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CLAWSON — Clawson seniors are working hard to better understand the nature of the technological world and its benefits.
With the help of the Clawson Lions Club, seniors enrolled in the AARP Older Adults Technology Services program can now learn their curriculum directly on eight brand new HP Chromebooks.
“I am just so happy,” said Lisa Ball, assistant director of recreation and senior services. “Now we can move forward and do even more classes.”
The OATS program began in December and started with a few lecture-based classes, according to Ball.
“We actually just ended our smartphone course at the Blair Memorial Library earlier this week (Dec. 17),” Ball said. “People just came in with their phones, whether that be an Android or Apple iPhone, so we can do that kind of stuff, but without having some kind of desktop or Chromebook, we can’t do the more in-depth classes on how to work with a computer.”
Clive Brown, a member of the Clawson Lions Club, said that this donation is just another normal day for the Clawson Lions Club. He said that the group is there to help wherever it is needed in the community.
Brown said that he ran into Ball and Scott Jennex, director of recreation and senior services, at a festival over the summer. Jennex and Ball mentioned their need for laptops, and Brown told them he could help.
“They discussed the desire to get involved with the AARP program that Lisa was working on, and they needed a few laptops,” Brown said. “With that being said, there was two of us that were standing there, we looked at each other and said, ‘Well, we can do that.’”
Following that interaction, Brown got the approval of the Clawson Lions Club and began researching the best laptops to buy for a program like this.
“Lisa supplied me with what she was looking for in terms of the minimum requirements for her program that she’s conducting,” he said. “With that information, I shopped around and got some prices on new Hewlett-Packard Chromebooks.”
Brown said that he made sure to find laptops that would last, enlisting help from his granddaughter, daughter and wife, who all had knowledge of Chromebooks.
“They will be able to use these laptops, because we didn’t go out and find refurbished or the cheapest thing that we could find — that wasn’t our intent,” Brown said. “Our intent was to get them what they needed and then some, and new equipment, so that they can get some good future time out of it.”
The eight chromebooks cost around $2,500, which came out of the Clawson Lions Club’s activity fund.
Brown said that the Lions Club members delivered the laptops on Dec. 16 to make sure that the Senior Center had enough time to activate the computers with the necessary programming before classes began in January.
Ball said that the classes have been really popular since they started in December, acquiring a waiting list for most of them. Since beginning, she has taught classes on smartphones and how to use the Amazon Alexa virtual assistant.
Classes related to the computer began Jan. 7, during the How to Choose a New Computer session at the Blair Memorial library at 416 N. Main St.
Jan. 11-18 is the Online Basics Program Series, where seniors will be using the new Chromebooks to learn how to navigate the online world. The series will help students understand basic computer concepts, how to protect personal information and more.
To register for the program, and for more information, visit cityofclawson.com.
