One Laptop per Child Association (OLPC) announced today the delivery of 2000 of its laptops to children in seven schools in Charlotte, NC. The project is a collaborative effort between OLPC and Project L.I.F.T. (LIFT). LIFT is a non-profit consortium of community organizations dedicated to improving the education of students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. OLPC and LIFT are both supported by Knight Foundation, who brought together and funded the one-to-one project in Charlotte.
Charlotte marks the second project in recent years for OLPC in the US. The first project, also funded by Knight Foundation, was in Miami for 500 children in a single school. Based on the successful results from the first year of that project, Knight approached OLPC to undertake the larger, multi-school program in Charlotte. The project in Miami is now in its second year.
"We are very pleased to partner again with Knight Foundation to expand OLPC into another city in the US,” said Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of OLPC. "Joining with like-minded people devoted to children's education, such as Project LIFT, only increases the benefits the children receive and accelerates their learning,” said Arboleda.
Susan Patterson, Knight Foundation program director in Charlotte, said, “Access to the Internet and digital skills are vital for success in today’s connected world, we hope these devices can give the students in Project LIFT a jump start to learning and living digitally.”
