iPads for Students

At Mountain Real Estate Companies, we strive to be actively involved in the local community. We particularly seek to get involved with Weber and Ogden school districts - many of our children and clients - children attend schools in Weber and Ogden - and our owner, Brandi Hammon, is a member of the Weber School Foundation Board, whose mission is to raise money to improve education for students of Weber County and Ogden City schools.

On Wednesday morning, Brandi attended the annual Weber School Foundation retreat at the beautiful Wolf Creek Resort in Eden, Utah. Weber County School District Superintendent Dr. Jeff Stephens spoke at the event. He spoke to Board members about the District's recent purchase of 1,000 iPads, which were distributed to the district's 29 elementary schools. Each grade at every elementary school received one set of five iPads to share amongst classes on a rotational basis. According to Dr. Stephens, these iPads will help teachers give students a "world-class education."

To further explain the significance of iPads in the classroom, Dr. Stephens turned to Lynn Raymond, an information technology specialist for Weber County School District. As an example, he discussed an application called Booksy, which essentially helps build children's reading skills. When students read a story or an excerpt of text on this app, the app can help them sound out words they don't recognize. It also records their voice while they read, and it sends this recording - as well as information about words with which they had trouble - to their instructor. With this detailed analysis and recording, instructors can determine a path to help build students' reading skills.

Elementary schools in Weber County are already using Booksy and other applications in group settings in the classroom. However, the trouble is most students get to work with the iPad just once a week. This, according to Raymond and Dr. Stephens, is where the Weber School Foundation and its members can help.

The Weber School Foundation recently raised over $100,000 to purchase over 260 iPads for special-needs students in Weber County and Ogden City. Raymond and Dr. Stephens asked the Foundation for a similar fundraiser so that the District may purchase more iPads for the rest of its students. Just $5,000, they said, will increase the number of iPads per school by seven (or one more iPad for each grade). The district's goal, as Dr. Stephens said, is to give its students a "world-class education," and allowing each student extensive access to an iPad is the means by which he hopes to achieve that goal.

You can help the Weber School Foundation in this fundraiser by donating to the foundation online or by becoming involved with the Christmas Tree Jubilee later this year. Visit the Foundation's website (www.foundation.weber.k12.ut.us) or check back with the blog in the coming months for more information.

By Brandi Hammon