E-NEWSLETTER SIGNUP
The world we live in has gone through significant changes in the recent months with COVID19 and our children, the leaders of tomorrow, are faced with a time that is unbeknownst to them and forced to adapt with no preparation. Schooling has taken, what we hope to be, a temporary new format and not as easy for some students as others due to the lack of access to the very tools that make learning easier.
With 3 children in home-school, like most families with school aged children, running a small business and facing all of the other challenges that COVID19 has brought to all, I quickly realized the importance of each child having access to a device, enabling them to do their schoolwork, while also staying connected with their peers, friends and community.
Prior to COVID19, I learned only a couple of months before my oldest, Amelia, entered into high school that a device would be required. For most families, coming up with $500+ within a couple of months is not the easiest thing to do and this was before COVID19 even happened. Then we add COVID19, parents working from home and kids also learning from home and realized that ALL kids need technology.
And what I have further learned with my youngest, Kendra, moving on to middle school is that a device would now be required at the middle school level. This was not supposed to be put into effect for a few years but COVID19 sped this along. Again, parents are faced with little notice of this new requirement, on top of the financial stresses and pressures that some families are already experiencing because of COVID19.
As we all are coming to a new reality of what our new normal is or will be, the need for technology is only growing with importance. Access to a device, in my opinion, means their OWN device and not one that is shared with a sibling or a working parent. Each and every one of us has obligations and expectations to work and/or learn. Having access to a device for only 1 hour a day, at say 7PM, once the working parent is done for the day, isn’t ideal if your child has no access to their teacher at that same time.
And this is how the Laptop Scholarship came to be created. I believe in giving back, wherever and whenever I possibly can. Education is important and the same opportunities should be possible for all children, no matter their situation. Imagine all the more they can do when educated with the proper tools that are now a requirement, not a perk. And if technology is what we need our future leaders to have now, then that is where we need to help.
Our goal is to provide at least three brand new laptops for September, the 2020/2021 school year. The Laptop Scholarship is available to children of School District 43, for those in grades 6 to 10 (as of September 2020), and will be awarded to students whom we feel need it and will benefit the most. The laptop scholarship is a way for us to put a laptop in homes where children do not have adequate access or any at all.
If you have children in SD43, entering grades 6 to 10, that could benefit from the Laptop Scholarship, please consider applying. Or if you know a family that would benefit, please share and encourage them to apply.
Deadline to apply is Monday, August 10, 2020 at 11:59PM. Eligibility criteria is also on the application.
Congrats to our winners: Zane from Scott Creek Middle, Natalie from Pitt River Middle and sisters, Kamila & Marta from Maple Creek Middle and Pinetree Secondary.
