Weld Re-4 Education Foundation kicks off Chromebooks for Christmas fundraising campaign
Windsor | December 10, 2015
James Redmond
jredmond@mywindsornow.com
Donations can be made by check and mailed to the Foundation address at PMB #4178, 1298 Main Street, Unit A, Windsor CO 80550.
People can also make a secure donation by credit card by clicking the "Donate" tab on their website at www.weldre4educationfoundation.com/donate.
Why Chromebooks?
The benefit of a Chromebook versus a traditional laptop is that a Chromebook doesn't have an internal hard drive or run on software.
Rather, it is primarily used while connected to Google Chrome on the internet and all of the memory storage is in 'the cloud.' That means the device is less prone to breakage, doesn't require as much ongoing maintenance and is also less subject to viruses and malware, Kim Schutt, Education Foundation board member, said. All of these things make it less expensive than a traditional laptop.
Also, because the information a student puts into the device is stored in a central cloud, it allows for more collaboration among teachers. Several students can contribute to the same Google Doc to work on a group project together, she said. Students can also start a project on their Chromebook at school, it is automatically saved in Google Docs, and then they can access it from a different device at home.
"I've seen my own kids do this all the time," Schutt said.
Weld Re-4 Education Foundation members hope to see Chromebooks in the hands of every Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District student and have kicked off their Chromebooks for Christmas campaign to do just that.
Apparently they aren't the only ones because an anonymous donor agreed to match all donations, big and small, up to a total of $10,000, received by the Foundation through Dec. 31.
Now the Foundation is pushing to make the most of that offer with their year-end fundraising campaign. Unlike some of the foundation's other fundraisers — such as their Flip Flop Gala which raised funds for a variety of education needs — this campaign solely targets Chromebooks.
The Windsor-Severance school district has worked hard to put Chromebooks into the hands of all its students and the Foundation has already contributed a lot — in fact a large portion of the Flip Flop Gala money went to Chromebooks throughout the district, Kim Schutt, Education Foundation board member, said Wednesday.
"However, there are still many classrooms throughout the district which do not have them," she said. "Therefore, to keep the momentum going and to try to fill those additional needs, we decided to do a year-end fundraising campaign with the hope that our supporters might consider making a year-end, tax deductible donation to fund additional Chromebook carts."
Each Chromebook costs about $200 and it takes between 25 and 30 of them to fill a classroom cart.
The district has about 4,500 students and approximately 3,500 Chromebooks employed in the classrooms. That's good, however, the goal is a 1:1 Chromebook to student ratio.
"While we don't expect this campaign alone to fund all of the Chromebooks and carts needed to bring us to a 1:1 ratio, every little bit help, Schutt said.
"A one-to-one student-to-device ratio allows all students to access and create information and communicate and collaborate with others, while allowing teachers more flexibility in meeting each student where they are," said Trevor Timmons, district director of technology and information services. "One-to-one deployments have been linked to increases in dual enrollment, course completion, graduation rates and college attendance plans. At the same time, 1:1 is also linked to a reduction in student behavior issues and dropout rates."
The Chromebooks let teachers and students find creative ways to work through class material, said Kristi Baldino, Windsor Middle School eighth grade social studies teacher.
"The students in my class use the Chromebooks to develop a fact base about their learning and then use them to create projects that would be nearly impossible without them," she said. "Since I added Chromebooks to my class the students have used MapQuest to go on virtual road-trips to apply geography skills, created impressive digital projects to show their learning, played games where they had to locate information quickly in order to 'win,' practiced independent learning and, most important, learned to think about their learning because the technology allows them to own it."
All of the Foundation board members are parents of current students or students who have graduated from the district, Schutt said. They've been in the schools and seen firsthand how the devices engage students and aid traditional instruction. Many of Foundation's board members are also business professionals who know how important it is for students to be technologically savvy, she said.
"Giving our students the tools they need to be 21st Century learners is a high priority for us," Schutt said, "and we hope it is also an important goal for our community."
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