PHOENIXVILLE — "Connectivity" has moved beyond the level of buzzword.

Interaction with technology and other people over the Internet is now an integral part of almost everyone's life.

Team Children's Digital Divide initiative takes donated computers, refurbishes them and makes them available to children and families... for a nominal cost. On Monday, Team Children's Robert Toporek delivered recently refurbished computers to four students at Phoenixville Area Middle School.

"There are companies from all over the region and Chester County that donate their computers to us," said Team Children's Robert Toporek. "Anyone who wants to give us a computer, we take it, refurbish it and get it back into a kid's hands."

Team Children has two full-time employees working on the Digital Divide project and between 15 and 20 volunteers. Toporek originally got the idea for making inexpensive computers available to children while working in South Philadelphia about 10 years ago.

"There were no books or mentors or computers around, so originally this started as a way to just get kids a computer," he said.

The computers distributed Monday to PAMS students will be used for daily classroom assignments and projects, according to principal Troy Czukoski. This is the second year that PAMS has partnered with Team Children to make computers available to students and, in all, around 16 students from the middle school have taken advantage of the program.

"It's another bonus program for our students," Czukoski said.

Czukoski said that school officials hope to be able to track student improvements as a result of the computer use as the program moves forward.

After children receive their new computers, they are required to use them by interviewing a senior in their neighborhood, writing a short biography and using their computer to contribute to an online neighborhood history project. Children are also asked to complete monthly update letters that let Team Children's staff and volunteers know what they're using them for.

Applications for participation in Team Children's Digital Divide project, as well as more information regarding the project, are available on their Web site at www.teamchildren.com.