Closing the Digital Divide for NC Students

In Chapel Hill, NC, the city is embarking on a new project to help students benefit from high-speed Internet, even when they're not at school.

Chapel Hill's innovative Home Connection Support program provides grants to bring a computer and a high-speed connection to students whose families can't afford it. Thanks to this program, Chapel Hill is helping to close the digital divide and improve education for the students most in need.

The program links the school district, the Parent-Teacher-Student Association, and Clearwire, a local Internet provider. Together, these entities have coordinated grants and donations to provide service to 23 high-school students and their families. The program is already showing benefits:

"It's much easier," said [10th-grader Kenyette] Browning, who has had a computer and high speed Internet access for three or four months. "Just this weekend, I had to write three papers. I usually had to stay at school late, but now I can just do my work when I get home. It's made it much more easier and convenient."

This partnership is only a start, however. There are Kenyette Brownings all across the country who are held back from achieving all they can in education because of a simple lack of technology. We applaud Chapel Hill’s teachers and parents for recognizing the importance of high-speed Internet access, but we also hope that these solutions will be implemented on a larger scale, so that all students can reap the benefits of the Internet.

Program provides computers, Internet (Herald Sun) Home Connection Support