One of the reasons I love being a part of the our “old boys” network, is the joy of seeing us come together to give back to the school that played a major role in the formative years of our lives. This most recent experience was one such example of that collaborative effort.

Let me tell you how the AutoCAD project came together.

During the 2018 Homecoming celebrations I was approached by a student, DeJohn Marks.  Young Mr. Marks told me about the challenges they were having in preparing for their external Technical Drawing examinations because of the lack of AutoCAD enabled computers.  His complaint was not just for him though.  In the spirit of a true Man of Might, he was advocating for his classmates as well. I told him to put the information together and get it to me.  Why did I have him do some leg work? Well, I do not want our young men to develop the habit of complaining, if they are not willing to be part of the solution. 

I also spoke with Principal Ellis, who confirmed the problem.  I was glad to hear him say it was a part of his action plan and that his vision extends beyond merely equipping that lab, but to also expand the program to facilitate more students in order to prepare them for the future.

Well, good news.  Mr. Marks did follow up as promised and sent the email with requested information and copied to his teacher.  By this time, I had already received the information from Principal Ellis, but I was impressed that the young man followed through.

Here in Philadelphia, CCOBAMA is a new chapter.  But we do work well collectively.  In January of this year, a member the Class of ’85, and our chapter advised us of the IT Project being spearheaded by their year group.  Mark Ricketts, on behalf of Adrian Kerr and their year-group reached out for assistance on securing hard drives to upgrade some computers being donated to the school.  The members of our chapter quickly stepped up and we were able to purchase the hard drives.

In February, I received a call from Michael Williams, the secretary in our chapter who told me that an opportunity had emerged that might be too good to pass up.  A company was relocating their call center to another location and downsizing.  They had computers available, but they were selling fast, and we needed to inspect them to see if they were worth the investment.  When we first made the call to confirm availability, there were forty-five computers available, two days later when we arrived to inspect them, there were only twenty-seven units remaining. We inspected them and took the lot.