Lt. Governor Pat Quinn salutes Illinois charities for providing 500 laptop computers to Chicago children

CHICAGO - On Friday, May 16 at 3:30 p.m., Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will join Chicago-area children in a neighborhood community center as they learn to use brand new XO laptops, which were donated through a collaborative effort of Chicago charities and caring citizens who are committed to equipping students with laptop computers - the textbooks of the 21st century.

"We want to salute the innovative thinkers of the St. Vincent de Paul Center and the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation who are ensuring that our students are equipped today with the knowledge they will need tomorrow," Quinn said at a news conference at the St. Vincent de Paul Center, 2145 N. Halsted. "Laptops are the textbooks of the 21st century, and no Illinois child should be left on the wrong side of the digital divide."

Through a generous donation from an endowed fund at the St. Vincent De Paul Center, 500 Chicago area children, ranging in age from pre-K to nine years old, will receive a state-of-the-art XO laptop pioneered by One Laptop Per Child - a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving education everywhere.

Michael Sturch, a long-standing member of the St. Vincent Advisory and Development Board, learned of One Laptop Per Child's goal to provide children across the globe with computers and encouraged the fund to buy 500 XO laptops for children in Chicago. The St. Vincent fund purchased the 500 laptops for kids of the St. Vincent de Paul Center, Marillac Social Center and other Daughters of Charity Child Care Agencies in Chicago.

Additionally, the St. Vincent de Paul Advisory and Development Board generously purchased 500 laptops that was matched with another 500 from OLPC designated primarily for the One Love Africa program funded in part by the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Family Foundation-funded schools in Ethiopia. Coordination of these efforts has been led by Michael Condron, an executive officer of the Advisory and Development Board.

In total, 1,000 students in Ethiopia and 500 students in Chicago will have access to laptops thanks to their collaborative efforts. The Chicago students will be trained to use the computers by volunteers from Deloitte Consulting.

"For many of the children at St. Vincent's, their only exposure to computers is at the Center, a sad reality considering that it could put our kids at a disadvantage as we move closer to a global information economy," said Sr. Renee Rose D.C., Chief Executive Officer, Daughters of Charity Ministries of Chicago. "Through this investment, we are able to help bring technology and all it has to offer to the homes of these young kids, where their parents and siblings can also benefit from its use."

Providing students with 21st century technology is a goal of Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, who on Monday submitted the "Children's Low-Cost Laptop Ordinance" to the Chicago City Council. The ordinance would provide at least 15,000 low-cost laptops for students in Chicago Public Schools as well as development training for teachers.

Low-cost laptops are already transforming learning around the world, across the nation - and right here in Illinois. Forest Park Public School District 91 recently purchased 100 XO laptops to equip all of the district's fifth-grade classrooms. And in Birmingham, Ala., students are learning with laptops thanks to the City Council's recent decision to buy 15,000 low-cost laptops for its school children.

As chairman of the Broadband Deployment Council, Quinn is actively involved in improving access to high-speed Internet technology for all Illinois residents. In 2006, Quinn partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education to implement the Technology Immersion Pilot Project, which has provided nearly 5,000 students in 17 Illinois middle schools statewide with laptops or tablet PCs during the first two years of the program.

Late last year, Lt. Governor Quinn teamed up with the Western Illinois University Foundation to launch a statewide essay contest for third graders, awarding the 33 winners with XO laptops. Quinn and the foundation also presented 40 low-cost laptops to students at the Illinois School for the Deaf.

For more information about low-cost laptops and to see testimonials from students and teachers benefiting from laptop learning, please visit IllinoisConnect.org.