Bryan Weaver wants to help his students think beyond the walls of their classrooms in the Attala County School District. On Monday, he got a little help from Apple Inc.
High School students at Ethel and McAdams received new iPads at the launch of the district technology initiative.
Last June the Attala County School Board approved the initiative at a cost of $76,000 derived from district and federal funds. Each student issued an iPad was required to pay a $25 usage fee.
“We have been in discussions with our school board in an effort to try to raise test scores and get student involvement higher,” Weaver said. “We already purchased Chromebooks at our elementary schools and some at high schools, but wanted to take the technology initiative a step further.”
The district purchased 405 iPads, with 25 going to a mobile lab at Greenlee Elementary and the other 380 going to students at McAdams and Ethel. Weaver said that students in grades 9-12 will have the opportunity to receive an iPad.
“It opens new doors in the classroom and allows students to access their textbooks on the device and have it on them at all times,” Weaver added.
According to Weaver, the district will look to give iPads to students district wide if the initiative is successful at the high school level.
“We had to spend a lot of money upgrading our bandwidth a few years back to adapt to new statewide testing, which made this a possibility,” Weaver said. “All the money we take in for usage fees will either be used for insurance claims or to add grades to the initiative.”
