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."

CDD Class Report Walden House 7-24-10

                                             WEEKLY CLASS REPORT

Walden House, Saturday, 7/24/10

 

Opening Comments:

Chairs were set up with a white board for lecture.

 

Attendance:

Attendance was taken and the notebooks. Frank DeLeon came up to me and asked if he could be excused from the class because he wanted me to give him a note to excuse him from class to go to a baseball game.I explained that if he left he would be marked absent and that  I would not be excusing him to go. One of the staff members happened to walk in while I was talking to Frank and he also, explained to Frank that the computer class was a priority at the center not the baseball game. He then told me that a list of the names on our roster had been given to the driver so that the students in the class would not leave for the game. All the students that were in class had their outlines although, many had questions that Austin I went over with them.

 

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:

I introduced the topics that would be covered during the class in Module 2 and MS Word

 

1ST TOPIC COVERED:

I briefly went over the last 5 discovery terms and also covered the First half of Module 2. I explained about running various programs at once and the cascading and tiling windows.

2ND TOPIC COVERED:

During the end of Module 2 I started feeling ill and one of the staff – Steve helped answering some questions from the students about the material.

 

LAB TIME:

Austin got to class very close to the break time, and after apologizing to the class for being late he excused the class for the 10 minute break. After returning from the break, Austin gave a brief introduction about himself and reminded them about the Discovery Term quiz on Tuesday. After answering a few brief questions about the outline and quiz, Austin instructed the students to use the computers for lab time.

During lab, Austin and myself assisted students still working on their outlines as well as instructed students to begin familiarizing themselves with MS Word. A few students began to create their title pages with Word. Many students had started to write their papers and were excited to share their current work with the instructors.

 

FINAL NOTES:

Overall a challenging class since I was by myself for the first half. However, it was encouraging to see that most students had begun writing their papers in their spare time as well as demonstrating the introductory concepts of MS Word.

Note from Austin:

Maria did extremely well with the class for being alone for the lecture portion. Most all students I talked to had a completed outline and had begun work on their papers. There were periods of time where some students were joking and repeatedly asking to use the restroom, but for the most part the class was kept under control and focused on completing the MS Word exercises.