Overview: Closing the Northside digital divide
Editor Jasmine McBride reports from the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, where a routine back-to-school backpack drive transformed into an unexpected tech giveaway for 250 Minneapolis families.
Credit: AT&T
For families who came to the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center on Aug. 28 expecting a backpack full of school supplies, the day held an extra surprise: a free MacBook for their kids heading back to school.
AT&T and Human-I-T partnered with the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center to give away 250 refurbished laptops and 250 backpacks filled with school supplies to Minneapolis families affected by the digital divide. AT&T also donated $50,000 to the center to support its digital literacy programs.
Credit: AT&T
“Nobody knew that they were going to be receiving laptops today,” said Bryan D. Tyner, president and CEO of the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center. “Everybody signed up just to receive a backpack of school supplies. So when Cheryl Riley, the regional president, announced that they were receiving Apple MacBooks, the joy and the surprise on the kids’ faces and on the parents’ faces, I think that was the best part for me, and then just watching the kids just enjoy themselves.”
Riley, president of AT&T’s Upper Midwest States, said in a statement that the giveaway was about giving students a fair shot at the school year.
“Every student deserves the opportunity to start the school year with the tools and confidence they need to succeed,” Riley said. “We’re proud to work with Human-I-T and the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center to surprise Minneapolis families with laptops and backpacks that will help students stay connected, engaged and ready to learn.”
How the partnership came together
Tyner said the partnership came together through Eric Howell, a Phyllis Wheatley board member with an existing relationship at AT&T.
“He was able to tell them that we have this backpack giveaway event and was able to kind of put that partnership together,” Tyner said. “AT&T, they were already putting partnerships together to give away these backpacks and laptops. So it seemed like a natural fit for us, both for us and them.”
Credit: AT&T
The center turned the giveaway into a full community event, bringing in food trucks, a mobile clinic offering preschool and sports physicals and vaccinations, a gaming truck and a bouncy house for younger kids.
“We try to make it into just more than just a backpack giveaway, but really a community event,” Tyner said.
Removing everyday learning barriers
Credit: AT&T
Tyner said the mission behind the giveaway was removing barriers that get in the way of kids succeeding in school.
“It’s hard enough learning math and reading and history and all of those things just on its own, but when you don’t have the proper equipment and the proper things to do that, whether that just be pencils, pens, notebooks and all of those things, and in this case, even a laptop, it makes it that much harder,” Tyner said. “So we want to remove the barriers to our kids being successful in the learning environment and in other environments as well.”
A full-circle moment for leadership
Tyner came into the role in mid-January, following what he described as a 31-year career in the fire service, the last five as fire chief for the city of Minneapolis. He said stepping into the Phyllis Wheatley role felt like a natural continuation of his ties to the center.
“I actually used to hang out here as a kid, play basketball and football, and do all the things that the kids are doing here today,” Tyner said. “I sent my own children here to the Mary T. Wellcome Child Development Center for preschool. I served as a volunteer on the board, and when it was time for me to retire from the fire department, I didn’t think I was ready to just kind of sit at home yet, and so I was looking for another way that I could serve the community. This opportunity was available, and so it just seemed like a natural fit to me.”
The Phyllis Wheatley Community Center has more community events planned in the coming months. In September, the center will host a heart health clinic in partnership with Shayla Reaves of WCCO. October brings a trunk-or-treat event, followed by a turkey giveaway in November and a Santa breakfast in December, both in partnership with the Kappas. The center will also hold a gala Oct. 3 at the Metropolitan Ballroom to raise money for its programming.
Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@spokesman-recorder.com.