Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/105484
Sarasota News Leader January 25, 2013 ty, there to attend a three-hour Texcellence training session with parents, grandparents and siblings. They were all ready to learn how to attach a keyboard to a CPU, practice using educational and office productivity software and to pick up their very own home computer, the release points out. Since the spring of 2007, 6,005 families have received refurbished home computers, training and technical support through the Texcellence program, the release adds. Some students interpreted for parents and demonstrated their computer skills while Texcellence trainers led two-hour workshops in English and Spanish. All left with clean computers and monitors, flash drives and phone numbers for ongoing technical support, the release points out. Page 58 This collaboration between the Education Foundation and Sarasota County Schools is made possible by support from The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, the Dart Foundation, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Comcast, Jon F. Swift Inc. and dozens of individual donors, the release notes. Just $250 allows Texcellence to refurbish one computer, then offer training and ongoing support to a student and family in need. Training and distribution sessions are held at public schools and other sites around Sarasota County throughout the year. For information about participating in the program, parents or other adult family members may contact their children's schools. For additional information about Texcellence, contact michelle_frau@edfoundation.net or call 9279000, Ext. 31334. When asked how he will use his new computer, Luis Castaneda smiles widely and says, 'To learn!' The Phillippi Shores first-grader, with his mother, Veronica Castenada, says he especially wants to practice reading and writing, his favorite subjects. Photo courtesy of the Education Foundation