Frugal administrators and classroom teachers will be encouraged to know there are ways to bring computers into the classroom even during the current fiscal crisis and time of tight budgets. Public / private sector collaboration makes this possible.

It was my privilege to support the Silicon Valley Student’s Recycling Used Technology program (StRUT) by distributing 90 excellent laptops to 2 high schools in Northern California. Intel Corporation and the Northwest Regional Education Service District founded StRUT 1995 and continues to support it at many levels. Intel has gone on to found StRUT programs in all of the States where the company has facilities, and continues to support StRUT in many critical ways.

Silicon Valley StRUT is sponsored by Ohlone College’s Regional Cisco Network Academy program where career tech education students take donated computers and computer components and upgrade them to incorporate back into schools for student use. Ohlone College students involved in StRUT evaluate, repair and refurbish donated computers and in turn distribute those computers free to local schools. StRUT students gain valuable computer knowledge and hands on computer skills and schools gain valuable computers.

The 90 computers were donated to the StRUT program by Symantec Corporation which is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Symantec specializes in computer security, data protection and remote management software with both consumer and business offerings, and replaces its laptop computers on a 3 year cycle.

60 of the computers now support the Met Sacramento’s Big Picture program by enabling more students to access the Internet to support their individual learning plans. 30 of the computers will be used in Watsonville High School as a portable language lab to improve the language development of English learners and their parents. Teachers at both schools are ecstatic to receive the laptops to better support their instruction.

Partnership Roles:

• Intel: Inspired and supports the StRUT program
• Cisco: Provided the network academy curriculum to enable students.
• Symantec Corporation: Generously donated used equipment.
• Ohlone College: Operates the program.
• Schools: Receives and effectively uses the computers

 Click on the following link for a list of similar programs that operate in California: Computer Recycle Initiatives.