Tolland Education Foundation Provides Grant for Mobile Cart of iPads to Tolland Middle School

Tolland Education Foundation (TEF) awarded $8431 to Tolland Middle School (TMS) 6^th Grade Teacher Michelle Campbell for a school-wide technology program called Transforming Education and Improving Instruction through the Use of iPads. The mobile cart-based resources will be stored in the library for all TMS teachers to sign out for classroom use. The grant includes 16 iPads, an interactive Apple TV unit, a Cinema Projector, and all necessary equipment for the program. As this ’12-’13 school year begins Principal Walter Willett has put in place training for many staff  in implementing this new way to actualize educational experiences. The initial team of trained teachers will provide 30 more sessions to help instruct, monitor and assist the rest of the staff in use of and lesson design for this student learning lab.

Campbell’s grant application educated TEF on how the technology could be used in every subject area. She described not only the massive library of educational content it will access, but the interactive nature of the technology for student learning. “The grant would provide students equal access to a durable, highly functional tool…improve organizational skills, encourage global citizenship through access to ideas, information and voices from other countries…and encourage students to explore content beyond the limits and resources of the classroom…”  TEF is pleased to be able to fund these resources which, combined with the enthusiasm of the educators, will benefit 750 current and all future TMS students. Thank you to our generous community members and businesses for donations that make this kind of support possible!

To date TEF has awarded over $158,000 in cash and in-kind donations to the Tolland public schools. For more information about the Tolland Education Foundation, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact TEF at TollandEdF@aol.com, or by mail at 58 Hartford Turnpike, Tolland, CT 06084. Visit TEF on Facebook to see grant presentation photos, descriptions of awards and other Foundation events. Look for TEF’s new website this fall.

 The Tolland Education Foundation is a public 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that relies upon private contributions in order to successfully support academic excellence in the Tolland Public Schools.