The Computer Learning Center is in the Pocono Record!!

By CAROL O'NEILL
Sage Editor
June 03, 2009
Enthusiasm can be contagious.

The Computer Learning Center at Shirley Futch Plaza is proof of that.

In September 2002, the center opened to give low-income seniors living at the East Stroudsburg apartment building the opportunity to learn something new.

Apartment manager Gail Weierbach said that Housing and Urban Development's Neighborhood Network Project selected Shirley Futch Plaza to be a computer learning site.



"HUD tries to help establish programs for residents of government subsidized housing," Weierbach said.

Interstate Realty Management Inc., the company that manages Shirley Futch Plaza, was able to provide start up money to purchase equipment, and it also pays the computer facilitator hired to teach classes there.

While some residents showed interest in the program, things took off when Sharlotte Giberson began teaching the classes in February 2007. In fact, the class became so popular with residents that Interstate Realty Management decided to open the center an extra day.

"It was open two days a week. Now it's open three because of demand," Weierbach said.

After five months on the job Giberson was featured on the HUD Web site as a success story for initiating "Wheel of Futch" to get residents interested in the computer center.

Giberson, 32, teaches group classes and one-on-one. Some are beginners and others are savvier.



When Pat Fogarty, 70, started the class two years ago, she had almost no knowledge of computers. "After three classes, I got promoted," said Fogarty.

"I'm the card lady," added Fogarty, who enjoys making greeting cards on the computer when she's not doing puzzles, e-mailing, downloading coupons, getting free samples or researching information from her health insurance provider.

Beverly Barth, 74, has her own computer and knew how to use it when she started the class two years ago. For her, the class provided answers to specific questions, like how to get on Facebook. And thanks to Barth's online search skills, she found jigzone.com, and now all the jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts in the building are working puzzles online.

"I'm big on pushing puzzles and word games," Giberson said. "They are an excellent way to learn to use the mouse."

One of those puzzle enthusiasts, Jean Bruck, 70, said she visits three different crossword sites every day.

Bruck, who has owned a computer for at least 10 years, said, "I knew certain things, but I learned everything I use it for in this class. All my photography I learned here. I learned about puzzles here."

Having computer skills has enabled Bruck to create a personalized greeting card for her favorite priest who will be leaving the area soon. She scanned in a photograph for the cover, and designed the card to be a keepsake for the priest.



Not everyone in the building was excited about computer class. Verna Overpeck, 64, has no computer, knew nothing about computers and vowed she did not want to learn.

"I was afraid I would break something," Overpeck said. "Now I love it. I'm always here."

Once she got over her fear of the computer, Overpeck has learned to make greeting cards with personalized messages and creates signs to post on the bulletin board. She plays bingo and solitaire, and solves jigsaw puzzles.

Five computers are available in the computer learning center during class and practice time. With an average of 22 students a month, the center gets a lot of use.

Giberson said students range in age from 55 to 97. So far, only one man has taken the class.

Whatever the lesson, Giberson makes it challenging and fun. For example, to teach students to become more proficient with e-mail, Giberson got them to play the "Amazing e-race." The 10-week game will end with a party, and each student will receive a book, the product of their work.



"The more the challenges I present, the more they want," Giberson said.

In addition to scheduled classes, residents who have computers of their own can attend a monthly home-users club where they can discuss problems with their computers and get additional help.

During a recent home-users club, Giberson fielded questions about digital cameras in preparation for an upcoming photo contest. At their next class, the students were going to practice taking pictures in the backyard, using either their own digital camera or a borrowed one. Then they were going to learn how to edit and crop photos using Picasa, a free Google program.

"They love contests. They love technology," Giberson said of her students.

Photos have since been posted on the Shirley Futch blog site — sfpnn.blogspot.com — so that people can vote for their favorite.

"This is the most rewarding work I've ever done," said Giberson, who is working on having the Shirley Futch Plaza computer center designated a model site. "I teach them something and they run with it."

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