Our Only Webmaster Student - Anthony Pritchett

Wednesday night at Computer Mentors Group is reserved for our advanced students. All of the students have earned their basic computer knowledge IC3 certification. Except for Anthony Pritchett, all the students are seeking an advanced computer technician A+ certification. Anthony’s overwhelming interest is to receive the Certified Internet Webmaster certification. With minimal guidance from CMG staffer, Christian Silva, Anthony applies himself whole-heartedly for two hours to the interactive webmaster computer-based training. It may take over one year for Anthony to pass the certification test. With his patience and self-motivation, we know that he will succeed in this challenge.

CMG advanced webmaster student, Anthony Pritchett.

Anthony is currently a ninth grade student at Hillsborough High School. His primary career goal is to be a video game designer. His friends have noticed that on initial exposure to new computer games, Anthony very quickly becomes the neighborhood expert.

In 2006, Anthony’s grandmother, Laura Pritchett, noticed a newspaper ad for new CMG program enrollees. We are thankful she signed-up Anthony for our basic and advanced programs. We are confident that Anthony’s CMG training will be helpful to him achieving his long-term goals.

Our First A+ Class

CMG is proud of our first high school aged A+ class. These teens have all been enrolled in the CMG 14-18 year old programs for at least two years. Each has received his/her Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3). The IC3 program provided the core skills and knowledge necessary to use computer applications and the internet. Challenging testing proved their worthiness to receive the IC3 Certificate.

Instructor Neil Armstrong (first row - 2nd left);
instructor Jean-David Oladele (first row - far right).

Now these teens meet every Wednesday evening to prepare themselves for the COMP TIA A+ certification test. The Comp TIA A+ test will confirm the technician’s ability to perform tasks such as installation, configuration, diagnosing, preventive maintenance and basic networking. Some of these students are fortunate enough to receive addition A+ courses at their high school. We expect it to be at least six months before any student is ready to take this professionally recognized test.

Christian Silva of the CMG staff provides overall coordination for the A+ training. A volunteer, Jean-David Oladele, has developed the training materials and does the hands-on instruction. CMG is fortunate to have a person of Jean-David’s technical expertise and ability to relate to the teens involved. He holds the position of Software Systems Engineer V at Verizon Data Services Inc.

Neil Armstrong, retired Verizon Executive, is currently instructing the A+ class in resume writing. These resumes will be used in the CMG internship interview process.

We, at CMG, wish these pace-setters continued success.

From the Director

Hello everyone,

Thank you once again for taking time out of your busy day to read the Mentors Report. I think that you’ll agree that the kids are doing some wonderful things. I’d like to bring your attention to the fact some of the youth are available for subsidized summer employment, potentially with your agency. Please call me for details on how you can share in the training of our youth by providing them a summer internship.

Additionally, I need to make a request for computers and support for our upcoming computer giveaways. You may recall that last year all the students in Academy Prep of Tampa were provided with take-home computers.

This year all the incoming new students will receive a take-home computer and we also have a challenge grant from an anonymous donor to provide training and broadband Internet service to these students. The match grant has been met in part by Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union. The missing pieces we need help with are donations of computers (Pentium III 800Mhz or better) and a small portion of the match grant. Please contact our office for details or additional information at 813-236-1191.

Sincerely,

Student and family from Academy Prep along with Russ Hobbs
and Amanda Long of Hobbs Foundation.