As the second semester begins, Mary Blount Elementary School has
partnered up with the Leadership Blount Class of 2016 to achieve its
goal of providing Chromebooks and iPad minis to every child in the
classroom.
Members of LB Class of 2016 came to make a surprise announcement last
week. The group has selected Mary Blount technology as its legacy
project and has committed to raising a minimum of $36,000 to purchase
needed equipment. Director of Schools Rob Britt, Communications
Coordinator Betsy Cunningham, MBES Principal Jesse Robinette, Assistant
Principal Suzanne Graves and the school’s teachers were present for the
announcement. Britt said he was speechless when he learned about the
huge commitment. He was also very complimentary of Mary Blount staff and
their readiness to make this happen. “You have positioned yourself to
be our first 1 to 1 school,” he said, referring to the ratio of one
computer for every child. “We talked about a number of schools that we
felt like would be very successful, but we kept coming back to
Mary Blount.”
The first 1 to 1
Blount County Schools has a strategic plan to be able to provide
digital devices to every child in the classroom at all of its schools.
Britt said this is a great beginning.
“This will move our strategic
plan fast and furious,” he told those gathered last week. “Mary Blount
will become our first 1 to 1 and a learning center.”
According to
Courtney Stewart, technology coordinator at Mary Blount, they currently
have 290 devices and will need to purchase 325 more to achieve the 1 to 1
goal.
Ginny Boles and Brad Rasmussen, gatekeepers for this LB class,
made the announcement. Boles is the principal at John Sevier Elementary
and Rasmussen is a counselor at Clayton-Bradley Academy. He worked
previously in the Blount County Schools at Friendsville and Union Grove.
Ready to make it happen
The entire LB class visited Mary Blount weeks ago and learned
that Robinette and other school leaders feel technology is where they
need to move forward. It was decided by the LB class to take on the
challenge. “We have some really big dreamers and some compassionate
people on our team,” Boles said. She said the initial money will help
provide the Chromebooks for students in grades 3-5. The iPad minis would
be the second tier of the project, for students in K-2. The Chromebooks
are laptops used primarily when hooked up to the internet, popular with
many school systems. “As an educator, I believe there is no better way
to impact a community than through education,” Boles said. Rasmussen
said the LB class hopes to have the funds raised by May 1. There are
already four teams that have been organized to work on the project he
said. The first $7,000 has already been raised.“We are off to a great
start,” he said.

When contacted, Mike Crabtree, director of curriculum and
instruction for Blount County Schools, said the system as a whole
has been working toward its strategic plan on technology. A self study
has been underway to determine what kinds of skills teachers have. “Mary
Blount will be a good laboratory for us,” Crabtree said. “They will be
able to tell us what kind of training that’s needed, what the logistics
are for rolling this out. Mary Blount will be the first to go all
digital.” Crabtree said there are also a couple of other schools that
might be ready to do the same next year. There is still some tweaking to
do, he said, but great strides are being made.Getting the necessary
infrastructure in place at all of the schools has been a main priority.
Next, comes getting the teachers trained. “We also want to get the word
out that using the Chromebooks and iPads doesn’t replace a teacher,”
Crabtree said. “It’s one more tool. They are powerful, very flexible and
offer a lot of content and experiences.”
The plan for next year is what the system is calling Early
Adopter where they identify teachers who have the necessary skills.
Model classrooms will be set up to help others gain more knowledge. The
strategy is a three-year plan but it could be accomplished sooner,
Crabtree said. Maryville City Schools just achieved the 1 to 1 ratio
this school year. Boles said her school will help any way it can to make
this successful at Mary Blount. “We want to form partnerships across
school systems,” she said.
By Melanie Tucker-The Daily Times