Boy Scout helps Annandale HS students build computers

Frost Middle School students assist Ian Wallace in leading the desktop-building workshop at Annandale High School. [FCPS]

Eight students in Annandale High School’s English as a Second Language program have new computers they built themselves, thanks to budding Eagle Scout Ian Wallace.

According to a feature story on the Fairfax County Public Schools website, Wallace, a student at Frost Middle School, wanted to organize a charity drive to collect old computers and computer parts that could be repurposed into desktops. Next, he said, he planned to instruct a group of students from lower-income families on how to make their own devices.

When Wallace, told his neighbor Meredith Hedrick, chair of Annandale’s ESOL department, about his plans, she was impressed but hesitant. “This was really ambitious,” Hedrick said. 

Hedrick located a group of students who were newcomers to the U.S. and asked if they wanted to learn how to build – and then keep – their own desktop computer. Eight students, hailing from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Sierra Leone, readily agreed.

“These were kids who had been attending school on Monday all year long, going above and beyond and taking advantage of every opportunity available for their education,” Hedrick said.

Wallace got the donated supplies, ensured everything worked, and wrote a how-to manual. He enlisted fellow Boy Scouts, including students at Frost Middle School, to serve as his assistants during the computer-building workshop in May.

Annandale parent liaison Marleni Benitez translated the instruction manual into Spanish, while ESOL teachers J.J. Day and Becky Young served as translators during the three-and-half-hour workshop.

“Some of the kids didn’t speak English, but it all just flowed,” Hedrick said, noting that sometimes students would get out a phone to use Google Translate if necessary. “When people are new to the country, they go through a process of getting used to a new culture for six months or so, and getting a student to smile is a big deal,” she said. “Everyone here was smiling and laughing the whole time.”

Fatima Kamara [FCPS]

Wallace wanted to work with students whose families would benefit from having an additional computer at home. Students could use their computers to work on college essays, research, or stay active online during the summer. The students were also eager to use them to play video games and watch YouTube videos.

Annandale High School graduate Fatima Kamara, who was born in Sierra Leone, plans to use the computer she built during the workshop for her coursework this fall at Northern Virginia Community College’s honors program. 

Kamara intends to study nursing, but says the experience made her consider a career in information technology as well.

Her family was excited to add a desktop computer to their household, she said. “My dad is so happy, he says ‘Wow, this is really working!’”