(Pictured from left to right: Awais Ullah, Carlo Di Felice and Ronald Noronha).
Project Name: Laptops4Students
Description: A huge population of high school students are not able to access devices to support their online learning. Schools have depleted all their resources and have only provided a smaller population with what they had available, leaving plenty without any devices. With COVID-19 impacting the way education is delivered, it leaves a huge segment of low-income houses where children and young adults don’t have access to technological devices to keep up with their education.
We started by accessing alumni and members directly related to the community to either provide monetary donations, excess computing devices, and mentorship. We believe that those who once were in the shoes of these same students will understand the struggles and see that this situation is unlike any they would have ever foreseen before. We want to show how the community can get together and provide for each other. There are those with extra computing devices at home which are not being used, we asked for those to be lent/given to students and if the lender is willing, then to provide a monthly check-in mentor session to ensure the students' learning is on track and set them up for a brighter future. We are in the process of exploring options for STEM workshops, to help with future development.
Currently, we are accepting donations through a GoFundMe page for Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute (MGCI). The school has been unable to provide sufficient devices, despite a continued strong demand, as the second wave hits the region. The school serves two major communities, Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park which are both low-income communities, with a large population of new immigrants, and at risk children.
To date, we have raised $9,000 for MGCI and $4,000 for 5 other high schools within low-income communities. This equates to nearly 33 students who will soon have access to their own computing devices. But the journey doesn’t stop there, we hope that other alumni and members of the community reach out to students and schools who may need an extra hand to help deliver education during these trying times.
Team: Ronald Noronha and Awais Ullah (graduate students, Masters of Enginnering Innovation and Entrepreneurship)