By Kristen Garrett
Herald Staff Writer

Thanks to a grant from a computer company, a local organization will have new computers to help educate kids.

The Neighborhood Network Education Team in Pymatuning Township began in 1996 with a community group working to educate people in low-income housing and offering computer classes to adults.

Rita Rider, program coordinator, said NNET has representatives from various community organizations, but their primary source of funding is through community donations and local fund-raisers.

Ms. Rider said they have been providing computer classes for adults but wanted to expand their classes to include kids. The organization got a grant from PowerUP, a program started by the Case Foundation which is part of America Online, she said.

The program will provide NNET with new computers, Internet service and an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer for one year, she said.

The NNET center, located in Reynolds West Estates, 325 Twelfth St., has an after-school program for kids in kindergarten through eighth-grade, Ms. Rider said. She said they had nine old computers that kids used for things like letter writing and playing educational games.

NNET was assessed by the Case Foundation to receive at least 10 new computers, but Ms. Rider said there’s a possibility they could get more.

"The kids here need something...to keep them busy and out of trouble," Ms. Rider said of the kids living in Reynolds West Estates. She said the computer classes will give the kids a place to learn and play after school.

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