The goal of the United Way of Mercer County is to make a difference in the lives of people in the community.

Students at the Shenango Campus of Pennsylvania State University are going to help the organization spread the message in cyberspace, getting some real-world experience at the same time.

As a project in information sciences and technology, instructor Lisa Bertin’s new media class, students are working in groups to design Web pages for the United Way. The winning site will make available on the Internet information about what the United Way does, who is involved and how to participate in its commitment to “what matters.”

United Way Executive Director Jim Micsky said he is excited about the project and noted that it’s bringing people together. Maximizing the United Way’s relationship with Penn State is just one way it’s making an impact.

“We want to make sure that a student in the community could look at the site and find information for a project, or a person looking to give or volunteer can get enough information to make good decisions,” Micsky said.

It also gives the students exposure to the public and the nonprofit sector, Mrs. Bertin said. And it gives them the chance to practice their skills outside the classroom.

Micsky recently talked to the 15 students about the project and the United Way. The organization is a fundraiser, a facilitator and a collection and allocation agency that can serve as a catalyst for change in the community, he told them.

And the students’ work will help the United Way reach out to more people, including those who rely heavily on the computer and may not know much about the organization.

Things the students will consider putting online include links to the United Way’s history, affiliated agencies, ways to give and funding. The options are vast, as are the choices for how the site can look.

In the days of Myspace.com, a social networking site that allows people to easily put up pages about themselves, it seems anyone can create a Web presence. But there’s a lot more to this project than pointing and clicking.

“Everyone that thinks putting a Web page together is easy better go to college, because it's not,” said Josh Toth of Fredonia, a student who’ll be working on the United Way’s design.

The class will have lots of information to absorb, as the United Way is providing data, photographs and design elements to include. The amount of html code (hypertext markup language –– the instructions that determine how the page will look) –– they’ll have to deal with could give any tekkie a headache.

The projects will be scored on things like relevancy, navigation and appearance. Micsky said they’re looking for something user-friendly that stands out and is informative.

The United Way allocates money to community and emergency assistance, health and rehabilitation, and youth-related services and all donations stay in the county.

“It’s all about finding ways to make our community a better place to live,” Micsky told the class.