Lane 3

The Blue Schoolhouse

The nexus of three events resulted a calling for Atlanta entrepreneur Wayt King. First, while on a backpacking expedition in the mountains of Guatemala Wayt came across a struggling English teacher from Auburn who had just lost his funding. Second, at a Mayan campfire ceremony in the little town of San Marcos which is nestled along the shores of Lake Atitlan, the local Shaman or priest told Wayt that what he had been seeking had been found in the village. Third, and most important, Wayt met the kids.

These are young school children who are not only poor by U.S. standards, but by Guatemalan standards as well. That said, they are rich with a desire to learn and explore their world. They speak two and maybe three languages (Spanish, their Mayan dialect, and English). And, the children live in one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on Earth. But ignorance in the ways of politics has left the village vulnerable to corrupt officials.

In the Atlanta tech community Wayt King is well known as one of the founders of N2 Broadband (purchased by Tandberg Television, an Ericsson company). Since leaving N2 he is involved in a number of web-based projects with Last Minute Tee Times as the one consuming most of his time. The trip to Guatemala inspired him to create a non-profit, Blue Schoolhouse, Inc., which has the mission of improving education in the town of San Marcos. This is described nicely in an Atlanta Business Chronicle article by Justin Rubner.

In Dunwoody, however, Wayt is known primarily as Linda King’s husband. After supporting the family when Wayt was going through law school, Linda has become very active with their church working in outreach programs, sports leagues and new member orientation. Though not quite as eager to take Spartan backpacking trips as Wayt, Linda is equally involved in the Blue Schoolhouse.

Like any start-up, Blue Schoolhouse has seen its share of challenges. The Kings were able to restore electrical power to the schoolhouse, to wrestle a satellite dish through four months of bureaucratic red tape (customs), and to finally establish internet connectivity. The children have responded to the new technology and are working through the typical learning curve – the goal being to transform from using technology as entertainment to that of education and empowerment.

You can imagine that children who have an aptitude to understanding a number of verbal languages are already primed to excel at learning computer languages. Wayt and Linda hope to use the Blue Schoolhouse in San Marcos as a testbed program that may be spread to other villages around Lake Atitlan.

A new generation of children, better educated than their parents and more capable of earning a living within their own community, is the goal. I’ve posted some pictures within the photo gallery. Take a look at them, the Blue Schoolhouse website and see if you can share Wayt and Linda’s dream…