POST FALLS - The digital divide has been closed for Kiana Snook.

The River City Middle School eighth-grader was among 19 Post Falls students on Thursday who received free refurbished computers with Internet capabilities.

It was the latest local delivery for Computers for Kids, a Boise-based nonprofit that receives donated computers from individuals and businesses, then updates and licenses them for Idaho K-14 students with disabilities.

"This will help me with my schoolwork like math and science," Snook said with a wide smile.

To apply for a computer, students wrote an essay about how they would benefit from having one.

Snook's family hasn't had a computer for six years. Kiana has had to go to the library after school to access a computer and pay for copies of her work in the process.

"(Having a computer) is all new to us again," Snook's mother Monica said. "At first, I thought this was a joke."

But reality set in when the computer arrived at the school.

"I've already called Time Warner (for Internet service)," Monica said.

Seventh-grader Cody DeVaughn has learned a lot about computers from his grandpa, Earl Roberts, and now he has one to call his own.

"I've been waiting for this for awhile," DeVaughn said. "I'll be able to type stuff up for homework and check my grades."

Students' educational needs are considered and software programs are provided to assist them in improving their studies.

Computers for Kids, formed in 2002, aims to provide equal opportunities for students with disabilities.

"It's a nice idea to bring technology into homes of students who need it them most," said Julie Giguere, a special education teacher at River City.

The Idaho Assistive Technology Project, through the University of Idaho's Center on Disabilities and Human Development, partners with Computers for Kids by paying for the application fee for the computers. It also provides training and assessments, offers four technology demonstration sites and has a low-interest loan program.

"Computers are an answer for kids struggling to read and who are having motor difficulties," said Nora Jehn, the project's training coordinator.

The program helps address the growing problem of older computers being discarded in landfills and provides a tax credit opportunity for donors.

Refurbishing the computers provides training opportunities to computer science students. Although computers two to three years old may be dated for business purposes, they can still be utilized for student applications.

"It's an awesome program," Monica Snook said.