SIMI VALLEY : Students Chat With Computer Pen Pals

Students in Gregg Schramm’s junior high technology class in Simi Valley have entered the Computer Age, corresponding with folks two miles away without the help of pen or paper.

The children send computer messages to employees at Micom Communications Corp., asking them questions about their jobs, educations and sometimes even their favorite football teams. The workers respond via computer.

“The students are experiencing actual technology that is used on a daily basis by companies in our society,” said Schramm, who teaches an exploratory technology class to eighth- and ninth-graders at Valley View Junior High School. “This is current, state-of-the-art stuff.”

Micom representatives were looking for a way to help the school when the idea of communicating by computer came up during a brainstorming session with Schramm. They donated a computer and a modem, making it possible for messages to be sent electronically between the Tapo Street school and the East Los Angeles Avenue business, which manufactures and supplies data and voice communications equipment.

As part of their schoolwork, students are required to type one message to any Micom employee, Schramm said. The exercise not only benefits their writing and organizational skills, but also helps them study firsthand the computer technology that makes it work. Students receive extra credit for any additional correspondence, he said.

Neal Bartlett, 14, wrote electronic messages, known in the industry as “E-mail,” to several Micom workers during the fall semester.

“It allows you to talk to other people who aren’t involved in the schools,” said Neal, who wants to be a doctor or a lawyer. “I’m really interested in computers, and it all sounded interesting.”

Dick Ballagh, manager of employment relations at Micom, said the E-mail program is considered a “soft benefit” to Micom employees, who send computer messages to their co-workers as part of their daily routine. About 20 of them are participating in the school program, which began in the fall of 1989 and includes people in the Dallas and Atlanta sales offices.

“The benefit comes from the employees feeling good about their work,” Ballagh said.

Officials said the program allows the students to gain a better understanding of the modern workplace.

People wrongly assume that students know about various jobs, said Jacquie Richardson, vocational technician for the Simi Valley school district.”There are 35,000 legal ways to make a living, and most kids know less than 10.”