THE CAMPAIGN SUMMARY…
Dohn 2020 Technology Campaign provides students with the power to learn and build the technology experience necessary to join the 21st Century workforce. Thank you for helping us make these dreams come true. Due to remarkable, generous donors who invested $198,250.00 surpassing the target goal of $159,500 for this campaign.
On behalf of our resilient and brave students, we are grateful. If you would like to help us move this total to over $200,000, you can donate here.
BACKGROUND: Why we started the campaign…
Here is one way the crisis impacts us: When Dohn Community High School doors closed on March 16, due to COVID-19, it took us one week to set up online learning. The challenge is that 98% of our 1,000 students live at or below the poverty line. Most of our students do not have computers at home or internet access. While we had the virtual classrooms set up, the students could not access the class.
Kamiyah Scott, a junior, was one of the students without home access to technology. She tried to access the online classroom using her phone, and that was difficult. And, she had trouble reading the assignments on her phone. The limitations of working on a phone also meant that she missed out on the virtual classroom connection with teachers and her peers. Using the phone as a classroom device made it hard to ask questions or participate in classroom discussions.
Dohn had one laptop with internet access that we were able to loan to Kamiyah. This setup helped her stay on track as an A student, and keep the connection with her peers, a critical part of teen learning.
Kamiyah Scott is a Dohn superstar. She is on the Student Council and is a source of inspiration for her peers. Her family values the role of education. Kamiyah’s career goals are concrete and visionary. Her first stop after high school is electrician school, and from there, she will apply to the fire department. Kamiyah is a vibrant young woman, full of potential.
Just as the shutdown happened, the University of Cincinnati Economics Center published The Economic Impact and Benefit-Cost Analysis of Dohn Community High School (Read full details here). This study documents that for every dollar spent on education at Dohn, the Greater Cincinnati region receives $3.79 per graduate, in return, five years after graduation. Dohn and our graduates have a positive impact on the region.
Online learning is part of the new normal, even when school doors reopen. Also, access to technology provides the critical skill sets needed for the 21st-century job market.
With 98% of our students living at or below the poverty line, a reasonable donor concern is: “What happens if the student does not return the computer.” We want you to know that each device has an app that tracks the device, as well as restricts access to specific websites.
STAY TUNED…
- For student and teacher success stories
- For how Dohn’s 2020 Technology Campaign phenomenal success has a positive impact on learning
- For stories on how Dohn continues to meet the educational and life-skill needs of Cincinnati’s most underrepresented youth