DigiTeenz schools get Chromebooks

School representatives and a student with the donated Lenovo laptops last week.

PHILIPSBURG–Both St. Maarten Academy and Milton Peters College (MPC) started with the implementation of the DigiTeenz project last year. In addition to the installation of wired fibre-optic and wireless networks, Foresee Foundation was able to also support the purchase of Chromebooks for both schools.

  Leo Ligthart, one of the directors/owners, had a nice surprise when ordering 32 laptops via Antek, announcing that he had managed to have Lenovo donate an extra 32 systems to both schools. Lenovo USA Director of Channel Sales Mike Abplanalp was in St. Maarten last week and explained during a presentation that his company Lenovo always collaborates with local IT companies.

  After hearing from Antek about the DigiTeenz project, he decided that this was an excellent opportunity to assist St. Maarten education. He explained how amazing it is to see how children these days take to technology. As Lenovo representative, he remains happy to support the schools in bringing this experience into their classrooms.

  MPC VSBO Department coordinator Sergio Blomont explained that they had started doing research on the popular and affordable Lenovo Chromebooks while at a major ICT for Education Conference in the United States. However, after returning home the decision was taken to buy locally.

  St. Maarten Academy decided to also opt for these Lenovo Chromebooks as they are very sturdy, affordable and fast. Principal Tallulah Baly expressed her pride and excitement to collaborate with Foresee and MPC in the DigiTeenz project. She sees the need of bringing modern technology into the schools and, more important, equipping the students with 21st-century skills.

  “St. Maarten is a 37-square-mile island rich with talent. We must prepare our students to be competitive in the global market. On behalf of the board, management, staff, and students, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Antek, Lenovo and the Foresee Foundation for this very generous donation,” she said.

  Renaldo Baker, in charge of the integration of technology in the MPC classrooms, outlined the plan he has for the future. Three pilot classes and 10 teachers spread out over the three different departments will receive the Lenovo Chromebooks and explore 21st-century learning technologies.

  Abplanalp was impressed with the outline on the implementation given, which he highlighted with the quote “I love a man with a plan.” He generously offered 20 more Lenovo Chromebooks to the school, which was received by the attendees with a warm applause.

  MPC Deputy Director Vital Carty, on behalf of all present, thanked Antek and Lenovo for the donations and promised to make good use of the devices and expand in the future.

  With the presentation last week, the first phase of the DigiTeenz project at MPC is being finalised. With the network in place not having been damaged during Hurricane Irma and new 100-megabyte Internet speed sponsored by UTS, the school is ready to move forward this year.

  Foresee Foundation President Jose Sommers was also happy to see that after its earlier projects DigiKidz, the media lab in the library, DigiWorkz and the two ICT educator conferences CTEC, DigiTeenz is now also taking shape. With more than US $1 million in funding by American charity Windsong and local partners, Foresee has been able to contribute to some large innovations in the St. Maarten educational landscape and is looking forward to another positive year with new plans.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/73107-digiteenz-schools-get-chromebooks

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