“We are very excited to bring the wealth of resources enabled by the World Wide Web directly into the classroom via mobile Internet labs, so that each student may access these resources from her/his classroom desk,” said Jocelyn Lee, principal at Columbia Middle School. “Providing our students with first-hand experience and knowledge of how to work with and benefit from technology is an invaluable tool. The technology donated in this project will improve our students’ learning experiences and will translate into skills to be used in other aspects of their lives, for success in our increasingly connected world.”

There are two phases of the project, which will span the next six months and serve more than 581 of the 887 students at Columbia Middle School, based in Sunnyvale, California. At completion, the school will have wireless Internet access throughout the school, wherever the laptop cart travels, and wireless Internet access in six classrooms. The project is expected to have a measurable impact on student technology access, which is currently limited to 25 computers located in a drop-in computer lab in the school library.

“It will be nice to be able to do research and not have to go to the library lab because a lot of those computers don’t work,” said one Columbia 7th grader. “I don’t have a computer at home so these new computers will help me a lot.”

“Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, we often take technology for granted, however, many children in our schools still don’t have the easy access to the resources they need to enhance their ability to learn and understand the world around them,” said Scott Kriens, CEO of Juniper Networks. “We feel it is fundamentally important to ensure our schools have the technology they need to prepare our children for the global economy, and Juniper is excited to be a part of the transformation at Columbia.”

“Participating in this endeavor has been exceptionally satisfying for all of us at ComputerCare,” said Alan Rittenberg, President of ComputerCare. “This is our way of helping Columbia students to become whatever they dream they can be in our rapidly changing world.”

Phase I of the Project is Underway

The first phase of the project focuses on ensuring Columbia Middle School has the hardware required to provide mobile Internet access, along with the initial volunteer and training support to ensure the mobile laptop cart can be immediately leveraged.

Working through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (http://www.siliconvalleycf.org), the JNFF purchased and delivered new PCs, laptops, laptop carts, wireless network equipment, and projectors, among other equipment, to Columbia Middle School in early January. The mobile Internet labs, which will include on-board printers, will allow students to do Internet research in the classroom and to create PowerPoint presentations and essays using the wealth of resources from the World Wide Web. Furthermore, students will be able to access educational web sites that provide such resources as virtual frog dissections, writing support and programs that build math skills.

ComputerCare has donated funds to Columbia to fund the creation of a technology club for the students, which Principal Lee and her students have named “Tech Crew.” The first team of teachers and students, who are going to be trained on how to use and troubleshoot the mobile Internet labs, has already been identified. In addition, the funds will be used to transport students to local high-tech companies for tours and presentations, to purchase tools the Tech Crew may need to support hardware, and to coordinate the involvement of students from the neighboring Fremont High School as mentors for Columbia Tech Crew members.

The Next Steps

The second phase of the project focuses on improving student math achievement by providing teachers with a web-based, interactive teaching tool. The wireless Internet access in six math classrooms and the multimedia projectors will allow 581 7th and 8th graders to receive enhanced curriculum through the use of Agile Mind software, a teaching tool that math teachers will access online via their wireless Internet connections. The software will offer a transition for students from elementary mathematics towards increasingly abstract mathematics that demand higher levels of thinking. Teachers will use the multimedia projectors to demonstrate mathematical concepts through real-world examples and animation.

Juniper Networks Foundation Fund

The Juniper Networks Foundation Fund’s mission is to foster and support education from early childhood through end of high school, with a focus on programs that foster technical understanding and increase job preparedness. Established in May 2000, JNFF has undertaken projects around the world, including the U.S., India, Australia, Israel, Brazil, Haiti, England, The Netherlands, Mexico and South Africa.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, Inc. is the leader in high-performance networking. Juniper offers a high-performance network infrastructure that creates a responsive and trusted environment for accelerating the deployment of services and applications over a single network. This fuels high-performance businesses. Additional information can be found at www.juniper.net.

About ComputerCare

ComputerCare provides comprehensive IT solutions to Fortune 100 companies, offering both networking services and full service hardware and printer repair. ComputerCare is recognized nationally for its highest quality service in warranty and non-warranty repairs for the major manufacturers of laptops, desktops, servers and printers. The Company provides complete lifecycle management to its SMB and enterprise customers, including sales, deployment, integration, service, and disposal of equipment. As a part of its commitment to the environment ComputerCare recycles parts disposed of during the repair process. ComputerCare is conveniently headquartered in the heart of the Silicon Valley, but also makes special onsite arrangements to simplify the IT and service functions for many companies, wherever located. IT services are customized for all sizes and types of businesses, enabling them to focus on their own business while ComputerCare expertly manages all aspects of their networking needs, from systems configuration and management to server maintenance and support.