Central A & M High School & Middle School

Create, Collaborate, & Communicate

Students use the Middle School Lab.

Central A & M's grant has the ambitious goal of developing 21st Century learning skills with students, faculty, and community. For this purpose they are providing a model electronic classroom, training teachers, creating a digital production center, establishing a student tech team, and offering technological expertise to businesses and community members with the library serving as a connection.

21st Century Classroom
Middle school equipped with a Sympodium interactive pen display
High school equipped with SMART Board interactive whiteboard
Both equipped with Senteo handheld student response systems and Airliner wireless slates.

21 cubed: 21 Technology Skills for the 21st Century In Central A&M District 21
Series of professional development sessions after school on Web 2.0
Ning for teachers to share ideas

Community and business training
Series of free workshops offered to the Central A & M community members on topics such as basic computer maintenance

Tech teams
Student teams created at the middle and high school to assist with technology

Ken Hawley, technology coordinator, sets up the Samsung SDP-950DXA document camera at the middle school.

Demonstration of the middle school document
camera reveals what's written in the border
of a five dollar bill.

As part of their technology planning process their technology team discovered that teachers felt they didn't know enough to use technology and students felt they needed more technology. This led to the district applying for the InSync with Technology grant. The first semester was spent acquiring and setting up equipment. The second semester has focused on training. For more information go to the Central A & M web page.

Ken Hawley and Ruth Shasteen, Central A & M, show equipment purchased through the In Sync With Technology grant. The grant team which includes Jared Cook, Donna Moore, and Jackie Lawton have been working this year with money available through the Library Services and Technology Grant program. Designed for their middle and high schools Central A & M's grant has four parts - providing teacher training, 21st century classrooms, training for the community and businesses in the community, and student tech teams. Titled Create, Collaborate, and Communicate the grant has created excitement at the middle school and high school.