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Olney Central College’s Information Systems Technology Program recently refurbished and donated 10 computers to the Illinois Eastern Community Colleges’ TRIO Student Support Services Program.
“We are thrilled PJ (Zeilstra) thought of us and our students,” said TRIO SSS Director Wain Davis. “These computers will help students get access to the technology they need to further their education.”
The computers were distributed last month to three students at both OCC and Wabash Valley College. Two students each at Lincoln Trail and Frontier Community colleges also benefitted from the IST students’ efforts.
The computers were used in IECC labs until being replaced with new equipment. IST students added RAM and made other minor updates needed for home use.
“Since the computers came from the colleges, it just made sense to try to donate the computers to students in our colleges,” said Zeilstra, IST Specialist. “Contacting Wain in TRIO was an easy way for us to find some students who might be in need of a computer.”
Zeilstra said the project provided his students with excellent hands-on learning.
“It is great experience to take a computer apart, test the parts, clean the computer inside and out, and then try to make it working and usable again,” he added.
Two IST students involved in the project, Harrison Walker and Tyler McKinney, are themselves TRIO SSS participants.
“It’s nice to be able to do this for other students in TRIO SSS,” Walker said. “You know the work you are doing is helping someone and they are going to get something out of it.”
OCC student Jaedyn Luthe is among those benefitting from the donation.
“It will definitely help me,” she said. “This will be so much better than just working on a laptop all the time. It will be easier to get my schoolwork done. Now I will have a computer to take with me and I won’t have to buy one.”
For Walker, the project provided an opportunity to fine tune his skills.
“Prior to joining the IST Program, I had never worked on computers,” he said. “I really enjoy it. This was a nice and fun way to get additional experience. I’m looking forward to a career in IT.”
Zeilstra hopes the IST Program can assist more students in the future.
“I would love for this to be an ongoing program,” Zeilstra said. “It is easier if all of the computers are the same. We were able to borrow parts from other computers to make these better. And, for small donations of money, we could even purchase some RAM to be able to donate a few more computers. We would also like to take computers from the community too. There are many computers out there that might just need a little more RAM and a clean install of Windows and the computer would be very useable for a student trying to get their homework done.”
For information about making a donation, contact Zeilstra, at 618-393-3490 or zeilstrap@iecc.edu.
TRIO is a 100-percent federally funded program assisting low income, documented disability and first generation students. IST is a Title III Program. The Title III Program is supported in part by a five-year grant awarded to Olney Central College from the U.S. Department of Education effective October 1, 2018. The estimated total cost for all project activities is $2,506,775 financed by the grant award of $2,249,968 (90%) and $256,807 (10%) by Olney Central College.
