When President of ThomDigital Group Michael Thom visited the Bahamas, an opportunity arose to help out the local community and better their education system with our technology solutions. Thankfully, this upgrade came just in time for schools across the world to switch to remote learning. 

At the time, ThomDigital was completing work at the home of Pamela Heilner. As Pamela’s WFH situation became more relevant for her daily life, she asked that we upgrade the internet, security systems and wifi. She expressed that the local vendors on the island weren’t meeting her needs. We successfully improved the whole house, connected with one dashboard. This allows for stronger connectivity and simpler management. Pamela is a local on Berry Island in the Bahamas, a small island just north of the capital Nassau. She enjoys being an active member of her community, and wants to tackle a major problem within Berry Island, their only school.

Therefore, when the all age school in the Bahamas called and asked for help, ThomDigital was more than happy to gift their time and expertise to the community. The school supports over 150 local students, yet a lack of technology prohibited extended learning online. 

Exterior of R.N. Gomez all-age school

Pamela expressed that there is computer class in the school’s curriculum, yet had no computers. The school’s wifi and overall IT infrastructure had poor design and did not support the students and staff appropriately. As the only public school on this island, it was unexpected that the local government could not provide financial nor IT assistance. As a supporter for accessibility in public education, ThomDigital calculated the needs and stepped in to get the school up to speed.  

The scope of work was as follows: 

• Although there was fiber optic capability at the school, they couldn’t access it. In order to resolve this, we conducted troubleshooting with the vendor issues here.
• Low Voltage layout and the supporting hardware was poor and needed upgrading. 
• Students required laptops in the computer classroom to complete classwork. 
• Implement a new Google Education communication platform which hadn’t existed on the island before.

Network stack installed by ThomDigital

Thankfully, donors in the community such as Southbar Club contributed to the project. ThomDigital completed the scope at no-cost to the school and delivered a presentation to the school community afterwards. 

Pamela remarks on the success of ThomDigital’s services:

“Mike is really generous with his time. And he’s a really good IT person. Everything was good, and solved any issues remotely…Whenever [Mike] was needed to help, he came in and helped.”

Overall success of remote learning:

“Once the pandemic happened, it was a godsend that Google Education was in place because these kids were working from home with computers. An absolute lifesaver! We were able to graduate the class which would have never happened before our new IT setup from Mike. Whenever Mike heads back to the Caribbean he is sure to stop and check up on the school. The Principal and Vice Principal love him and speak with him on a first name basis.”

If you’re looking to improve your local school’s technology solutions to allow for 21st-century learning, reach out to info@thomdigital.com and we’d be happy to create a plan!