Volunteers Sought to Wire Classrooms

In conjunction with a statewide initiative to provide every California school with access to the Internet, the Oak Park Unified School District is seeking volunteers to help wire its classrooms.

The California Department of Education has put out a call over the Internet for anyone with the technical know-how to volunteer on March 9 to help connect schools across the state to the Information Superhighway.

The Oak Park School District plans to take advantage of the day, dubbed NetDay96, to help get its six schools wired.

“What we are asking for is a concentrated effort for people to pick particular schools and come out on that day and help wire us for the Internet,” said Stan Mantooth, assistant superintendent of business services.

Now, students at one Oak Park school--Oak View High School--have full access to the global system of interlinked computer networks.

But district staff has just started wiring Oak Park High School and Red Oak Elementary School, while the wiring of Brookside Elementary has not yet begun. Medea Creek Middle School and Oak Hills Elementary School have both been wired to receive the Internet, but the district has yet to install the schools’ computers with the necessary software.

The district is asking that anyone interested in volunteering for NetDay96 at an Oak Park school attend an organizational meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the district’s support services center at 5801 E. Conifer St. in Oak Park.

The district is seeking volunteers with technical expertise, but Mantooth said anyone willing to help is welcome.

“We will ask you if you are someone who is knowledgeable or a neophyte who can just help us pull wire,” he said.

Volunteers can call (818) 735-3210 or sign up on the World Wide Web page at https:www.netday96.com.