Not many things in life come for free, but something did for students at a Bronx middle school this weekend, and it's something that will help them prepare for the 21st century. NY1’s Cheryl Wills filed the following report.It's not everyday you see sixth graders and their parents sitting in a classroom on a hot Saturday morning, but on this particular day, it's worth their while. "Our sixth graders are getting free computers,” said MS 219 Principal Dominic Cipollone. The classroom training is part of a program called Computers for Youth, a non-profit that distributes computers to low-income children and their families for use at home. All of the students and parents have to take part in the training before they can take the computer home. "I'm teaching them basic Windows operation, understanding the computer,” said CFY master teacher Berkis Cruz. “We start from scratch, from assembling the computer to how to use the Internet for learning purposes." Computers for Youth gets donations primarily from major corporations. The technical staff then wipes out the hard drives and puts on educational software. Internet access is also provided free for one year. "We believe very strongly that the home holds the greatest untapped potential to improve children's learning and life-long success,” said CFY President and Co-Founder Elisabeth Stock. Training doesn't stop once the computers are given out. CFY also provides Family Tech Nights at the school that are designed to give parents strategies to engage in home learning activities. Saturday marked the ten thousandth donation for CFY, since it started in 1999. That computer went to Jonathen Berrios and his family. "I'm really excited,” said Jonathen. “It's my first time getting a brand new computer." "It's grateful to have someone outside of the school system think about education,” said Jonathen’s father Eduardo Berrios. “A lot of us are in a very dis-advantaged.” To find out more about Computers for Youth, log on to www.cfy.org.
