Largest single-year grant from CCSF will lead to Circleville 5th graders having more quality hands-on technology for classes and future middle school curriculum
Schools are among the biggest users of Google’s popular Chromebooks – these small, highly portable laptops are designed to interface conveniently with the internet and use the resources of the ‘cloud’ for programming, searches, and formatting. Sound a little far out for you? Well, for some 5th grade school students in Circleville, using Chromebooks will become part of everyday classroom activities, thanks to the Foundation’s recent grant.
This school year 25 new Chromebooks are already being used regularly by 5th graders attending the Circleville Elementary School – and the activity will help prepare them for middle school, where beginning in the 6th grade there is now a one-for-one ratio of students and computers. The fifth graders will not only have more computer training but substantially more quality time to conduct rudimentary research, practice tests, work on classroom projects, prepare presentations and write reports. The purchase, made possible by the largest single program grant awarded by the Circleville City School Foundation (CCSF), allows the students more individual time to explore technology and more opportunities to absorb the capabilities of computer technology.
“These additional computers will be extremely valuable in getting students comfortable with technology and how it can be used. They will help us bridge the differences between elementary school and middle school,” explained Intermediate Elementary Principal Karen Bullock.
Fifth grade teacher Tami Clark, who was instrumental in submitting the grant application to the Educational Projects and Grants Committee, stated that fifth grade teachers “would like to move to a STEM-based (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum.” She noted that with the addition of the new Chromebooks that “a culminating activity or performance-based activity” would be possible as well as practical for the fifth grade students.
In addition to enriching the students educational experiences (and personal capabilities), Clark added that “computers would assist the school in monitoring progress of individual students and help identify students who may need additional instruction or help.”
There are approximately 161 fifth graders enrolled for the 2015-2016 academic year. Additional Chromebooks will provide substantially more time for each student to learn more about the capabilities of a computer. “This will carry us into the future and ensure that the students are comfortable with the technology that they need to succeed in school and beyond the classroom,” offered Bullock. “It will touch all the students in the fifth grade,” she added.