Computer-Loan Effort Gets Students On-Line

Two weeks ago, the Nava family took home a secondhand computer from Kaiser Elementary School as though it were a library book.

The aging computer monitor and keyboard were donated to the school by another Costa Mesa family. When the school bought software and canvas carrying bags, a novel program was born.

The fledgling effort--the first of its kind in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and possibly in the county--is designed for families who cannot afford a home computer.

After the computer found a place on a wooden desk near the front door, Israel Nava, 11, quickly became the family champion on the multiplication tables.

He and his father, Joaquin, play a mathematical game so often these days that his older sister, 12-year-old Carolina, feels squeezed out.

“They are good because they play it all the time,” she said.

In the game, players accumulate points and move about the screen by correctly choosing, for example, multiples of eight from a grid of random numbers.

Competition for computer time is what Principal Christine Jurenka of Kaiser Elementary had in mind when she chose the Navas as the first family to get the computer.

“If you don’t have a computer, you can’t compete in school,” said Jurenka, who modeled the program on similar efforts in the Atlanta and Harlem school districts.

“Right now, I can think of 30 families where a computer is needed at home,” she said. “We want to kick this off and get other people to look in the garage or somewhere for that old Apple.”

Already, 15 families are on the waiting list, filling the program into the middle of next year.

“It is a novel idea,” said Bill Habermehl, assistant superintendent for instructional services at the county Department of Education. “I think this is exactly what we need to do. This brings the schools and parents together to teach our children.”

At Kaiser, students begin learning about computers in first and second grades. By third grade, most students are proficient on them.

“I can see the difference in how our kids read and write,” Jurenka said, contrasting the achievements of those who use computers with those who don’t. “When I (recently) took home papers from all the fifth-graders, you could see that some kids turning in stuff done on a word processor” had an advantage.

And a computer at home might encourage children to share their knowledge with the rest of the family, she said.

“We give them software for preschoolers and ESL (English as a second language) software for the parents,” Jurenka said. “These are important skills to have, and we want everyone in the house to use (the computer).”

She hopes to expand the program by acquiring a printer and a voice synthesizer that can be used for reading and language software.

Habermehl said county officials are rooting for Kaiser’s experiment, adding that districts looking to duplicate the program will want to know how well the computer holds up while being circulated from house to house.

“I wish we could keep it the whole summer,” said Israel Nava, who will enter sixth grade in the fall. The lending period is for one month. “The school lets us have it because we are good students and are good at handling the computer.”

The Navas arrived from Mexico City five years ago. They settled in Costa Mesa for a variety of reasons, but mostly for their children’s future.

“Here the classrooms are smaller. They don’t have 50 students in each classroom, like in Mexico City,” said Eva Nava, mother of Israel, Carolina and Gabriela, 7. “They have things to help the children here, like this computer. The government in Mexico doesn’t provide things like this.” Joaquin is an automotive mechanic and Eva is a maid in a retirement home.

“We don’t let the children play outside much” because of concerns about crime, Eva said. “That is why we are glad the children have this computer. They like it.”