In the world that we live in today, computers are not only playing a big role in our lives but they run our day to day activities. Whether it be your home PC, I-pod or blackberry, you will find that it all traces back to a computer program and tech-savvy programmer that had the smarts to create it.

For years at the CEDC, New Bedford students have had the opportunity to begin to explore the importance of computers and the ins and outs of making them work. For the past several months, participants in the computer refurbishing program sponsored by Invest in Kids, City Of New Bedford have got a head start on becoming part of the next wave of computer techies of the future.

One of the instructors, Pastor Polk described the program as "a great opportunity for students to work on something that they can feel proud about and learn something too." The program ran from Monday through Thursday from 3-5pm at the Old Voke school on Hillman Street. "The program was so interesting, I had never seen the inside of a computer before" Ayeska Molina, age 13 of Keith Middle School said.

An interested student at that, Ayeska was one many participants that signed up for the 10 week program. "We learned how to install a program into the hard drive, the we learned how to take the computer apart and put it back together." When asked why she chose the computer refurbishing program as her after school activity, she said because she has always had an interest in computers. "I want to be a nurse but being part of this program showed me alot about identifying parts and learning where they fit. I think this will help me in any situation." She mentioned how she recently applied to Greater New Bedford Voke and she plans to major in their nursing program and wants to minor in Computer Science. She used her experience in the Invest In Kids Program on her application as she thinks she will have a head start when she gets there.

Besides building their PC’s from basic components, they also program them, identify viruses (and learn how to get rid of them), understand hardware configurations, and install the software. They even learn to make movies.

Another bright young man who was a part of Computer Refurbishing was Sam Barlow, age 12 from Keith Middle School. " I chose computer refurbishing because I know I want to work on computers when I get older. I thought it was cool to see how you can determine how fast or slow the computer is. I also thought that it was very difficult but after I got to know all the parts it was kinda easy to know the CPU and the motherboard and stuff."

All in all both Ayeska and Sam agreed that they learned a "whole lot" at the program and that they both made "many friends" at the program with people that they hadn't known before. The most exciting part of being a part of this program was that with an overall good attendance rating, students were able to keep their new Dell computer to bring home to their families. "That is definitely cool" said Ayeska.

At program completion, students received an award and computer. When asked what he will remember about the program, Sam Barlow said "I will remember the people and Pastor Polk" . He also said.. "I'll come back to teach after I get my job with Microsoft where I hope to work with my uncle after college."