The UA Student Veterans of America donated eight computers to the International School of Tucson to aid in the education of local children on Thursday.
Calvin Jensen, SVA president and political science and philosophy junior, and Ammon Naone, SVA historian and international security studies graduate student, both served in the Marine Corps before enrolling at the UA.
Naone, whose daughter attends the International School of Tucson, said that he noticed the school needed computers while volunteering there. The donated computers were originally given to the UA Veterans Education and Transition Services Center by the Raytheon Company. Once the VETS Center received new computers, Naone offered the old ones to the school.
Jensen said that community service fits into the mission of the SVA, which involves itself heavily in the community.
“We want to take everything the student veterans learned in the military and apply that in a positive sense to our community to show everyone what veterans can do,” Jensen said.
Naone said he feels being in the military was an act of service to his country, and being involved in community service gives him back that feeling.
“You’re part of something bigger than yourself,” Naone said. “I think it kind of gives us back that feeling that we’re doing something positive or helping again.”
The VETS Center offers important counseling and support to student veterans who are attending college using the G.I. Bill, Jensen said. He said there are 1,200 student veterans at the UA. The national statistics of student veteran dropout rates are staggeringly high, Jensen said, but the VETS Center can help veterans transition into a higher education environment more easily.
“It was important that they didn’t feel isolated, that they had a sense of community where they could come in and feel welcome,” Jensen said.
Amy McDonald, a math and English teacher at the International School of Tucson for 5 years, said the K-5 school prepares children for an international community by teaching them German, Spanish, French or Chinese. She said the school currently only has one computer lab, which has to be reserved.
With the donation from the SVA there will be a computer in every classroom. This will allow children to use licensed educational programs to facilitate learning, as well as enable research when necessary, McDonald said. She said the computers will also allow teachers to take attendance electronically.
