Helping students excel in a high-tech world

Trish Millines Dziko had two things going for her when she launched an education nonprofit: money from a career at Microsoft and an unshakable belief that, given the opportunity, low-income children and those of color can excel at mathematics, science and technology.

The latter view put Dziko at odds with those in public education who worry that high standards and academic rigor are unfair to poor and minority children. And it put her nonprofit's plans on a collision course with oft-cited studies on the technology gap between poor and well-off families, and the achievement gap between white and Latino and African-American kids.

Luckily, Dziko doesn't scare easily. After a dozen years working with schools in high-poverty areas and offering curricula in math, science, engineering and technology, the Technology Access Foundation is an indispensable partner in our public schools.

Roughly 300 students from kindergarten through 12th grade are enrolled in TAF's after-school programs. A glimpse of what this means to kids can be found on TAF's Web site, under "Notes from Trish's Desk":

"This month I heard from three alumni," she writes. "Jonathan Porter, now a senior at Seattle University majoring in marketing ... Beza Getahun, who will graduate this year from the University of Washington with an industrial engineering degree, wanted advice for her interview with Microsoft. The great thing is, I was able to connect her with Miya McClain and Chanvatha Sea, two other TAF alumni who are already working at Microsoft ... Finally, Reggie Cole e-mailed to let me know he found his way after a pretty tough time deciding what his path would be. I was so happy to hear he landed at Brown University."

Anywhere else, Dziko would sound like an ad for expensive tutoring; but, in the sink-or-swim world of public schools, she is the proud coach of winners.

Supporters will fill a ballroom this morning at Seattle's Westin Hotel for TAF's annual leadership breakfast. TAF's success will be applauded, but attention ought to turn to helping the organization relocate its headquarters from Seattle to White Center, where the foundation already has an indispensable presence in the local schools through a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant.