HRA receives grant for computer tech club

The grant and hardware was given to the school on November 19 by the Virginia Student Training and Refurbishment program, or VA STAR. Hampton Roads Academy’s IT club, Second Startup, began this fall and is open to all Upper School students seeking to develop their skills in computer technology. Led and instructed by student co-founders Harry Ross and Liam Thurkettle, the club currently has 22 members. Though it is still in its early stages, Harry Ross has already noticed the positive impact the club has had on the students.

“Seeing the enthusiasm in our club members and the joy of teaching students these new skills has been the most rewarding aspect of Second Startup,” said Ross. “We have even had a few who have decided that they will use the skills they’ve learned to build their own computers!”

Students in the Virginia STAR program repair and refurbish computers by upgrading older software and their internal components. Since 2008, the program has partnered with 25 school districts, with 45 participating schools, including Hampton Roads Academy. All repaired computers are eventually donated to local families and organizations in need.

With the help of the grant, Second Startup members plan to donate their repaired computers to the Hampton Roads community, beginning with one of the local elementary schools. Ross and Thurkettle are both confident that the Second Startup club will be a great avenue for both technical learning and philanthropy. “We began Second Startup because we wanted to give ‘computer nerds’ like ourselves an outlet to hang out and do what we love while helping the less fortunate.”