DeSoto County First in Pilot Project By Elizabeth Reid
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
  The Maddox Foundation's goal of placing a computer in every classroom in DeSoto County has garnered statewide accolades and interest from school districts that want to expand the program.
  The grassroots program that was launched by the foundation, Robin Costa, its managing trustee, and Tom Pittman, publisher of DeSoto Times Today, has already gained the attention of Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The DeSoto pilot program is the first step in a statewide effort to reach every student within the next four years.
  "It's astonishing to see the reaction and support," said Pittman. "Several people on the Tennessee side are a little jealous, I think. We've already heard from six different school systems that want to replicate our program."
  The project received initial funding from the Pittman Family Foundation, boosted by other support from the AOL Foundation. Other lead project contributors include Bancorp South, Community Bank, Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development and Trustmark National Bank. Funds for the pilot project are funneled through DeSoto Council's educational foundation, including contributions from Entergy and the Weyerhaeuser Corporation Foundation. The University of Mississippi will measure the outcome and track its success.
  "Other Delta counties would be a logical next step for the program," he said. "All of the computers will be online, with Internet access, and that puts kids from rural schools to metropolitan areas on a level playing field. Schools that don't have money for books, videos, and other learning material for classrooms or libraries will have access to library systems around the world."
Pitman's brother, America Online president and COO, Bob Pittman, challenged Mississippians to reach high in its goals for full computerization in schools at Mississippi Economic Council's 50th annual membership meeting last year.
  "A worldwide company can be run from the living room of a home in the poorest county in the nation on the Internet," he said. "The Internet can transport you anywhere over the globe."
  Bob Pittman, a Jackson native, created MTV in 1981, was top gun at Six Flags Theme Parks by 1991, and at Century 21. When he joined AOL, it was worth approximately $3 billion. Today, it is worth more than Coca-Cola, Time-Warner and General Motors combined, with $180 billion. AOL recently announced its intent to merge with Time-Warner Cable.
  "For every computer we place in a classroom, AOL said they'd make it possible to have online access free of charge," said Tom Pittman. "On AOL, of course." Back