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The graduates will receive three certificates of completion from officials of Westchester County, the City of White Plains and El Centro Hispano.
The graduating class comprises adults of all ages who have developed computer skills in four levels of training. The levels and number of participants are: beginners (12); intermediate (12); advanced (12) and Microsoft Access (17), the database management system that enable users to organize, update and extract data, as well as create timely reports.
The non-profit organization, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, has been providing an advanced level of computer training to the Hispanic community since 2009, when it opened the state-of-the-art Technology Center on its premises. It comprises 17 PC work stations, one lap top, an interactive White Board and high speed internet access and connectivity to White Plains Public Schools.
“Since the Technology Center opened, it has been in constant demand. Hundreds of adults have benefitted by participating in a wide range of computer training programs,” said Isabel Villar, founding executive director of El Centro Hispano. She noted that creating the Technology Center addressed an urgent need as “many individuals lack access to computers in their homes and are far behind in their knowledge and use of technology.”
The program includes training by three skilled staff instructors who lead the classroom course work in Spanish in a flexible schedule of weekly sessions including two-hour classes taught on Mondays and Wednesdays and four-hour sessions held on Fridays and Saturdays. The curricula are comprehensive starting with an introduction to basics including the mouse, functions of the key board, Microsoft Word and the Internet in the beginning level, and progressing to the advanced level when students learn to do online banking, communicate on social media platforms, purchase products on Amazon and eBay and use Drop Box, among other skills.
After the graduation ceremony, El Centro Hispano will begin a new cycle of sessions in early February, which will conclude with a graduation ceremony in late May. A summer cycle gets under way in early June and ends in late September when El Centro Hispano will again honor graduates of its computer class.
El Centro Hispano is at 346 S. Lexington Ave.
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