BOSTON (WHDH) - Teenagers from the Boys and Girls Club of Boston celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first phone call Wednesday, and were each gifted a new laptop during an event supported by AT&T.
Alexander Graham Bell successfully made the first phone call in March 1876 in Boston, and kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Boston’s Ready to Work program marked the milestone at the Ansin Youth Center in Charlestown.
The teenagers participated in telephone-themed STEM activities, and were surprised with some new technology of their own. Cheers filled the room as AT&T gifted 150 laptops to the group, with the goal of helping close the digital divide.
“In this day and age, in the digital age, if you don’t have a laptop you are going to be left behind. So this is giving them the tools they need to be part of the modern economy,” said John Emra, President of AT&T in the Northeast.
The President of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston said he is thankful for AT&T’s help in achieving the program’s goals.
“Our whole goal is how are we equipping them, giving them the tools and the resources…to start learning at a young age, for them to be productive citizens. We want folks to see this is the future pipeline, this is the future workforce,” said Robert Lewis Jr., President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. “We want Boston, our Commonwealth, and region to say, ‘this is the pipeline and we’re investing in them.'”
Lewis says this is the third Boys and Girls Club in the Boston area that has received a laptop donation.
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