The Town That the Internet (Almost) Forgot

This is the environment that motivated Pat Goff to lasso the Internet. Although he had never heard the phrase "digital divide," he recognized that the technology could create more -- and better -- opportunities for his students. Growing M-HIP's business by leaps and bounds is not the goal. Providing affordable Internet access (initially $30 a month, now $25) and giving teenagers a taste of running a small business is. M-HIP is the only ISP that Goff knows of that is run by high-school students. It was their idea to become a nonprofit and apply leftover revenue toward $500 to $1,000 college scholarships for M-HIP staffers. When the AOL Foundation awarded the group $10,000, the staff used the money to outfit the public library with four computers and a wireless connection to the school. That way, everyone in the community has access to free high-speed service. "The experience these kids are getting is something I couldn't teach them out of a book," Goff says.

In the principal's office at McDermitt Combined is a photo collage of former students who went on to become teachers. Maybe one day, Goff will have a collage of his own, featuring Web designers, software developers, and Internet entrepreneurs. Two of M-HIP's four founding graduates are leaning in that direction -- one toward telecommunications, the other toward engineering. In the meantime, Goff has more-modest goals for his students. "I want them to leave being able to get a job and support themselves," he says.

Just having access to the Internet is helping 17-year-old Lowell Egan explore his future -- a future that lies elsewhere, his parents remind him. His father, Richard, is a groundskeeper; his mother, Lori, is a teacher's aide. Both parents are also school-bus drivers in McDermitt. Lowell, a straight-A junior and a starting guard on the basketball team, wants to become an athletic trainer for a professional sports team. Almost every night, he parks himself in front of the computer in his parents' bedroom in a trailer behind the school. He does more than email friends and check out basketball sites. He researches colleges and sports medicine. Last summer, his work paid off. Instead of going back to being a busboy at the Say When Casino for the third straight year, Lowell, who is half Indian, attended a program in North Dakota that prepares Native American students for careers in medicine.

At bedtime, Richard and Lori Egan often find their son in their room, completely absorbed in the Internet. They let him continue surfing and -- they hope -- expanding his horizons. "I fall asleep while he's clicking away," his father says. "I'm used to it now."

Chuck Salter (csalter@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer. Contact Pat Goff by email (pgoff@m-hip.com), or learn more about M-HIP on the Web (www.m-hip.com).