Bailey Lake Elementary third-graders eyed the laptops waiting for their use on Sept. 19.
The PTA raised enough money to purchase 18 laptops for the entire school to use. The laptops and a mobile cart arrived by Sept. 16.
Savannah Walker and Nathan Baxter signed in using their passwords and once they were on they exclaimed how awesome the laptops were.
They spent a few minutes exploring the computers and browsing the internet. They also found their school on www.clarkston.k12.mi.us and found out how to email Principal Glenn Gualtieri and how to find their classroom.
“We can use it for science,” Nate McGlynn added as he continued exploring. “We can learn how to do experiments and research.”
Caroline Miller, Bailey Lake Elementary PTA president, added research can be used for other subjects and the teachers can use it for quizzes and presentations.
“Currently the teachers will pull it up on their computers and run it through the projector,” said Guiltieri. “Now the students will have their own in front of them. They can see and be able to interact with it instead of having one per class.”
Rosalie Lieblang, a Bailey Lake Elementary parent, mentioned it is a great tool for teacher incorporating the Social Studies Alive program.
“It is an internet based social studies tool for fourth and fifth grades,” she said. “It will be perfect to supplement the curriculum.”
The laptops were added as a tool to help the students.
“We have been very successful at fundraising the last couple of years,” said Lieblang. “We wanted to make a more permanent contribution to the school. We still have our educational programs but this helps especially as technology grows.”
The goal is to add as many computers as they can every year.
The PTA hosts the Bailey Lake School Fair on Oct. 8, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
It is the main fundraiser for the school and includes a raffle, a silent auctions, used book sale, cake walk, obstacle course, Ident-a-kid ID cards as well as tons of games and food to enjoy.