By Chris Wilson
Senior Writer

     Gilmore Foundation is partnering with the Amory School District to launch a program whereby every senior beginning next year, the class of 2008, will be given a laptop computer ... to keep.
     This pilot program will be the first of its kind in Mississippi , and one of only about four in the nation where every student is given a computer. Amory will be the largest school district to attempt such a program, with about 140 seniors expected to be in next year’s class.
     According to Gilmore Foundation Executive Director Danny Spreitler , the Foundation’s board of directors wanted to do something that will truly make a difference for Amory’s students.
     Beginning in the fall of 2007, every senior at Amory High School will receive his or her own name brand laptop computer which will be pre-loaded with software applications that are compatible with their classwork.
     There will be several stipulations attached to the use of the student computers. Students will be required to attend a training program in the fall when they receive the computers. “We hope the computers will be used by their families, too,” Spreitler said.
     The computers will have built-in security so that if one is stolen or lost it can be traced. They will also contain filtering software to keep students off inappropriate sites on the internet.
     The idea of giving students computers is the next step for the Gilmore Foundation after its Amorynet commitment which involves installation of a broadband network for free internet access throughout the city limits. Phase I of the broadband network is already in place on Main Street and within months the entire city will have free internet access.
     “Our ultimate goal is to create a digital community,” Spreitler said. “With the networking of Amory solved, accessibility was the next hurdle. And the student computers will solve that problem of accessibility to the network.”
     Amory Supt. of Education Jim Sappington said he is researching other school districts in the country who have given students laptop computers to see what their policies and problems have been.
     Sappington said students who receive the computers will have to graduate from Amory High in order to keep it. “It will be theirs for life,” he said.
     “This will truly level the playing field for a lot of children who don’t have what others do,” Sappington said. “There will likely be some problems, especially with the internet, but we will just need to develop good policies.” Sappington said he refuses to let a few negative aspects of this pilot program outweigh the benefits that can come from it.
     “This is such an incredibly big gift to the schools,” Sappington said.
     AHS Principal David Poss said he thinks the project is great. “We’re really still in the infancy stage of this project with planning and policy,” he added. “But we’re very grateful to the Gilmore Foundation for their foresight and dedication to Amory’s students and this community.”
     Currently, Poss said the school has a computer lab with about 30 computers. Teachers schedule time for their students to use the lab to do online research. Students can also use the school’s library/media center if their schedule allows.
     Spreitler said next year’s pilot year of the computer giveaway program will be a learning curve for the Foundation. He said eventually, in future years, they are looking at giving the computers to sophomores instead of seniors so they can have them longer while in high school.
     Amory High School junior Tyler Miller and his classmates could not believe the news that they would receive this gift computer to keep. Miller said he has a desktop computer at home now but that it was not high tech. He said he would have worked this summer to try to buy a laptop for his college years because he will be needing one.
     AHS junior Ethan Nichols said the news about the computers was surprising to him. “I don’t care what kind it is,” he said. “I need it. I have a desktop computer at home now that won’t even turn on.”
     Kyle Myatt said he could certainly benefit from getting a laptop, too. “I plan on majoring in computer technology in college,” he said.
     All of the juniors interviewed about the laptop pilot program said they currently share the use of a family desktop computer at home. Having their own laptop was almost more than they could believe. “What’s the catch?” they wanted to know.
     It is the intention of the pilot program to have Amory’s students able to walk right out of high school and into a job. Spreitler said this program will be especially good for families who are sending their children off to college because they will already be equipped with a laptop computer and know how to use it.
     “We want our young people to have a shot at life and to know technology,” Spreitler said. “There aren’t that many places doing this.”
     A possible benefit of equipping the students with their own laptops may be for the district to some day do away with purchasing expensive textbooks that are quickly outdated, since nearly all textbooks are now available online.
     Another plus is for students to do research more readily. With limited school resources there are not a lot of available computers and students cannot always get to their school’s media center to do online research for their classes. But now they will have their own, portable research tool.
     Students will also be equipped to do collaborative projects with their peers in their classes through use of the laptops.
     AHS Vo-Tech instructor Jerry Larkins also pointed out that many classes are available online and with every student having their own laptop, it will open up a lot of possibilities for additional courses.
     Spreitler admits that the Gilmore Foundation is going into uncharted waters with this pilot program. “The Foundation can take risks,” he said. “If the program were to fail, no one would lose their job over it. We see the future of our community as being our children. Everybody has a computer in their office nowadays. So we need to prepare our students. We want to see great things happen. Every employer in the country can know that our kids will know how to use computers when they come out of high school.”
     Spreitler said the Gilmore Foundation board does not want any child in Amory to lack the tools to succeed. “We have the assets to give them the tools to succeed. We said we were going to dream and dream big, and we are.”
     The Foundation and the school district are looking at tech support programs that they can make available to the students once they have their laptop computers.
     The laptop computer pilot program will not detract from the Gilmore Foundation’s other annual grant programs, Spreitler said. The Foundation still has X amount of its money earmarked for community grants. It spends its invested earnings each year on grants, not touching the principle.
     But it has made it clear that the bar is being raised for grants. The only ones that will be considered for funding in the future are those that will make a lasting change in the community.
     “The grants will be more competitive in the future,” Spreitler said.
     Besides working with the school district on the laptop computer program, the Foundation has partnered with the district on a dropout prevention campaign and is also funding a full-time graduation coach at the high school to work with at-risk students to help keep them in school. 

Appeared originally in the Amory Advertiser, 4/18/2007 , section A , page 1