KING CITY — Students in South Monterey County were able to advance their studies as 150 refurbished laptops were distributed last Saturday to youth participating in First Tee Monterey County.
The first wave of students was mostly from Chalone Peaks Middle School, with a follow-up distribution to the remaining King City High School students.
Recipients were chosen through First Tee working with the school districts to identify students in need from among their almost 6,400 South County participants. The project was spearheaded by AT&T and United Way Monterey County, with refurbishing services provided by Human-I-T.
“This will help me with my online assignments,” said seventh-grader Jaylah Carrasco.
Another Chalone Peaks student, eighth-grader Lupita Santiago, had similar aims for assignments.
“A lot of them I don’t have time to finish in class, and I have to wait for the next day,” Santiago said of her prior struggles to complete schoolwork.
Her brother, Israel Santiago, said he was relieved that his sister wouldn’t have to borrow his laptop or phone to complete assignments anymore. He said trying to operate apps like Google Classroom on the phone proved difficult compared to the desktop version.
Helping students with assignments was one of the main issues AT&T wanted to tackle with their multi-billion dollar initiative, according to external affairs coordinator Bettye Saxon. She credited the pandemic era with showing the need for technology among students.
“We noticed across the nation that all the schools were having issues because they sent the students home, but the students had no connectivity for the distance learning,” Saxon said.
Saxon explained the computers given out Sept. 6 in King City were Wi-Fi enabled, and joined the prior 450 computers handed out earlier in the year within the Central Coast region, with distribution events in Soledad, Watsonville and Cal State Monterey Bay.
“I literally worked a farm when I was growing up, and if it was not for education, I would not have transcended poverty,” Saxon said. “I know the power of education, the power of access, the power of tools.”
First Tee Monterey County offers programs to students throughout Monterey County within schools and oversees operation of King City Golf Course.
Within King City alone, King City Campus General Manager Jeremy Sarina said the program helps 2,500 students with golf as a form of physical education, as well as with life lessons meant to be carried into the classroom.
Sarina said one indicator of the program’s success during the past three years in King City has been the start of the King City High School girls’ golf team, which started with six members, but swelled to more than 40 members as former Chalone Peaks students in the program entered KCHS.
Santiago has participated in First Tee for three years.
“It’s more fun because it’s different than what we usually do,” she said, though admitted she’s not a fan of golf.
Sarina said the program in schools makes adaptations, such as hula hoops, cones and pool noodles, to not only make golf look more interesting and colorful, but also able to be played in a school environment.
“We’re impacting kids in a positive way,” Sarina said.
