Feature Article September 26, 2001
LAND O'LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
Computer
refurbishing centre gets off to a fast startby
David Brison
There is a lot of action
up at the corner of Highways # 38 and 7 in Sharbot Lake, where the new
Community Technology Development Centre is located. Sharbot Lake High
School teacher Mark Elliott has been assigned full time as a
teacher/technician, and will direct the centre. Four young men from
the area, Adam Peters, Peter Wand, Dave Trudel, and Greg Badour, have
been hired as computer technicians in training; Claire Richer
from Arden is busy directing the office operations of the
centre; seven SLHS students are taking a two credit course in computer
engineering at the centre; and two large rooms have been remodelled
for the whole operation.
The Community Technology Development Centre takes in donated computers
(Pentium 75 or higher), refurbishes them, and gets them back out to
schools in the region. The
first batch of 16 computers has already come in from Corrections
Canada, and Mark Elliott and his team have taken them all apart;
checked them out completely, diagnosed problems (if any), removed
parts if the computers cant be refurbished, and sent out six of the
computers, with monitors and four printers, to schools in the area.
Four of the computers have been kept in the centre and are
being used by students.
The centre is a partnership between several levels of government.
Locally, the Limestone Board of Education has worked in
conjunction with the Land OLakes Communications Network (LOLCN) to
establish the Centre under Industry Canadas Computers
for Schools program. Human
Resources Development Canada (HRDC) provides funding through their
unemployment programs.
The idea for the centre initially came from SLHS Principal Tom Taylor
and guidance head Mike Eveleigh after
a visit to the national Computers
for Schools facility in Hull. Since then, the LOLCN, under the
direction of Jim MacPherson, has been the lead partner locally.
Most Computers for
Schools projects operate as government funded businesses, and get
repaired computers back out to schools, said Jim MacPherson.
The unique feature of our program here is the training
component Mark Elliott is both a teacher and a technician.
He will direct the refurbishing of the computers, but he will
also train people in the community who are currently unemployed, or at
risk for some reason, so that they can function as computer
technicians and get jobs when they have finished their training.This semester, the course that Mark Elliott is teaching at the
centre is a Grade 11 computer engineering course. Next semester, it
will be a Grade 12 course. The
students this term have already learned to network four computers,
using the ones that have been refurbished at the centre.
Ordinarily it is a one-credit course, but SLHS students will
get an additional community involvement credit though the centre, for
helping to refurbish the computers. The first thing they do is to get a screwdriver and take a
computer apart. They
check out all of the components, replace parts if needed, put it back
together and see if it works a hands-on learning experience,
says Mark.
Schools interested in receiving refurbished computers can request them
through their principals. Computers can also be donated by individuals and businesses
in the area.
The goal is to refurbish 200 computers, and the Centre is already well
on its way toward that goal. Mark Elliott thinks they might well exceed 200 if they can
get a steady supply of donated computers.
The number at the Centre is (613) 279-1005.
