Use Found for Old PCs
Like many school districts, Brea-Olinda Unified is looking for donations of computer equipment to replace PCs that date back to the late 1980s. Of course, the newer the better.
But the district has also found a way to make use of over-the-hill equipment by creating a student loan program. PCs with 286 chips might be a little outdated for the classroom, but can be loaned to students to do homework, said Gary Goff, assistant superintendent.
The donation drive, which is being sponsored by the Brea Rotary Club, is just getting started, as is the loan program. So far, he said, the only loan has been a dot matrix printer to a 10th-grade student.
The student already had a computer, Goff said, and now uses the printer to print homework assignments and articles for the school newspaper. But, like the district, she has already set her technological sights a little higher.
“Do you think I could get a color printer if the school ever gets one?” the student recently asked. “I wanted to say, ‘We may not be around long enough for that,’ ” Goff recalled with a chuckle.
The district can be reached at (714) 990-7827.
Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com.
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