Congratulations to Grand Prize Winner: Vanessa Powers

Central Park Elem School

Here’s the winning essay!

Opportunity is Knocking

Central Park Elementary is a high poverty, low performing school that has minimal technology available. As a fourth grade math teacher, I understand the future demand for students to be technologically literate. I also understand that most students are surrounded by technology on a daily basis. Our 96% free and reduced lunch population does not have the ready access to every day technology as much as other schools in our parish.

The teachers of our school are dedicated to knowing our students and providing for their needs; educational, emotional, and physical. Our goal is to teach the "whole child". We are striving to think outside the box when it comes to integrating a project based, micro society type learning environment where students can explore, apply, and reach new levels of achievement.

Receiving tablets in our school would open up many doors for our students. They would be able have fingertip access to learning activities and learn to research for project based learning. The tablets would be used in our second annual after school micro-society project in which students learn by doing. This style of learning allows for differentiation that meets the needs of the struggling child, while challenging the advanced student.

Students will complete such projects as:

• creating and designing a zoo to learn perimeter and area;

• creating a budget to establish a business venture in economics;

• planning the perfect vacation for the study of regions;

• map skills in social studies;

• budgeting in math;

• establishing and populating their own fairy tale land;

• designing the costumes and creating a digital story book;

• writing their own musical scores to learn unit rate in mathematics, and;

• much more that our innovative teaching team can conceive.

We desire to give our students the opportunities that they will not get otherwise. More than anything, we believe that education is empowerment. These students do not have to end up where they began. Next to caring and creative teachers, technology is a vital part of the success that we desire for our students. Teachers are experiencing frustration because they have fabulous ideas, but not the means to integrate them into the classroom daily. Having the new tablets would be one more step towards meeting our goal of educating the "whole child".

Studies show that technology is a top three indicator to successful schools. We have attempted to do several fund raisers to bring in money for additional technology for our classrooms. Our fundraisers raise an average of $5000 a year, due to lack of parental involvement. This amount is not enough to purchase technology to invigorate our lesson presentation and learning development for students. Any technology extras we receive are from hard working teachers writing grants. Our teachers seek partnerships with local businesses and community members on a regular basis. We need help.

Please help us open the door; opportunity is knocking.