Published: June 20, 2008 10:17 pm            

South senior’s effort results in tech room for Hyte Community Center

TERRE HAUTE — The Hyte Community Center launched a new tutoring program last school year comprised of the National Honor Society members at Terre Haute Vigo High School.

While working as a tutor at the Hyte Community Center, Raj Bhuptani, honor society treasurer, learned that many of the kids didn’t have access to computers. On Wednesday, the Terre Haute South senior finalized a nine-month effort to provide the computers that he called a necessity.

He wrote and sent letters to a number of local businesses, doctors and lawyers in the Terre Haute area. In response, the companies gave scrap computer parts, monitors, keyboards and monetary donations to the Hyte Center. Bhuptani turned his hobby into an asset when he rebuilt one computer from scratch and used interchangeable parts as needed in others.

The Hyte Center now has a technology room with five computers, a printer and Digital Subscriber Line for Internet access. Basic computer classes for youth and adults will be staged on a weekly basis at 1 and 2:30 p.m., respectively, starting Tuesday. Other days will be on July 1, 8 and 22. Bhuptani will instruct the class.

Though it was to help out youth that compelled him to do the fundraiser, Bhuptani also wants to help adults.

“A lot of people have technophobia,” he said. “Adults and parents seem to be afraid to use the computer. With our adult classes, I was hoping that they could get experience and realize it’s not that hard.”

Mae Turner White, Terre Haute South math teacher, adviser to National Honor Society and Hyte Center board member, brought the tutoring program to the Hyte Center through the honor society. Thirty members of the club tutored at the Hyte Center. She said it is a pleasure to have students such as Bhuptani.

“I’m not sure that I have the words to articulate how I feel about it,” White said. “I was extremely proud. I truly feel blessed to have an opportunity to work with students of his caliber.”

Bhuptani is a standout student at Terre Haute South. He maintains a 4.0 grade-point average and is a mathlete, White said. He will take two math classes at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology this fall.

White gave Bhuptani plenty of glory. But he said donations kept his project going.

“They were all very generous and I’d like to thank them all,” Bhuptani said. “They were really helpful and it wouldn’t be possible without them. They were really willing to dig up old parts that they had and make it easy for me to get them.”

Though he was modest and quick to project attention toward others, White said Bhuptani never gave up.

“I am so proud of his effort and his persistence,” she said. “He knew what needed to be done and he did it. He didn’t let anything stop him. It took a long time to make this happen.”

A laundry list of materials were needed to put the computers together. The casing, power supply, and motherboard, which he said was the hardest to find, were all among the long list.

Bhuptani stored a room of parts in the Hyte Center that included printers, processors, random access memory, and keyboards for future repairs. All the extra materials that Bhuptani called “wreckage” will be sent to TREES Inc. Recycling.

Bhuptani put in a great deal of work over the nine-month period, but his only focus was providing for the children.

“We saw that many of the kids didn’t have access to computers at home,” Bhuptani said. “Today, computers are really essential for learning and are a necessity.”

DeAntae Prince can be reached at (812) 231-4214 or deantae.prince@tribstar.com.

        

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