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| Mentoring is a powerful tool for helping youth believe in their own abilities and meet their potential. C4K recognizes this and has created a winning combination: after-school mentoring that enables students to develop the technology skills essential to success in academic and career settings. Our mentors are dedicated volunteers and caring role models that support and encourage at-risk middle and high school students that live in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. Students challenge themselves to acquire new technology skills and create personally meaningful technology projects. |
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| C4K brings technology to the students who need it most. In a society where computers skills are a necessary prerequisite to applying for a job, access to technology is critical to both surviving and thriving. C4K provides low-income middle and high school students with access to both PCs and Macintosh computers in our staff supervised, after-school learning labs. Through participation in our mentoring program, students also have the opportunity to earn a free home computer. Volunteers refurbish donated computer equipment and provide students with ongoing tech support or repair services. Enabled by community support, C4K keeps computer equipment out of landfills and recycles it into the homes of deserving students and their families. |
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| Under the one-on-one guidance of volunteer mentors and the supervision of professional staff, students at C4K complete technology projects that align with the International Society for Technology Education’s National Educational Technology Standards. These standards ensure students acquire skills needed to be effective 21st Century Learners. Students acquire a portfolio of technology projects and skills. |
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| C4K has created a clear and effective program logic model that has been recognized as exemplary by outside experts. The logic model is regularly updated to reflect best practices and directly aligns with the International Society for Technology Education’s National Educational Technology Standards. |
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| 100% of C4K students are low-income, and 90% are minorities. Our students do not have the same access to technology as their higher income peers, thus putting them at an academic and professional disadvantage. C4K reaches out to bridge this divide and improve our students' chances for long term success in life. |
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| In a locality where there is a lack of adequate after-school programming for older, low-income youth, C4K is meeting a critical need. An astonishing 54% of youth living in Charlottesville qualify for free or reduced price school lunches, and according to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Commission on Children and Families, this number is growing. C4K reaches out to ensure local middle and high school students have the support they need during a critical time in their lives. |
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| Every year, C4K acknowledges the significant accomplishments of our students and the invaluable contributions of their mentors through an annual graduation ceremony. C4K graduates have met with their mentor once a week for at least nine months, and completed two in-depth technology projects. Each student’s family members, their mentor, and friends of C4K attend the celebration. Graduation is the highlight of the year for C4K and is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our community’s commitment to helping local youth achieve their potential. |
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| C4K graduates now have additional opportunities to build their portfolio of skills through Teen Tech. Launched in the spring of 2009, Teen Tech targets older students who have completed C4K’s nine-month mentoring program and have the potential to benefit from ongoing participation in meaningful after-school programming. Teen Tech offers students the opportunity to acquire advanced technology skills, develop college and career-related skills, and work collaboratively in a supportive environment. Students benefit from the guidance of C4K staff and regular volunteers who offer their professional design and technology expertise. |
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| As C4K approaches the 10th anniversary of our mentoring program, we are excited to start seeing the long term impact of involvement in C4K for our students. We have found that 97% of mentored students tracked by C4K have graduated from high school. In contrast, 70% of all economically disadvantaged students living in Charlottesville graduate from high school on time. Our students are attending college, and they are returning to C4K to become the next generation of mentors to at-risk youth in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community. |
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| C4K is a grassroots, locally focused organization that has grown from a volunteer-run computer redistribution program to an award-winning after-school mentoring and technology training program for low-income middle and high school students. In its 10 years of existence, C4K has received local and statewide recognition for programming grounded in national standards for youth technology training. C4K has also successfully attracted stellar resources including professional volunteers, financial and in-kind support from local businesses and community members, as well as expertise made available through proximity to a world-class research institution, the University of Virginia. |
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