Computer science students needed

The Middletown Eye recently reported that students at Middletown's Macdonough Elementary School will soon be using XO laptops in their after-school activities—yes, the XO laptop that grew out of the One Laptop Per Child project.

Now, the school is looking for computer science students who want to help the third, fourth, and fifth graders with the new laptops. Cathy Lechowitz, Director of Community Service and Volunteerism, writes:

Volunteer to help the XO One Laptop Per Child education project by learning and mastering computer programming skills while helping to teach Middletown’s North End Macdonough Elementary School third- through fifth-grade students to do so, as well. This project is to bring creative uses of technology to the low-income North End neighborhood, where the lack of income and resources stifles access to technology. Service learning at its best!

Contact Izzi Greenberg at 860 346-4845 if you are interested.

This Week: Voter Registration in Middletown's North End

Starting tomorrow afternoon, Wesleyan students will have the opportunity to spend three days registering voters in the North End, "Middletown's last truly urban residential neighborhood" right across Washington Street. The effort will be a partnership between two local grassroots organizations, Middletown's North End Action Team (NEAT) and Wesleyan's chapter of the non-partisan student organization Democracy Matters. This event gives Wesleyan students the opportunity to become engaged as community partners to North End residents, as well as an opportunity to work with and get to know local Middletown High School students.

Interested students should meet up with the NEAT organizers who will operate tables in Usdan 3-5pm on the afternoons of Tuesday-Thursday, October 14-16. There you will be given voter registration materials, instructions, and walking directions to certain locations in the North End, which is only a few minutes off campus. We will be canvassing several bus stop locations in the North End alongside the members of the Teen Dreams Society, a group of Middletown High School students interested in community engagement.

Thanks to this event and the efforts of the Teen Dreams Society, North End residents will have the opportunity to participate in the most important election of our lifetimes. All Wes students looking to get engaged in the community are encouraged to attend, even if just for a few hours. Go individually or in groups!

What: Register North End Residents to Vote
Who: Wes Students, Democracy Matters, NEAT, Teen Dreams Society
Where: Get started in Usdan
When: Any time between 3pm-5pm, Tuesday-Thursday, this week

Please contact Saul Carlin of Democracy Matters with questions by e-mailing scarlin at wes.