Tech Savvy

Lowe's donation helps middle-school students build computer skills.

Photography by Mike Droe and Alma Noche

This Month: La Puente, California

Tech SavvyPrincipal Sherri Franson (top left) and Teri Thomas, administrative manager of the Lowe's store in San Dimas, California, enjoy a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school's new computer labs.

After a computer lab at Sparks Middle School in La Puente, California, was vandalized in early 2006, students, parents, and faculty needed help to rebuild it.

The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) surprised Principal Sherri Franson by awarding Sparks with a grant of $100,000 to renovate the lab. The school now has new state-of-the-art computer equipment that will help students gain the skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly technological world.

"Without Lowe's leadership and financial commitment to our students, this project would not have happened," Franson says.

The donation allowed for the old lab to be repaired and restocked with 10 desktop computers. In addition, a second computer lab was created in the school. The new lab includes 30 laptops with wireless capabilities and six desktop computers. New software has enabled the school to offer courses such as graphic design, Web design and development, and even video production. "This lab configuration will let our students express their creativity and build confidence," says Franson.

The new lab also has a SMART Board, a device that projects computer images onto a white board, allowing teachers to display information directly from the Internet during lessons. The Lowe's grant has allowed for SMART Boards to be added in every other classroom throughout the school as well. To protect the new equipment from damage and theft, alarms and motion detectors also were installed.

Franson intends for the entire community to benefit from the lab. It also serves as an after-school Internet cafe, during which parents have access to the lab, and child care is available in the new parent resource room. Computer classes are available in the lab to help educate parents in technology.

In 2007 alone, LCEF gave more than $15 million in grants to public schools and diverse nonprofit organizations across the United States.

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