THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507070092
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHELLE MIZAL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Damika Singleton became a writer last week, Andrew Cathlin photographed African wildlife and Jose Harper painted several masterpieces.
Not bad for a group of 8- and 9-year-old kids looking for ways to fill their summer schedules.
What's more, these vacationing students discovered the fun right at their fingertips.
The trio of youngsters are among 36 Seatack Elementary School students who have returned to the classroom this month for a special computer camp.
The pilot program, divided into two sessions each two weeks long, is funded by the Society for Uplifting Black Teens through Love and Education (SUBTLE). Although not limited to black youths or teens, the program is aimed at helping disadvantaged kids who are above-average students.
On Thursday, day two of the first session, 9-year-old Damika was working on her book using the Kid Pix computer program. On her screen was a picture of children playing at a park. Below, Damika had typed ``One sunny morning three girls were playing. . . ''
She wants to be a writer when she grows up, she said.
Two terminals down, Andrew, 8, was taking pictures in Africa while learning geography.
``If you take pictures in the wrong place you get good pictures but you don't get paid,'' said volunteer instructor Nancy Bull, explaining how the program works.
Across the room, Jose was learning basic word processing skills.
``I like Kid Pix cause it got all these pictures and you can color all in it with the paint bucket,'' the 9-year-old explained. ``I'm a good colorer.''
Bull, a second-grade teacher during the regular school year, said that picking and choosing the right tools are the basics for using a processor.
These computer skills along with math, English and science are exactly what the program hopes to teach.
The program was given the ``go-ahead'' earlier this year by the Seatack School Planning Council in an effort to increase technology skills for ``average and above average students'' in the Seatack community.
Sonnie Blaize, founder of SUBTLE and the computer camp, said that the camp was started as a way for ``underprivileged children to excel in education.'' The program is free and open to neighborhood children in the third and fourth grades.
``I want every child that goes to elementary school, by the time they transfer to middle school, to be computer proficient,'' said Blaize, a Seatack resident who works for the Department of Defense.
The IBM compatible computers are installed with programs that apply art, music, history, English and math to the basic skills of using a computer.
Blaize, who has been interested in computers for 20 years and is a member of the Seatack Council, said that ``most schools don't use computers to their fullest potential.'' He wanted to start a computer enrichment program in the community this summer but originally lacked the resources.
So Seatack Elementary allowed Blaize to use its computer lab, which is equipped with about a dozen Apple Macintosh computers.
Blaize decided to accept Seatack's offer because it was a good control group for the new program. If the program works, Blaize would like to extend computer training to parents also as well as other schools in the area.
Aside from the volunteer assistants teaching the program, the kids also teach each other.
``How did you do that?'' asked Jose as he crossed the room to a girl coloring an acrobat on the computer.
``Simple, press the acrobat key,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Students who will be third-graders in the fall work on advanced math
problems in a computer program funded by the Society for Uplifting
Black Teens through Love and Education (SUBTLE) at Seatack
Elementary School.
Jose Harper uses the computer with the help of Sonnie Blaize, who
started the camp as a way for ``underprivileged children to excel in
education.''
Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Patricia Newman, left, and Lauren Davenport use the IBM compatible
computers with programs that apply art, music, history, English and
math to the basic skills of using a computer.
by CNB