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 Cover Letter

10th August 2020

Lydia Kokolskyj-West
Director
1389 E Santa Clara St.
San Jose, CA 96116

Dear Lydia Kokolskyj-West

Tech Connect Consulting is grateful for the opportunity to submit this proposal to Cristo Rey San
Jose. We are eager to help further the organization’s mission in fostering equal educational
opportunity in our local communities.

We expect to advance Cristo Rey’s goals through a series of live Zoom sessions led by members
of our team that specialize on the material on digital literacy. Through familiarizing the entire
family of the benefits of these programs, we expect to build a foundation of digital literacy
throughout the household. To preserve the informational virtual seminars, Tech Connect
Consulting will record the live Zoom sessions. The collection of these recorded sessions, along
with additional material, will be organized in a digital handbook for future reference. The digital
handbook may be utilized and amended at the discretion of Cristo Rey.

The handbook’s value will extend beyond the educational content by acting as tangible evidence
of Cristo Rey’s determination to develop a holistic approach to digital education within their
academic curriculum. Tech Connect Consulting projects the seminars and handbook will provide
leverage in Cristo Rey’s attempt to receive additional funding.

Tech Connect Consulting intends to diligently work in preparing a comprehensive series of

presentations that will have perpetual application. We look forward to working with the students
and parents of Cristo Rey high school and are appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to the
education advancement of underserved communities.

We are really passionate about this project and cannot wait to start working on it. Please feel free
to reach out to us anytime and thank you so much for this opportunity.

Best Regards,
Angelo Traina, Dhanyata Mehta, Nicholas Venezia, Adrienne Darza-Ugarte, Diya Budapanahalli

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Tech Connect Consultancy

Table of Contents

Section Page number

Title Page 1

Cover Letter 2

Table of Contents 3

Executive Summary 4

Introduction 5-6

Project Rationale 7

Deliverables 8

Cost Analysis 9

Delivery Schedule 10

Success Metrics 11

Staffing 12-14

Appendices 16

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 Executive Summary
An affordable education in The United States of America is becoming increasingly rare over
time. Many children who belong to underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds are unable to
attend private schools due to the high tuition fee and end up being placed in urban schools. These
urban schools do not uphold as high of a quality of education as private schools thus negatively
affecting the futures of their students.

Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School is a part of the Cristo Rey Network of 37 schools. This
school is a private catholic high school which aims to provide low-income family students with a
high quality education. The school was founded in the year of 2014 and has six successful
graduating classes till date. With a school consisting of numerous ambitious students, it is
imperative to them to keep classes going during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Tech Connect Consulting group proposes to work Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School in
order to teach their students and parents different forms of digital literacy in order to increase
their virtual academic abilities. This can be achieved through three prime objectives:

Objective 1:
Tech Connect Consulting will hold two seminars with students of Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit
High School ranging from grade 9-12. The two seminars will teach the students the following:
1. Microsoft Excel basics
2. Microsoft PowerPoint & assessment activity

Objective 2:
Tech Connect Consulting will hold one seminar with the parents of Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit
High School to help them:
1. Set up email accounts & learn how to navigate around the platform
2. How to access their child’s grades
3. Navigating around the school website

Objective 3:
Tech Connect Consulting will provide a handbook consisting of all the information which was
taught at all three sessions, which will be able to be distributed with the students and parents.

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 Introduction
Overview
According to the 2017 digital inclusion strategy report by the city of San Jose, 55% of
households making less than $35,000 per year do not have access to broadband internet.
The underserved communities of San Jose are largely disadvantaged by a lack of access to
sufficient internet connection. Cristo Rey San Jose High School (CRSJ) seeks to remedy this
problem by supplying hotspots to families in need. Furthermore, Cristo Rey promotes the
application of digital resources available through internet access. However, in the ongoing effort
to provide academic opportunity to underprivileged families of San Jose, Cristo Rey has been
faced with numerous challenges. Of most significance, these challenges include the adoption of
various internet capabilities and securing enough funding to continue their mission.

Adoption of Available Resources

Considering the present global circumstances, advances in technology have widened the gap of
opportunity between privileged and underprivileged students. By providing access to critical
technological resources such as online food-access maps, academic softwares’, and Chromebook
laptops, CRSJ attempts to bridge the opportunity gap. Even with the technology that Cristo Rey
distributes, many families lack the digital literacy needed to fully utilize these benefits. Parents
require digital literacy to fully support their kid’s academic aspirations, but often are not
equipped with an understanding of the technology themselves.

Corporate Funding & City Grants

There are roughly 460 students enrolled at CRSJ high school, these students spend a cumulative
$450,000 in tuition. This correlates to an average tuition just shy of $1000 for an entire year of
college-prep education. Considering that average tuition accounts for just 7% of operating costs,
Cristo Rey requires funding from the city and donors to cover the remaining $7.25 million in
expenses. Providing internet hotspots is reliant on securing city grants; CRSJ was just one of 23
organizations selected by San Jose to provide internet service to underprivileged families. The
ever-growing amount of competition for financial assistance poses an annual obstacle to
providing a complete educational experience. To differentiate themselves, CRSJ strives to
demonstrate their continuous efforts to improve student education, in hopes of legitimizing their
request for grants and funds.

Track Record

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CRSJ’ short history has a promising trajectory. According to the annual report, 100% of students
in 2018 and 2019 enrolled in higher education. In 2019, CRSJ graduates were accepted into
universities such as Santa Clara, Georgetown, and Yale -- additionally 84% of Students enrolled
in 4 year colleges, significantly exceeding the national average of 36%. The annual report
indicates well over 90% of 2018 graduates continued past their first year in college. The
comprehensive annual report reflects CRSJ's persistent effort to afford underprivileged family’s
equal opportunity.

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 Project Rationale
Purpose
Cristo Rey High Schools relies heavily on other sources of funding from donations and
the government. Many of the students cannot afford the technology needed for their education.
The school has been working on receiving a grant for more funding to be able to purchase
hotspots for those who don't have access to Wi-Fi. With the help of Tech Connect Consulting, the
students and parents will be able to learn different forms of digital literacy. This will not only
help with the grant for funding the hotspots but will also help them adapt to the new challenges
faced due to the coronavirus pandemic when distance learning.

Plan of Action
The parents don't have experience using emails and therefore need help to navigate
through it. We will be scheduling Zoom sessions to talk to parents through their emails,
accessing their childrens’ grades, and navigating the school’s website. We will also be recording
the session so that parents who could make the live session will still be able to learn from our
discussion. We will also hold Zoom sessions for the students to teach them basic and
intermediate lessons on Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel. Lastly, we will be creating a handbook
that includes all the information provided during these sessions for students and parents to go
over in the future.

Why Choosing Tech Connect Consulting Will Make a Difference

Our digital literacy sessions will help parents and students increase their virtual abilities
and enhance the childrens’ education. Our hope is that the project not only contributes to an
effective learning experience but shows the government the perseverance of the school. By
implementing the Tech Connect Consulting Proposal, we will be able to help students with their
digital literacy needs and spread awareness for donations and funding.

Potential Limitations
Tech Connect Consulting is anticipating multiple challenges due to the coronavirus. The
first is getting students and parents informed about our digital literacy sessions. We hope that our
blast email as well as the advertisement we will post on their website will be enough, but we
must ensure that the faculty is also spreading awareness about our sessions. We must also be
prepared for any language barriers during our Zoom session, since there is a high percentage of

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minorities who attend Cristo Rey High School. Because we are aware of the possible obstacles
that may arise, we are fully prepared with solutions.

Deliverables

Live Zoom Sessions

- Our deliverable will be three Zoom 45-minute sessions in total. Two sessions will be
directed towards students to teach them intermediate concepts of Microsoft Excel and
PowerPoint. The third session will be for the parents of students where we will teach
them how to navigate their emails and learn more about PowerSchool which is the
platform Cristo Rey uses.

Live Doubt Solving

- Our deliverable will be to make sure that we try and help students learn as much as they
can which is why after the 45 minute sessions we will keep the rest of the 15 minutes for
solving their doubts related to the material taught or answering any questions they have in
general. We feel that this will also help build a stronger connection between us.
- We will also try and be available through email for the same.

Recorded Zoom Session

- Our deliverable will be to record all the zoom sessions we have conducted and make sure
to share this with the High School and help them upload it on the school website for other
parents and students to be able to learn from it in the future.

Handbook
- We understand that not all students and parents will be able to attend the sessions we
organize. We also believe we can provide more information through writing which is why
we will create a digital handbook that includes all the information covered at the zoom
sessions and more information that we might not cover because of time constraint. This
will be given to the school and be available for printing.

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 Cost Analysis
Description Quantity Cost Total Cost

Labor Hours $/hour

Diya 40 $15 $600

Dhanyata 40 $15 $600

Adi 40 $15 $600

Angelo 40 $15 $600

Nick 40 $15 $600

Live Seminar
Labor 4.5 $50 $225

Total Labor $3,225

Materials #of books Cost/book $ Total Cost

Handbooks 50 $0.25 $12.50

Total Cost

Labor $3,225

Materials $12.50
$3,237.50

Projected Return on Investment

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The projected return on investment that Tech Connect Consulting is expecting from our plan of
action far outweighs the cost incurred of $3,237.50. The total cost is made up of a total of 200
hours of labor at $15 an hour for preparation and content production, 3 total hours of teaching
live classes by two consultants at $50 an hour (3 45- minute sessions). A direct cost of materials
necessary on Cristo Rey’s end of approximately $.25 per handbook is accounted for. There are no
indirect costs associated with our plan of action, as there are no transportation costs or additional
subscription costs for Microsoft programs used. The return that Cristo Rey will be receiving is
three live teaching sessions with students and parents and a digital handbook of curriculum to be
used for future students. Additionally, Tech Connect Consulting’s digital handbook can be used
as tangible evidence of Crito Rey’s request for grants.
*Note that all of the costs incurred by labor and materials will be donated.

Delivery Schedule

Due Assigned Team

Deliverable
Date Member

Zoom meeting with the Advancement team to

8/7/20 Tech Connect Consulting
discuss -deliverables

Adrienne Darza-Ugarte &

8/12/20 Sample seminar program sent to clients
-Angelo Traina

Promotion of seminars sent through email and

8/15/20 Diya Budapanahalli
posted -on Facebook

Nick Venezia & Dhanyata -

8/21/20 Microsoft Excel Seminar held
Mehta

Microsoft PowerPoint Seminar held along with - Adrienne Darza-Ugarte &

8/22/20
activity to assess learning Dhanyata -Mehta

Parents Seminar held to teach: Email access & - Diya Budapanahalli &
8/23/20
PowerSchool Access Angelo -Traina

8/28/20 Official Handbook distributed to the client Tech Connect Consulting

*Note that any unexpected changes will be updated and worked around.

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 Success Metrics

● Delivery of three live 45-minute Seminars to Students and Parents by

two Tech Connect Consultants
○ We will measure the success of these seminars through preparation of activities
and through the improvement in live seminars via excel activities, PowerPoint
skills, and navigation through email.
○ The success of these seminars will also be measured by seeing if the school wants
to continue this type of digital literacy program and make it more prominent in
their curriculum.

● Successful implementation of Email Blasts and Facebook promotion

measured by turnout in the live Zoom Seminars
○ The success of our digital marketing will be measured by our turnout in each live
seminar.

● Creation of Digital Literacy Handbook consisting of content to be

recreated for future curriculums
○ The success of our digital literacy handbook will be measured by how easily the
content can be replicated and built further for digital literacy to be continued.
○ The success metrics for the handbook can also be the number of times the
handbook is shared or printed.

● How well we teach the classes

○ This can be measured by the participation of students in class as well as their
performance in the Case Study competition we give them.
○ This can also be measured by the type of doubts they ask us.

● An Additional Long-Term Success Metric from this Project will be the

amount of money received by Cristo Rey Highschool through a grant.

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 ○ This Metric will not be quantifiable or met over the course of this project but is
worth noting that it is Tech Connects long-term goal in helping Cristo Rey uphold
their mission to get students to and through college.

Staffing
Diya Budapanahalli

Team Role: Marketing & Outreach

Major & Minor: Finance (MIS)

Responsibilities: To be the prime communicator with

our clients as well and to market the seminars on
different communication platforms.

Work Experience: Diya has experience in both finance

and administrative work. She has worked for Merrill
Lynch throughout the year and has recently taken part in
the Cisco Finance & Technology STARS Program.

Nicholas Venezia

Team Role: Financial & Quantitative Analysis

Major & Minor: Finance (Real Estate)

Responsibilities: To calculate the costs of the project and to present the impact of our project on
the grant trying to be attained.

Work Experience: Nick has run a hauling business for the past 5 years and has done
independent work for

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Cubix Asset Management.

Adrienne Darza-Ugarte

Team Role: Media & Creativity

Major & Minor: Marketing (Communications)

Responsibilities: To lead the creation of the handbook

and to create the presentations for the seminars

Work Experience: Adi has interned at a Bay Area

startup called JoyRun as a marketing intern during her
summer.

Dhanyata Mehta

Team Role: Project Management

Major & Minor: Management & Economics

Responsibilities: To overlook the entire project and to

ensure that the deliverables are reaching the clients on
time

Work Experience: Dhanyata has been interning at AI

Fintech Inc. as a financial analyst and has also recently
taken a part in the Cisco Finance & Technology STARS

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Program.

Angelo Traina

Team Role: Writing & Editorial

Major & Minor: Finance

Responsibilities: To edit all the writing deliverables

including the handbook & seminar presentations.

Work Experience: Angelo is currently working as a

Product Sales intern at Poynt and has previously worked
as a marketing intern at Santa Clara University.

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Works Cited

1. “Impact Report”, Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School, Autumn 2019.
2. “Digital Inclusion Strategy Report”, City of San Jose, November 2017.

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Appendices-

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