Computer Clubhouse 274 opens

New Zealand’s first Computer Clubhouse, in Otara, has moved into it’s new, purpose-built facilities beside Clover Park Middle School and Te Whanau O Tupuranga.

TrustLine newsletter, June 2009

Complete with a music studio, video studio, green screen, and new high-end computers with 3D software, the after-school drop-in centre also has new laptops provided by Intel and a wireless internet connection so the 380 members of Computer Clubhouse 274 get free internet access from home.

The clubhouse is part of a worldwide network set up in under-served communities and licensed to the Boston Museum of Science and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the first, and so far the only computer clubhouse in New Zealand.

ASB Community Trust has supported the computer clubhouse project since 2007, with grants worth $340,000 towards building the new facilities.

The clubhouse members, mostly from the local Maori and Pasifika communities, get free access to the latest technology after school and are encouraged to apply it in ways that interest them. It is open to Otara’s young people, between the ages of 10 and 18.

Founder Mike Usmar says there are no set lessons, but mentors from the computer industry guide members as they master “useful tools they can actually use.”

“Clubhouse members construct their own learning based on their interests and strengths,” Mike says. “Clubhouse 274 allows them to dream, explore, design and create.”

The students are also encouraged to continue their education, and the clubhouse used the recent grand opening to announce its first scholarships – to clubhouse members Wiki Ripia and Ngawai Manuel who have gone on to tertiary study this year.