Friday, February 1, 2013

Reaching out to the Community...

Centerburg Community,

I am excited to announce that I recently completed a small grant application to the Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County. requesting $3,000.00. The grant is written as a partnership between the Centerburg School District, the Community Foundation and local members of the Centerburg Community. The goal is to raise $10,000.00 to transform a traditional classroom into a 21st century classroom. The funds will be used to purchase twenty-five Google Chromebooks and to provide professional development for the teachers involved in the project. We will also need to purchase a cart to store the computers as well.

The goals of the project also include:
  1. Increase students access to cutting-edge texts, news and primary sources
  2. Promote interactive, digital methods of collecting real-time feedback from students.
  3. Enhance opportunities for students to publish media for authentic audiences.  
I would also like to create a Community University where opportunities will be created and scheduled for the community to come in and learn how to use the tools our students will be using daily. An example of this could be an evening dedicated to Google documents or G-mail. I would like to utilize  volunteers and students within the Community University concept.

What I need:

I am seeking funding for this project and I need your help. Currently Heartland has committed $2,000.00 to this idea and want to be a partner with the school. As you can see If you open the Chromebook link the computers are relatively inexpensive as compared to other devices. If you, your family, or your business would like to support this initiative by purchasing one computer or just making a donation please contact me in the HS/MS office by calling 740-625-6055. You can always leave comments or questions in the comment feature of this blog. I encourage you to comment. Positive comments are contagious and provide fuel for projects like this.

I have not hidden the fact that I am a fan of technology. Our students are growing up in a different world and have easier access to information. We need to provide them with the tools to mange the information and learn how to apply it to solve real world  problems. Technology will never replace a great teacher but it certainly can transform a child's education.

Let's Do This!

In service to children,

Ryan Gallwitz
MS/HS Principal Centerburg Local Schools


4 comments:

  1. I love the idea of a community University, many of us, as parents are sort of along for the ride with all of the new technology and I for one would love the opportunity to be brought up to speed and better understand what the kids and schools are doing. We are the type of community that cares and can certainly pull this together for our students.

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  2. Kim,
    Thank you for your support of the idea. Hopefully we can make this happen. I look forward planing the Community University sessions.

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  3. Heartland of Centerburg is SO excited to be a part of this! We have pledged to donate 10 Chromebooks to this effort and hope the rest of the community leaders will jump on board with us! Thanks Ryan for all you're doing!

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  4. Thank you Heartland for your support! I also learned this weekend that the Centerburg Lions Club would also like to support this initiative. Thank you Lions Club!

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