PCES receives $90,000 tech grant

By Staff
Kim West
PHIL CAMPBELL – Students and teachers at Phil Campbell Elementary are enjoying the results of a $90,000 technology grant.
The school computer lab received 30 new Dell computers, and LCD projectors and monitors were installed in all 32 classrooms.
"The grant was awarded in the spring, and we did a majority of the work in the summer months while school was out," said Sandy Guinn, technology coordinator for Franklin County Schools. "We replaced the network infrastructure, upgraded the computer lab, replaced some classroom computers and purchased an LCD projector with monitors for every classroom."
Other technology upgrades in the county system included $85,000 for computers and classroom equipment at East Franklin Junior High School and $36,000 for the library media center at Tharptown High School.
Nina Jackson, a sixth grade science teacher at Phil Campbell Elementary, believes using computers is vital in reaching students.
"Our generation today is visual, and students' attention has to be stimulated," said Jackson, whose students visited the lab Thursday and researched the latest reports on Hurricane Gustav. "I think the old way of teaching is over because you have to both teach and entertain students now, or you're going to lose them."
Phil Campbell Elementary principal Jackie Ergle said the school appreciated the grant, which will help students learn at a higher level.
"We wish to give special thanks to Sen. (Roger) Bedford and Rep. (Johnny Mack) Morrow for helping us get the grant, which allowed us to do technological upgrades throughout the school, and Sandy Guinn was also instrumental in getting the grant for us," Ergle said. "We're really excited about the new lab, especially for our science and history teachers because the Internet really complements their curriculum.
"Technology will take us to a different level, and we have to have it to keep up in today's world."