Support First Gen Latino Computer Scientists
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In a Nutshell (TLDR)
We are two hardworking high school seniors who are on track to attend top universities for Computer Science -- which makes us fairly unique in our hometown of Watsonville, CA. We need modern laptop computers to code and build up our skills, and once we’re in university courses, to do high-level work. We are asking for help raising money so we can afford laptops that will last us through all four years of college.
Our Goal(s)
We really have two goals:
1) Raise funds to purchase laptops that are reliable enough that we can use them to code our way to and through college.
2) Use these laptops to complete our Senior Project, a web app for that will help our school move many data sets and activities out of stand-alone spreadsheets and into a clean relational database.
Who We Are
Let’s start with what we have in common. We are both Latino, first-generation college attendees. We both attend the same small public charter in the town of Watsonville, CA. Less than 12% of our population achieves their bachelor's degrees (2017 American Community Survey).
We share a passion for coding, for dreaming up projects that improve our school, and for volunteering in our communities. Oh, and we both have school-issued Chromebooks that do not allow us to do any serious programming, and which we will need to return to our high school in June. This really means that we share a need for reliable, flexible computers in the very near future.
Eduardo
I am a dedicated student who loves technology and learning. I am the founder and student director of Chrome Corps, a Computer Science club and tech cadre at my high school. I have learned how to program by following my own interests and passions. Helping others with technology is what I do best. I train school faculty in the proper way to use technical resources such as apps and hardware, and love working with different clubs and organizations to make their lives and workflow easier with technology. I have earned awards and worked for certifications that demonstrate my technical skill level. I am particularly proud to be a Google Apps Certified Trainer.
Zazil
I am a hardworking person who loves learning new things. I am taking college level courses while maintaining a full course load and doing many extracurriculars, including Musical Theater and Chrome Corps, our school’s student tech cadre. I have taken an Intro to Java Programming and will be enrolled in a Network Security Principles class at our local community college during the Spring Semester. I am actively involved in our school plays and tutor other students in mathematics. I also provide child care services through my church, where I am an active member of the Youth Group.
What We Will Use Donations For
The one thing we each need right now to help us on our journey to become great computer scientists and college graduates is a laptop! Our advisor, the Director of Technology at our high school, keeps us up-to-date on the latest emerging technologies and deals. What we get depends on the success of this campaign!
While we’d love to jump straight to a beautiful new Macbook Pro, literally any new laptop would be a tremendous step up from our aging Chromebooks. Even a low end PC would make a nice coding station after we install a fresh Linux distribution and set up our developer tools. There’s a broad spectrum of what would help us; here are our “safe” and “reach” goals:
Safe/Minimum Specs
7th generation Dual-core i3 or quad-core Celeron, 2.0GHz
4GB DDR3L
64GB SSD or eMMC
13” to 15.6” screen
Such as the Dell Inspiron 15 3567 , about $419 each
or the HP 14-CF0014DX , about $400 each.
Reach/Dream Specs
8th generation Quad-core i7 or higher
16GB DDR4
256GB SSD or larger
13” or 14” screen
Such as the 2018 13” Macbook Pro , about $2,200 each
We are two hardworking high school seniors who are on track to attend top universities for Computer Science -- which makes us fairly unique in our hometown of Watsonville, CA. We need modern laptop computers to code and build up our skills, and once we’re in university courses, to do high-level work. We are asking for help raising money so we can afford laptops that will last us through all four years of college.
Our Goal(s)
We really have two goals:
1) Raise funds to purchase laptops that are reliable enough that we can use them to code our way to and through college.
2) Use these laptops to complete our Senior Project, a web app for that will help our school move many data sets and activities out of stand-alone spreadsheets and into a clean relational database.
Who We Are
Let’s start with what we have in common. We are both Latino, first-generation college attendees. We both attend the same small public charter in the town of Watsonville, CA. Less than 12% of our population achieves their bachelor's degrees (2017 American Community Survey).
We share a passion for coding, for dreaming up projects that improve our school, and for volunteering in our communities. Oh, and we both have school-issued Chromebooks that do not allow us to do any serious programming, and which we will need to return to our high school in June. This really means that we share a need for reliable, flexible computers in the very near future.
Eduardo
I am a dedicated student who loves technology and learning. I am the founder and student director of Chrome Corps, a Computer Science club and tech cadre at my high school. I have learned how to program by following my own interests and passions. Helping others with technology is what I do best. I train school faculty in the proper way to use technical resources such as apps and hardware, and love working with different clubs and organizations to make their lives and workflow easier with technology. I have earned awards and worked for certifications that demonstrate my technical skill level. I am particularly proud to be a Google Apps Certified Trainer.
Zazil
I am a hardworking person who loves learning new things. I am taking college level courses while maintaining a full course load and doing many extracurriculars, including Musical Theater and Chrome Corps, our school’s student tech cadre. I have taken an Intro to Java Programming and will be enrolled in a Network Security Principles class at our local community college during the Spring Semester. I am actively involved in our school plays and tutor other students in mathematics. I also provide child care services through my church, where I am an active member of the Youth Group.
What We Will Use Donations For
The one thing we each need right now to help us on our journey to become great computer scientists and college graduates is a laptop! Our advisor, the Director of Technology at our high school, keeps us up-to-date on the latest emerging technologies and deals. What we get depends on the success of this campaign!
While we’d love to jump straight to a beautiful new Macbook Pro, literally any new laptop would be a tremendous step up from our aging Chromebooks. Even a low end PC would make a nice coding station after we install a fresh Linux distribution and set up our developer tools. There’s a broad spectrum of what would help us; here are our “safe” and “reach” goals:
Safe/Minimum Specs
7th generation Dual-core i3 or quad-core Celeron, 2.0GHz
4GB DDR3L
64GB SSD or eMMC
13” to 15.6” screen
Such as the Dell Inspiron 15 3567 , about $419 each
or the HP 14-CF0014DX , about $400 each.
Reach/Dream Specs
8th generation Quad-core i7 or higher
16GB DDR4
256GB SSD or larger
13” or 14” screen
Such as the 2018 13” Macbook Pro , about $2,200 each
Fundraising team (3)
Mike Rich
Organizer
Watsonville, CA
Eduardo De León
Team member
Zazil Sosa
Team member
