Computer Science Education Week event gives coding students hands-on experience and their own rebuilt computers to take home.

Mount Pleasant, SC (Dec. 11, 2023) An innovative event to refurbish salvaged laptops rather than recycle them as e-waste was held at the Harbor Entrepreneur Center’s JRS Coding School for students from the Cooper River Center for Advanced Studies (CRCAS).

The 16 high schoolers first toured the facilities, located at 11 eWall Street in Mount Pleasant, and attended presentations by resident companies that included: Custom software developers Code + Trust, on how the company builds its web applications; Advyon, an IT management services and business technology consulting company, on opportunities in IT; Moondog Animation Studios, on how the company builds virtual reality games; JRS Coding School, on how computers work and the parts and components they need.

Under the direction of JRS Coding School instructor Amin Yachnes and with guidance from the presentation volunteers, students then rebuilt laptops previously salvaged by the Harbor.

“The  digital divide is not about technology, it’s about people,” said Darwin Shorters, who teaches the programming and software development pathway at CRCAS. “I believe students not only need computers to tinker with but to see what’s possible from people in the field. Talking to these team members gave students an aiming point, a real-life example of creative solutions to real problems right in their own backyard.”

Harbor Executive Director Grady Johnson hopes to make laptop refurbishment a semi-annual event. “It’s vital that all students have access to the technology they need to realize their aspirations. I hope someday some of these students will launch tech start-ups in this building.”

Because none of the students had access to home computers, Shorters noted the excitement generated when the students were informed that they could keep the laptops they’d worked to refurbish.

The Harbor Entrepreneur Center is a 501c3 nonprofit created to encourage collision and interaction between entrepreneurs.