Hawthorne Elementary receives a donation of 50 Chromebooks
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IDAHO FALLS — Students at Hawthorne Elementary will have better access to mobile technology and the Internet thanks to a donation from a local Internet company today.
Cable ONE in Idaho Falls donated 50 Chromebook laptops to the Idaho Falls School District 91 school. It is part of a company-wide initiative to help students improve learning through better access to technology. The computers will be used to create a mobile computer lab for students.
“If I’m going to do a science project and I don’t know what to do, I can look up ideas online on it, while I’m still in class,” fifth grader Brenna Allen said.
School officials say the donation goes a long way in helping students gain access to computers and the Internet, while at school.
“In today’s community, or educational community, we have to get our kids exposed to technology,” Principal Randy Stocking said, “We do not have the space in our school to add another lab, so having a mobile lab will be huge, so they can take them into their classrooms, and use them.”
Cable ONE Senior Vice President Steve Fox said access to technology in schools is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, and donating Chromebooks to schools with a higher percentage of less advantaged students helps bridge the digital divide in schools that lack funding, according to a news release.
“While many school systems are taking big steps and working to give every student and every teacher access to the technology and tools they need to learn, not all schools have access to funding to support this effort,” Fox said in a news release. “Because we believe so strongly in improving education through the use of technology, we want to do our part to support the communities where we live and work.”
Third-grade teacher Tosha Brown said improving access to computers and the Internet in the school district will have a long-term positive impact on the young students.
“Part of the districts goal is to have technology,” Brown said, “So that when students eventually leave the school district they will be ready for the real-world.”
Hawthorne Elementary wasn’t the only school to receive new technology recently. The Rigby Rotary Club announced today they had donated $10,000 to the Jefferson Education fund, to provide iPads to Harwood and Roberts elementary schools in Jefferson School District 251 in Rigby.