Philanthropist Ms. Kathleen Patton is not only one of the Cofounders of Crossing the Digital Divide, she is also the organization’s CEO and Executive Director. With a solid background in business, having started her first NPO in her early twenties, Kathleen Patton was more than prepared to take on the challenge of opening a computer training facility. This facility has been on the cutting edge of “Reentry Programs”. City officials are heralding RP’s as being vital to the cities success as they offer support to some of the most at-risk adults who are recovering from drug abuse and other challenges. Kathleen Patton’s organization, which was formed in January 2004, gives recovering addicts the opportunity to change their lives by learning how to use today’s technology to earn a living. Crossing the Digital Divide, which is located in Los Angeles, California, has three locations to better serve the community of high-risk adults in recovery.

Kathleen Patton utilizes her business smarts to manage and oversee the operations at Crossing the Digital Divide. Because of Kathleen Patton’s efforts, the Crossing the Digital Divide staff, and the numerous volunteers, Crossing the Digital Divide is an award-winning organization that has received recognition from the local government, including the mayor of the city of Los Angeles.

In addition to her work with CDD, Ms. Kathleen Patton also enjoys a close family, friends and colleagues. Kathleen Patton relaxes by participating in swimming, volleyball, hiking, music and film.

Kathleen Patton finds special meaning in the quote, “The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” Ms. Kathleen Patton also finds inspiration and deep meaning in a quote credited to one of her favorite writers, world-renowned author and poet Maya Angelou: "All great achievements require time."

                                               WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

                                                      Cri-Help / 8-3-2010

 

 

Opening Comments:

Jordana and I both arrived about 20 minutes early to class.  We put the agenda on the board as usual, and Jordana put the Santa Monica graduation information on the board as well.

 

Attendance:

Ryan took attendance.  The entire Socorro class was a few minutes late because they encountered traffic on their way to the Cri-Help facility.  But all the students arrived in class by 7:10 PM.  Only Araceli did not show up.

 

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

We told the class what the agenda was for tonight.  Some people were nervous about the presentations and had questions.  A few were very excited to present.

1ST TOPIC COVERED:

Ryan reviewed the 1st half of the Internet.  Jordana continued with the 2nd half of the Internet.  Some students had some questions afterwards, but most seemed focused on the paper presentations.

 

2ND TOPIC COVERED:

During the paper presentations, several people were excited to read, and Ibra was the 1st to go up in front of the class.  Everyone was very respectful and cheered each other on.  The students encouraged each other to go in front of the class; even if they were nervous or felt that their paper wasn’t good enough.  One of the students that had a very good paper was Ray Campos.  His paper was several pages long, and it was well written.  It stuck to the computer topic very well and was cohesive.  One student’s paper that surprised me was Robert Atkinson’s.  Before class started, Robert told me that he couldn’t read.  When he wrote his paper, he dictated it to someone and someone wrote what he said.  He asked for help and if I could read his paper to the class, so I did.  When I read his paper, it talked about his hardships and how being illiterate shaped him.  Everyone was very moved afterwards and several people came up and hugged him.  I think I also noticed that he started to cry (or at least had a tear in his eye) after I finished reading his paper to the class.

In all, 12 students who finished their papers presented.  Another 4 students were almost done but wanted to add more.  They still wanted to present, so we allowed them to present in class.  However, I informed them that they still needed to complete their papers and re-present again on Saturday to get full credit.  Those 4 students were Kevin, Anna, Eddie, and Magarita.  Two other students did not present tonight, Danny C and Chris.

LAB TIME:

There was only 15 minutes left for the lab after the presentations.  A few students were able to complete their blogs during this time.  The students who were not done with their papers continued to work on them during this time.

FINAL NOTES:

We told the class the information about the Santa Monica graduation ceremony and that they could bring friends and family to the event.  We collected the papers of the 12 students that presented.  The other 6 students still have their papers with them and need to present on Saturday.  Because I will be working remotely and not in the office on Wednesday, Jordana volunteered to scan the papers since she has access to a scanner.  She will also bring the papers to the Thursday meeting to give to Micah and Renee, so that they can bring it to the Saturday class.

Overall, everyone did a great job in the presentations.  Several students shook our hands at the end of the night.

 

The top students we nominate for Cri-Help (in order of preference):

1.      Ray Campos

2.      Robert Atkinson

3.      Matthew Humphries

4.      Ibra Taylor