Research, College-Style

I am a Media Specialist for a small rural high school in Eastern North Carolina. Currently, 53.02% of our student population is receiving free or reduced lunch and 6.75% are English Limited. In addition, the per capita income for the families served by our school ($13,831) is nearly 50% less than the surrounding areas and significantly less than North Carolina’s average. Being a poor county struggling with the current economic downturn, our funds are extremely limited. Each semester the school library and world history classes team up and collaborate on a World War II research project. The project is designed to be research intensive in order to better prepare students for college level work. The activity is even introduced to the students as a college-level project. Over the duration of 3 weeks students are given access to nearly 200 books and an unlimited number of online articles. Students then collaborate online to construct their own understanding of the events surrounding World War II. During the past two years we have increasingly found it difficult to provide this experience to our college-bound students. Available technology is our biggest hurdle. Our computer labs are outdated and are in use by other teachers every day. With each semester we have less and less time on computers, and in the near future, we may no longer have the ability to provide this experience to our children. We need laptops in order to continue providing students with an opportunity to conduct college-level research. Simple and cheap works. With even the most basic laptop, students can access online articles and collaborate online with other students; the foundation of our research project. Therefore, we are asking the help of donors like you to provide 2 low-cost 'netbook' computers that can perform those tasks. Without your help we may not have the ability to provide this opportunity to our students in the future. Please help us.