Laptop access broadens for Rosewood Middle students
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on October 19, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
David Pezzullo with IGT, technology provider for the North Carolina Education Lottery, takes a look at one of the new laptops donated to Rosewood Middle School with seventh-grader Isaac Hines-Young Wednesday morning after the ribbon cutting in the media center.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Sixth-grader Alexa Trnajero smiles up at Alice Garland, executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery, while booting up her laptop.
Educators, legislators and students came together at Rosewood Middle School Wednesday, as the school held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new set of 75 Chromebook laptops donated to the school by International Game Technology's After School Advantage program.
The $19,000 donation from IGT -- the game system vendor for the North Carolina Education Lottery -- will allow each grade level at Rosewood Middle to have access to its own laptops. This includes one cart specifically for the exceptional children program, said Rosewood Middle principal Brian Weeks.
"We started with one cart, and added to these three, it means that every level will be able to have their own cart. We'll move them around in each grade," he said. "This will give our teachers the ability to have the differentiated instruction, and it will help us teach our kids about technology in a world where technology is becoming more and more important."
Gathered in the media center, the audience listened to a succession of speakers including Wayne County Public Schools superintendent Michael Dunsmore, IGT account development manager David Pezzullo and N.C. House of Representatives majority leader Rep. John Bell.
The After School Advantage program, which IGT uses to provide similar technology at schools across the nation, is funded via the education lottery. Pezzullo said that Rosewood Middle was the fifth such school in North Carolina to receive such a donation.
When it came time to cut the ribbon, several Rosewood students who had been trying out the computers grabbed pairs of scissors and got in line. On cue, they each cut the ribbon at the same time, to applause from the audience.
Bell, who helped organize the donation, said that when IGT reached out to him with an opportunity to bring technology to a school, he jumped at it.
"The folks at IGT came to tell me about it, and I serve on the lottery oversight committee, so they approached me and asked me if there was a need here in Eastern North Carolina," he said. "So I reached out to the schools system here and we determined that there was a need at Rosewood Middle, especially in their EC department."
The computers will also be available to students after school.