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BUCKHANNON – The Stockert Youth & Community Center now offers a technology help desk for Stockert Youth attendees and their parents.
Debora Brockleman, executive director of SYCC, announced that Stockert is working with an intern from the Fred W. Eberle Technical Center to provide technical assistance and classes for interested parties.
“He started today, and he’s there to help our after-school kids with their devices if they’re having any problems,” Brockleman told the SYCC Board at its meeting Monday, Sept. 7. “At some point, he wants to do a learning activity with them, to show them more about navigation of their iPads, and also, at some point we’re going to do an adult computer class. He was just getting started when I came over here; he’s available in our computer lab.”
Brockleman said they are asking students and adults to fill out a survey that will help gauge what they want to learn in future activities.
The items on the adult survey included: Upshur schools educational technology, Microsoft Office applications, protecting children online, cyber bullying, making better use of mobile phone applications, keeping online accounts safe from hacking, using Facebook, using Instagram and blogging.
The children’s survey included the following options: using tablets for schoolwork, connecting to the Internet at Stockert or at home, finding homework assignments on tablets, using Word to write papers, submitting completed assignments, using the internet to do research for schoolwork, sending a message to teachers or making a PowerPoint or other kind of presentation.
Brockleman said their after-school programs are operating at full capacity.
“Our current programs are working really well: Karate, little ninjas, kickboxing are all going well,” she said. “The after-school program is back in full swing, and we were at maximum capacity, which is 60 per day,” Brockleman said. “We have a waiting list now, and the drill team has started to back up, and we’re still accepting signups.”
Stockert was successful in renewing their application for their after-school snack program.
“Every year we do a renewal application, and this year we had to do our training,” Brockleman said. “At the end of the course we had to test, and we have been approved. What that means is, we are approved for reimbursements with our after-school snack program, so we’re not really paying anything to have that.”
SYCC also recently purchased a new bus for trips, which includes air conditioning and seats 40 people.
“I think that it’ll be a nice addition and it has air conditioning, which will be great when we go on field trips because the big red bus, just like in any other older school bus, there was no air conditioning and a lot of kids got overheated,” Brockleman said. “I think the old bus we are retiring [is] either going to go to auction or it might be better used for parts because there are interchangeable parts the garage has been looking for, so we’re not sure what’s going to happen to it.”
