More often than not, tech companies are linked in the public mind with money: the funding for which their founders scramble, the riches they reap for early adopters and the investment communities they hope to woo after they put down roots.
But to 17-year-old Henrico student Jocelyn Marencik, tech is more than just an income generator. It’s also a powerful tool for the next generation and a discipline that can help young men and women gain the knowledge needed to navigate the world.
“All of our world is digital … You can combine anything with computers,” she said.
For just shy of three years, Marencik, currently a senior at Deep Run High School’s Center for Information Technology, has been running Got Tec! Richmond, an initiative that brings technology equipment to underserved schools throughout the region and teaches students and educators how to use those tools.
A shortened form of “Gifts of Technology for Teachers, Education and Children,” Got Tec launched in January 2016 when Marencik donated two Chromebooks to teachers at J. L. Francis Elementary in South Richmond.
From those two pieces of technology grew a much larger effort, one that has since donated more than $30,000 in tech equipment to schools throughout the greater Richmond area. Marencik raises the money through grants and awards (she was a Prudential Spirit of Community state honoree and received a Karma for Cara microgrant in 2018, among other distinctions, with funds from the latter going toward the establishment of a technology library at Swansboro Elementary), as well as by selling crocheted items she makes herself. Then she coordinates with school leaders to determine what teachers need and ensures it gets to them.
“Richmond city schools lack technology equipment, and I felt that was unfortunate. And I also realized that I was very into community service, and I was very into computer science, so I decided I could combine my two passions to form Got Tec,” Marencik said in a video interview.
“She took it on her own from day one,” said Marencik’s father, Don. “And out of that really she probably found what she’s going to do with her life.”
First attracted to computer science in the sixth grade, Marencik’s first introduction to the possibilities of tech came in the form of online programming language Scratch, which she still calls one of her favorite coding languages (the other is Java).
Time in programs such as the iD Tech Camps and Tech Em Studios only fueled that passion, but Marencik soon noticed a lack of diversity in the tech communities she encountered.
“Not everyone gets the chance to have access to technology. They never get the chance to use what’s most needed in society today.”
And although equity ought to be argument enough for expanding access, Marencik is quick to point out that the tech field also benefits from such efforts by embracing different voices and perspectives.
Her father agreed: Code, he said, is today’s “universal language.”
With that in mind, Got Tec goes beyond providing teachers with the tools for learning, with Marencik organizing and hosting numerous “Learn to Code” days and other events to encourage students to dip their toes in computer science.
At one such day at Swansboro Elementary, she was particularly touched to see a third-grade girl who had completed a project stand up on her desk and begin to dance out of delight at what she had learned to do.
“That really hit me in the heart,” said Marencik. So too did Swansboro’s subsequent creation of a computer club.
And although the high school senior has racked up significant recognition in the region, even snagging a finalist slot for RVA Tech’s 2018 Community Impact award, her favorite aspect of Got Tec is introducing the creative possibilities of computer science to other people.
“When you combine your passion with your service, it’s always life-changing for you and those you help,” she said.
