Boys & Girls Club of Cathedral City gets technological makeover

The slice of a ribbon, a sweet start to summer vacation for teens at the Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City, as they celebrated their brand new Berger Foundation Tech Lab on Tuesday.

Thanks to the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, middle school and high school students have $34,000 in new hardware at their fingertips, including 23 HP PCs and four Apple video production stations.

“This has been a dream our ours since the 7 years I’ve been here. We’ve often had refurbished or retired computers for our kids,” Scott Robinson, the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Cathedral City.

The teen center tech lab is not only a place to solve math problems, but where students can master programs such as Final Cut pro and iMovie so no child is left behind.

“We’ve made “Who am I?” videos, edited and filmed it all,” said 13-year-old Demondra Martin.

The teens shared their stories and big dreams through pictures and video.

“I was thinking in the future of being a singer and making my own music videos,” said Martin.

Robinson said students are realizing the capacity of growth in the community, including paid job opportunities of creating PSAs and commercials for the Coachella Valley.

The club said the lab is “fun with a purpose” for learning and growing.

“I feel really proud of myself for accomplishing something that’s not an everyday thing,” said Martin.