Computer Gift Boosts Program in Schools

At the Transportation Careers Academy in North Hollywood High School, the homework is strictly digital.

“Everything has to be done on computer,” said student Jennie Del Cid, showing with the click of a mouse a set of pie charts and colorful graphics she had created on a class computer. “Our teachers won’t even accept assignments that are done any other way.”

Last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority donated a total of 180 used computers to the four area high schools and three community colleges that have transportation careers programs.

North Hollywood’s interim principal, John Hyland, joined MTA and city school officials in a ceremony marking the donation of the IBM-compatible computers, 27 of which will go to that school.

“One of these is probably the one I used in my office a couple of years ago,” said Linda Bohlinger, the MTA’s deputy CEO.

“This gift will benefit the whole school,” Hyland said after the ceremony. “It eases the crunch on technology. “It’ll help students get a jump on their careers as well as their college plans.”

It’s no accident that the computers went to the transportation programs. The academies were founded in 1993 with MTA providing matching funds to a grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The programs were designed to prepare students for entry-level jobs in the transportation industry.

The 150 students in the North Hollywood program work in groups, tacking a variety of subjects.

Del Cid’s project involved public response to the troubled construction of the MTA’s Red Line. She surveyed area residents and put the data into graphic form.

The computers will complement the approximately 50 existing Macintoshes available to students in the program. The new computers will also enable students to access the Internet, and they will come in handy this fall, when students use class time to complete college application essays.

“I’m still working on that,” Del Cid said with a smile.