Why KidsTek?

Until recently, proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic was key in defining a young person’s chances of success. Today, another area plays just as important of a factor in creating future opportunity.

Basic working computer knowledge is now more important than ever in putting kids on the path to becoming valued and productive members of the American workforce.

For urban public schools, however, this is an added burden because they’re obligated to meet federal and state mandates for traditional skills. Resources are limited.

Unlike their counterparts on the “right” side of the digital divide—those kids with home computers, computer classes and software-savvy parents—many inner-city kids simply don’t have the means or support system in place to learn even the most basic computer skills.

Bottom line, future employment and higher education opportunities demand a basic level of “tech literacy” in high school graduates that many times doesn’t exist—through no fault whatsoever of those students.

Since 1999, KidsTek has stepped in to fill this gap. Thousands of underprivileged children have benefited from our after-school programs to gain a hands-on working knowledge of those computer programs that are a staple of today’s workplace. In other words, KidsTek is helping them gain a foothold on the “right side” of the Digital Divide.

We teach the Microsoft Office suite, Google applications and state-of-the-art multimedia through fun and passion-inducing projects so kids immediately see the benefits. True, many inner-city schools have the computer hardware in place thanks to donations. But KidsTek lays the foundation for helping kids grasp the power of this technology and use it to shape brighter futures for themselves.

All of this is tuition-free for students in The Denver and Aurora Public Schools and the Larimer County Boys and Girls Clubs. Operating costs currently run $5.63 per hour for each child, with a total average monthly participation rate of 1000 students and in 2008 there were 1249 unduplicated attendees. Most attend after-school classes three hours each week, and in 2007 we began a rewards program where some students earned their own home computers through the Community Computer Connection Program.

KidsTek continues to expand within the Denver Public School system through a model that focuses on the feeder elementary and middle schools for individual high schools.

KidsTek is not only efficient in its teaching but also in the use of donated funds as 90% of donations go directly into the classroom.