Free Computers For Kids

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The small town of Steele sits in south central North Dakota in one of the state’s poorest counties.

Natsound (classroom): “This computer has a Pentium chip...”

Three years ago, Steele United Methodist Church started free computer classes for sixth- graders in an after-school program.

Robert Lowe / Co-director, Children of the Harvest: “One of the visions we had was we needed a way to break the cycle of poverty for some of these children.  By giving them technical and computer skills, it would help them not only with their school work, but also help them as they went on in life with job skills.”

The classes offer benefits beyond technical skills.

Brittany Boots / Student:  “The reason I am doing this is because I don’t have a computer and it’s harder to do school things without a computer.”

Lynnsey Mittleider / Student:  “You learn about God, and Jesus.”

Kristen Eckrot / Student:  “Just everything that’s involved and than getting the reward at the end of the year is kind of cool.”

After nine months, the church will give a computer to every student who fulfills a contract signed at the beginning of the school year.

Paul Tjostel / Volunteer Instructor: “The contract is really one of the most important aspects of this program, because we are asking these kids to take this program seriously and by doing so they agree to keep up their studies in school, that they agree to do a certain amount of community service and attend the classes.”

Kristen Eckrot / Student:  "It's hard work, but it will be worth it."

Natsound (classroom):  “The tool bar on top...”

This non-traditional way of reaching out to young people has the potential to impact not only their lives…but also the future of an entire community.

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This program has proven so successful two other churches in the Dakotas have started their own programs, with several other churches planning to do the same.