Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar Helps Bridge the Digital Divide

When Aaron Fulkerson began working on computers, it was a hobby to earn some money and show kids how computers worked. So he is surprised to hear himself now say, "I believe this model for using computers could one day force a small but meaningful change in public education's approach to teaching children." His experiences as a student, entrepreneur, and educator have only convinced him even more to be part of a transformation he believes must happen.

Aaron's first inkling that he wanted to help change education came while he was a student himself. Through elementary and secondary school, he grew increasingly disappointed by the challenges that public education offered him. After graduating from high school, he preferred to earn money rather than to enroll in college. Soon, he was designing brochures and newsletters for small companies. As business grew, he taught himself how to design websites, build computers, and set-up computer networks.

But when Aaron set up a network at the elementary school where his wife, Tara, taught technology, he discovered something new. Spending time helping her at-risk students with their computers, he found them responding extremely well to education that involved computers. Before long, he had enrolled in Durham Technology Community College and committed himself to a dream: owning his own educational software business and establishing a school for underprivileged children built around the effective use of his software.

With his Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship, Aaron is now pursuing his dream at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. In 2004, he will graduate with a B.S. in computer science. Naturally, though, the classroom isn't the only place he is pursuing his goals. He has also become an active volunteer with North Carolina Central University's Campus-Community Corporate Partnerships' TOP-CAT program, which provides technology and training to low-income families. He has helped institute the program's eight TOP-CAT technology labs now operating across the Durham community.

The experience has further inspired Aaron. Public-housing authorities tell him that the TOP-CAT courses he teaches on Saturdays are breaking down gang lines and creating friendships among youth who once were violent adversaries. This program," Aaron says, "is changing the students' lives and inspiring them to explore their own potential and their world."

Such feedback has led Aaron to volunteer with another program, the Campus of Learners. It trains low-income students and families on computers. Aaron refurbishes used computers for its participants, delivers the computers to their homes, and trains them on basic software and Internet use.

Working in both programs, Aaron believes he has found a model for educating low-income students through computer use. "Technology is only a tool," he admits. But, he adds, "I believe we are forging an approach to education in which technology encourages students to learn in a new way."

Aaron's skills in technology have also caught other people's eyes. Microsoft recently offered him a three-month summer internship to work with a dozen staff on a project so cutting-edge he can't discuss its details. When this exciting internship concludes, Aaron will return to UNC to finish his bachelor's degree and prepare to take the GMAT and the next step in his dream, an MBA. His dream, and just maybe his vision for educating children in a new way, seems to be getting closer.