Hello, I have been teaching since 1987, with my primary subjects being Psychology, Sociology and US Government.  I have worked with schools with lots of money and schools where poverty is the norm.  Sadly, at my current school, our students need more than we are able to give.  That is why I am creating this project, to give to our students who need it the most.

Our high school has nearly 3000 students, of whom nearly 50% come from poverty, are English Language Learners, from Migrant families, or in some way special needs. Our students are high-need by any definition, with only 40% going on to post high school education.  This will be the final formal educational stop for most of them--I want to help make it as effective as I can.

We have only two computer labs available for the regular education teachers, and they are used frequently--scheduling them is challenging.  To increase the daily exposure to technology, I am attempting to obtain funds so that I can create a classroom full of laptops and/or chromebooks.  Students need to be prepared not only in their knowledge of academics, but also how to use technology and problem-solving.

From the time I was a technology mentor, I have six laptops that are eight years old--they are adequate for word processing, but do not have the power to handle much of what is on the web.  I am interested in replacing those laptops with chrome notebooks which can be purchased for around $200-250 each.  iPads are nice for a lot of things, but I want inexpensive "laptops" that are free from the problems/costs of full laptops. There are so many cloud-based solutions and tools for students, I want to help my students be exposed to these tools and use them to think critically in ways that are not possible with pen/paper.  I want them to be more effective consumers of media of all kinds, not just to passively accept what they see, but rather to question it, examine techniques, and create their own content.

So if you can contribute, please do and help me transition my students into the college and adult worlds/