East Side children on Monday celebrated the donation of 20 laptops at the Ella Austin Community Center, which will allow them to continue learning how to code.
More than 30 children excitedly listened to speakers their own age share that the 20 cardboard boxes sitting on a table next to them were actually laptops.
The students, part of WestCare Texas’ Summer Extravaganza program, have been learning how to code for two months now, thanks to Code Equity, a nonprofit organization led by three San Antonio children, which offers free coding classes at the community center.
Co-CEOs and founders of Code Equity, 8th grader Zurielle Kim, 6th grader Keane Kim and 4th grader Gabriel Kim, established the nonprofit last fall to help empower homeless, foster and vulnerable youth by teaching them how to code.
Volunteers for the nonprofit have also taught people how to code at Strong Foundation Ministries and Visitation House Ministries and SAMMinistries.
The Kim siblings’ passion for coding started when Zurielle purchased a book on coding for kids at a book fair. She learned more by watching videos online, and got her brothers on board to also learn how to code.
“We always wanted to help other people. We see homeless people on the streets and we want to help them out, and we thought what better way than to share our passion with those people who need it,” said Zurielle, who is 13.
Keane and Gabriel, who are 11 and 10, said they like building things with code like video games and minesweeper.
“Once you learn it, it’s easy. It’s fun,” Gabriel said.
In San Antonio, 18% of households still don’t have access to the internet. Some of those homes are on the East Side, said Rhia Pape executive director of SA Digital Connects.
The so-called digital divide has been closing in recent years, thanks to efforts like partnerships with AT&T. Pape said it will connect another 20,000 houses to the internet within the next year.
SA Digital Connects ensures access to affordable internet in households, access to devices in the households for schoolwork and finding jobs, and helping people develop skills to use the devices.
“What’s really cool about classes you’re doing with Code Equity is that Microsoft Word and Excel, those are all softwares that were developed by coding,” Pape told the group of students eager to accept the laptops. “It’s an amazing skill to take with you through middle school, high school and to college.”
SA Digital Connects partnered with Code Equity to distribute the laptops on Monday, and has distributed hundreds more across Bexar County with Human IT, a national nonprofit organization based in California which distributes refurbished laptops to communities affected by the Digital Divide.
A grant from Methodist Healthcare Ministries helped fund the purchase of 20 refurbished Google Chromebooks on Monday.
The laptops will stay at Ella Austin Community Center, home of the nonprofit WestCare, which provides seasonal programming for children in the neighborhood.
The new tech are a “game changer” for the students, said Beverly Watts-Davis, senior vice president of WestCare Texas, who encouraged students to think of things they can help create.
“We hope this will close the digital divide and provide greater technological access for everyone,” said Zurielle.
Code Equity will host an event called Code Fest at Haven For Hope on Aug. 6, and later this fall plans to give out 30 additional laptops to Ella Austin Community Center for its Code Equity students.
