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Fr. Robert Bower and Tom Brown will present FREE GEEK Michiana's FreeBox program to the Title 1 Department at South Bend Community School Corporation on March 15, 2009.
The purpose of the presentation is to recruit Title 1 schools for the FreeBox program.
FREE GEEK Michiana works directly with the Family and Community Specialist (FACS) and the Parent Teacher Organizatin (PTO) in participating schools. The FACS and PTO recruit parents of students in the school to take a FreeBox class led by volunteers from FREE GEEK Michiana. At the end of the class the parents take a hands-on test. If they pass the test, the parent takes home a FreeBox for their family to use. Almost 100% of each class are granted a FreeBox.
Granting FreeBox systems to parents of Title 1 schools supports early education intervention and enrichment efforts by the school and guarantees that FREE GEEK Michiana is serving low income families.
Title 1 schools have 50% or more of their students eligible for the Title 1 free/reduced lunch program. Some South Bend primary schools have over 90% of their students eligible for free/reduced lunches. To qualify for free/reduced lunches the student's family must be living at, below or near the federal poverty level.
FreeBox recipients sign an agreement to return their computer system when they are done with it. The FreeBoxes actually belong to FREE GEEK Michiana which grants the use of the computer system to the recipient. Returned FreeBoxes are refurbished and redistributed or recycled.
Currently, there are four Title 1 schools participating in the FreeBox program.
- Lincoln Primary Center
- Muessel Primary Center
- Perley Primary Center
- Wilson Primary Center
The presentation will include a brief overview of Ubuntu.
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