA and we’re going to have students from ESL come Saturdays and take modules and hopefully learn English.”