Close the digital divide one child and one computer at a time. That's goal behind the TEConnection partnership between the Department of Social and Health Services and Spokane Public Schools.

The student-led program has put approximately 1,200 computers into the homes of Spokane-area kindergarten through 12th-grade school children and their families since the partnership was forged in October 2005.

Studies show that students without home access to a computer are at an academic disadvantage compared to their more computer-savvy peers. The TEConnections program helps to even the academic playing field by providing refurbished Internet-ready computers to students whose families could not otherwise afford one. Reduced cost Internet service and training is included to all recipients.

Spokane Public Schools provides its surplus computers to the TEConnections partnership. The computers may be too dated or slow for the higher technical demands of school or work environments but are suitable for in-home use and greatly prized by the recipients. High school students enrolled in career and technical education classes at Lewis and Clark and Rogers high schools in Spokane give the surplus computers a high-tech makeover.

Department of Social and Health Services Community Service Office staff in Spokane connect TEConnections with eligible low-income youth and families who qualify for the program. Families meet with Spokane-area Community Service Office caseworkers who help them with paperwork and any questions they may have.

The teens who refurbish the personal computers get advanced technical computer training and gain other useful scholastic, life and career skills. One of the bigger rewards for many who enroll in the refurbishing program is the knowledge that they are giving something back to the community by providing an essential communications and educational tool to their peers. By teaching others computer skills, students gain confidence in their own technology aptitude and become enthused about helping others succeed.

The youth who are given the computers describe the benefits as life changing. One teen recipient said, "I learned to do research on the computer for essays, and book reports and my grades went from D's and F's to A's, B's and C's. My self-esteem is so much higher now, and my confidence in myself to do the work that needs to be done is tremendous."

Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics(NCES) indicates that eight out of 10 high school students who have access to a home computer use it to complete school assignments.

Social services staff in Spokane County, Moses Lake, Othello and Mattawa conducted informal surveys about home computer access and use among 1,100 of their Community Service Office clients from October 2005 through February 2008.

The results revealed that eight out of 10 families in those areas lacked access to a home computer. Of those interviewed, 67 percent said that they lacked the basic computer training and experience to access information about social services, employment applications and other resources on-line.

Given the informal data collected, social service administrators conservatively estimated that more than 15,000 school-aged youth living in Spokane County had no home computer or home access to the Internet. In a 13-county area that DSHS serves in Eastern Washington, more than 34,000 school-aged youth may lack home access to a computer or the Internet. The partnership’s goal is to bring technology into more of these homes.

"TEConnections helps qualifying low-income families with kindergarten through 12th-grade youth keep up with school work demands by providing seamless in-home access to 21st century technologies," said Dan Ruddell, a DSHS Community Services Division communications manager who is based in the Spokane Valley. "Perhaps more importantly, TEConnections helps connect entire families to Web-based resources as well as to federal and state on-line applications, thus reducing their dependency upon childcare providers and public transportation services."

A teen who received one of the TEConnections computers said, "I really didn't think that a little thing like technology would bring someone like me with disabilities and failing grades to a world of possibilities and good grades, communication skills and a great outcome for a wonderful future of education. I really hope that if anyone needs help the way I did that you reach out and get it. I am not sorry that I did, and I will honor this help all my life."

Spokane area students interested in participating in the TEConnections program as a computer recipient can contact the DSHS TEConnections help desk at 509-227-2767.

TEConnections advisors, students and participants are available for interviews. To schedule an interview contact Dan Ruddell, DSHS Region 1 Community Services Division, Spokane, 509-227-2802, or Yvonne Johnson, Spokane Public Schools, 509-354-7618.

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DSHS does not discriminate, and provides equal access to its programs and services for all persons without regard to race, color, gender, religion, creed, marital status, national origin, sexual orientation, age, veteran's status or the presence of any physical, sensory or mental disability.