Hospital Volunteering
Teens from IL-schools (Bolingbrook High and Brooks Middle School) share 136 Technological devices with Chicago-based James H. Bowen High School students for Remote Learning during COVID-19 in a National project "Devices for Under-served" bridging Digital and Technological gap in Communities.
Young Changemakers delivering Chromebooks to bridge digital-divide across US
Many students of James H. Bowen high school were ecstatic as their school recently received free Chromebook laptop computers, in part, through the positive efforts of couple of local teens intent on being a “Changemaker” and part of a national team of Young Changemakers of North South.
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Many families lack broadband internet and computer access. So, for the past few months of home school due to the pandemic, many students did their schoolwork on a small tablet or their parent’s phone, using a phone company connection.
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“They had to do it that way to get their school work done – extremely difficult because some of the things you need to do on the computer you can’t do on the phone,” Priscilla Horton, the principal said. “And the students know more about computers than me!”
Young Changemakers Journey through Changemaking
Teens are sharing Devices and technology with underserved kids, and changing America bit-by-bit through changemaking
Current Bolingbrook High School Student, Trisha, and Brooks Middle School Student Tejas, knew that many children do not have equal access to technology and devices, and its importance in the increasingly digitized classroom.
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“Technology has always played an important role in education, but especially during the lock-down because all schools have turned to online learning. We learned a lot during these challenging times, and we know how important it is for others to be not deprived of those opportunities” they said.
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As members of the Young Changemakers of North South Foundation, they worked hard with other team members of the local and national chapters on an initiative and selected to give electronic devices to underprivileged students during the pandemic, belonging to Bowen High School in Illinois. This high school has a 101-yr old history and belongs to Chicago Public School system and is situated in one of the poorest neighborhoods (South side of Chicago) in the US.
Tejas and Trisha, unloading shipments to give to Bowen High School, Chicago, IL
Tejas and Trisha, Young Changemakers standing in front of Bowen High School, Chicago, IL
Tejas and Trisha pictures in front of Bowen High School Intramural
Tejas and Trisha delivering Chromebooks to Bowen High School Asst Principal Mr. Trotter (LR), and to Ms. Horton, Principal (RT)
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Ms. Horton, the principal of Bowen High School said the devices would certainly help as extended online learning appears to be in the horizon during upcoming academic year (2020-2021). This is always important as the school is always dependent on donors to bridge any shortfall in funding gap.
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Mr. Trotter, the Asst. principal and Ms. Horton both concurred that with these Chromebook gifts, the school will be able to offer all the AP classes during Fall session that it was planning before but could not do earlier due to lack of funds. It will not just include Science and Math classes, but it will include classes such as AP English, AP US History etc. Hence, it triggered a chain reaction that will be felt in other areas for some time to come.
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Trisha, a rising Senior at Bolingbrook High, attended Brooks Middle and Pioneer Elementary in Bolingbrook. Besides leading this device project on behalf of YCNS, she also runs her individual “Changemaking” project with Tejas popularizing STEM in IL schools/school-districts/communities, and elsewhere in general and making sure that they are extended to the girl-students in particular as they lose interest quickly due to one problem or the other.
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Tejas currently from Brooks attended Pioneer Elementary, and RC Hill Elementary, Romeoville for gifted students. In addition to being part of this project, he has his individual changemaking project working along with Trisha popularizing STEM in IL-schools, school-districts, and in communities elsewhere. He also works on reducing plastic usage in communities.
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These Young Changemakers had raised $32,000 for this ongoing initiative so far in just a short span of 45-days, and the parent organization, North South Foundation matched 50% to grow the funds close to $100,000 along with some other donations. “We will keep it going until all the needs are met”, said Trisha.
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Mr. Choppara, who is the Executive National Sponsor of Young Changemakers (YCNS) of NorthSouth Team said “Covid-19 pandemic hit us; the digital divide expanded as everyone did not have the luxury of flexible learning. Given NorthSouth’s commitment to Education, the Foundation wanted to give back to the community by providing electronic devices to the underserved children. NorthSouth approached the team of YCNS with the idea of bridging the digital divide. Inspired by the cause, all the YCNS paused on their individual projects and joined forces together to create the “Devices for Education” initiative. Through our initiative, we plan to provide electronic devices to as many underprivileged students as possible and bring smiles on their faces.”
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“Our goal is to make sure all these devices are supplied to match the educational needs of underprivileged kids,” said Mr. Choppara. “To bridge the digital divide, unfortunately it is wide.”
The Selection Process
Both these Young Changemakers Trisha, Tejas along with their passionate team identified one of the schools Bowen High School, a Title 1 school with many low-income students (> 99%), as an appropriate option. These young changemakers set the work in motion, contacting the school’s principal, and helping with fundraising through various streams, sending information to review committee so that the devices can be sent to these schools in a timely fashion.
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“Since we have received so many things and help from people while growing up, it is very hard to quantify them. Hence, this is our chance to give back to the community and to all the kids here”, both the Young Changemakers concurred.
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James H. Bowen High School Principal Ms. Priscilla Horton had the hard job of deciding and prioritizing which students, families, departments in the school has the greatest need for the laptops to support online learning going forward.
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“I was very excited for our students and the future and the courses we would be able to offer. These Chromebook gifts will be good for the school since we have more than 136 students that would benefit from it,” She said.
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Anyone who will need a Chromebook, will be put on the list for a Chromebook, Ms. Horton said. She will also solicit student recommendations from teachers of students attempting to participate in distance learning but having trouble due to lack of technology.
Work in Progress
Principal Ms. Horton said that she was very impressed with both Trisha and Tejas and their team, coupled with foundation’s desire to help bridge that digital divide. She will communicate to the board and Chicago Public Schools Director of Instructional Delivery supervisor about this gift.
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“I am exceedingly thankful for this donation. The students at James H. Bowen High School are excited to put these Chromebooks to use in the coming days. These will help them not to wait for any of the devices to plan for remote learning, she said.
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“Students helping other students is changemaking in a real sense. It is so rare to hear these days. It is a real change in community. I want many kids to get inspiration from these kinds of activities so we can solve many of the problems together,” she said.
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“I want to make a change in me, all around me, in communities that transcends local, national, and international barriers. I am seeing the results even if they are slow,” Trisha said. Her favorite quote (from Mahatma Gandhi) “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” These are some of the reasons why this project is important for all the Changemakers in general and specially when it applies to learning, said the aspiring doctor-cum-technologist.
“Education is the pathways to success. No child should be left behind for lack of education,” Tejas said. His favorite quote (from Benjamin Franklin) is “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” With this project, we will help many more children to get that knowledge which is so vital and help them contribute to society in a positive and powerful way and be a responsible citizen,” said the aspiring scientist.
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“Our founders’ belief in empathy, compassion, and excellence in education is unparalleled. It took us time to understand that but with this project, we exactly know they meant when these devices had gone to these underprivileged kids. We can visualize their smile,” both Trisha and Tejas concurred.
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“There are so many problems around us. Everyone should play a part in making a difference, however tiny they may be if related to children during COVID-19 Pandemic.” We love what we are doing during such challenging times and glad that Young Changemaker team could make a difference in people’s lives in various communities,” both agreed.
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Asked about starting college in next fall, Trisha said, “It is really exciting, but I am also scared in some sense. Now, with all the SAT scores, and AP scores not being considered during these times, it will be really challenging to see how the schools select their applicants but let me first complete the application process soon.”
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​In the meantime, Young Changemakers will continue their journey.
About Device Project for Under-served
"Devices for Underprivileged Students" is an initiative started by the Young Changemakers of NorthSouth (YCNS) in April 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, YCNS learned about the students who have not been privileged enough to have access to the necessary equipment to continue effective learning. North South Foundation(NorthSouth), with their commitment to Education, wanted to give back to the community by providing electronic devices to the underserved children and approached the team of YCNS with the idea of bridging the digital divide.
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Inspired by the cause, YCNS, a group of young minds ranging from elementary to high school, passionate about making a difference in the world, have collaborated to create this initiative to provide devices for education. Through the initiative, the plan is to enable easy access to remote learning to as many underprivileged students as possible and bring smiles to their faces.
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Since the initiative went national in May 2020, YCNS have been able to donate 606 Chromebooks to 12 schools which include Sayler Park Elementary (OH), Woodward Park Middle (OH), Columbia Community schools (GA), and Sycamore Park Elementary (VA), James H. Bowen High school (IL), Claremont Middle school (NH), Lowes Grove Middle school (NC), Lower East side school (NY) in 7-states so far. The team would continue efforts through this initiative to bridge the digital gap to as many students as possible.
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YCNS says, "In an ideal world, we would like to support every child's need for an electronic device in the country for their effective learning despite the hard times. We believe with education, we can close the economic gap, which automatically empowers the underserved community. As Young Changemakers of NorthSouth, this is our effort to help the underprivileged children of the country, to continue learning and enable themselves to a brighter future as well as to make the world more socially equitable".
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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela
About Young Changemakers of NorthSouth (YCNS)
The Young Changemakers of NorthSouth(YCNS) are young minds ranging from elementary to high school, passionate about making a difference in the world. We are fortunate to be supported by YCI and have had the opportunity to attend webinars where we learnt the tools for our changemaking journey. Once we have identified our individual passion areas, we embarked on our individual changemaking journeys to bring change in our local communities.
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Some of the individual projects have included supporting the elderly, inspiring the young and motivating the community towards healthy living and exercise, bringing in STEM education and projects to underserved school/school districts, decreasing homelessness, providing refurbished devices to communities and many more.
As we were approached during the pandemic we collaborated for the initiative “Devices for Education”. We started off with a group of eight YCNS members but as we reached our community through our campaign, we inspired more young minds to join the cause. We currently are a group of twenty YCNS members in the team.
“There are 20 team members excluding us including some who are in transition for induction into YCNS team. We could not have implemented this project in such a short time without the team. It is an excellent example of teamwork,” said Trisha.
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Additionally, there are many passionate adults who help empower these changemakers diligently to make sure that these Young changemakers become the face of America in times to come who can change societies, communities in whatever they do. “The YCNS need to work in a team environment to solve challenging problems when they grow up and join the work force, there may not be any simple problem left for individual solvers to find a solution. Future problems will be challenging and very complicated to solve. Those problems will always be needing a team and a collective brain bristling with multiple ideas just like these YCNS as a team player. It is a good experience for them,” said Mr. Patnaik one of the adult volunteers.
About the North South Foundation
Based in Chicago with 90 chapters throughout the U.S., the North South Foundation is nonprofit dedicated to promoting academic excellence and empathy in school children. NSF concluded its 30th anniversary at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (2019). It is an organization completely run by volunteers across the US and revolves around education and empathy. It also helps kids gain access to workshops, coaching, Bee contests and participate into various initiatives nationwide. According to Mr. Sriv Choppara, a foundation board member and executive sponsor for the Young Changemakers team initiatives.
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“When all the pandemic happened, entire schools went online,” he said. “ Since we are in the education domain, the foundation wanted to do something for the schools, especially to enable online education for under-served and underprivileged schools because everyone does not have the luxury of these devices. It’s a disadvantage to learning so this idea popped up.”