Custom Computer Specialists Hands Out $10,000 in Scholarships

Custom Computer Specialists gave out $10,000 in college scholarships to local high school students who described how technology has affected their education.

The Hauppauge-based technology presented 10 high school students each with a $1,000 2011 Right Start Scholarship for their college education. Award winners were chosen from more than 300 applicants based on their academic records and essay answering "Describe how technology has impacted your education so far and how you believe it will impact the future of K-12 education."

Gregory Galdi, president of Custom Computer Specialists, told the award winners how he has seen technology grow over the past 10 years, from the introduction of cell phones to the iPad.

“Our future depends on furthering the education of today’s students; technology has become a vital part of the overall learning experience. The intelligent, creative and mature responses from our scholarship program participants clearly displays how so many promising seniors clearly understand and embrace the connection between technology and education,” Galdi said.

Trends among the winner's essays included integration of technology in assignments, smart boards in the classroom, use of cellphones and other devices as study guides, the transfer from textbooks to ebooks and iPads in the classroom.

Galdi said the company staff reviews each essay, evaluating how technology is being used by the students in their live to continue to improve and develop their software for Long Island school districts.