The PEACE Fund and LAUSD: Empowering Students Through the Gift of Technology

 

Ten winning LAUSD teachers are awarded Surface computers by The PEACE Fund Founder
and CEO, Adrian Paul
by Chad Hawthorne, Field Solution Manager, Microsoft
 

“Technology is not a school subject, it’s a tool to empower learning” - Unknown

Empowering kids to achieve their full potential is not just a snappy tagline – it is at the core of what The PEACE Fund does every day. And on Saturday February 6, the PEACE Fund provided hundreds of Los Angeles area students with the opportunity to leverage technology to enhance their education.

Through a generous donation of 95 Microsoft Surface tablets to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), The PEACE Fund and the LAUSD facilitated a modern day essay contest where 33 educators from 26 Los Angeles area schools were invited to inspire their students to submit creative class projects explaining how technology in their classrooms (Surface tablets) would give them a leg up in achieving their academic goals.
 
laMotte

It is a socio-economic reality in many LAUSD schools that students often have to share one device (PC, tablet, etc) with hundreds of their peers. Limited access to a computer each week severely impacts their exposure to the learning benefits of technology. As a result, educators struggle to find ways to prepare students for a future where the understanding, utilizing and reaping the benefits of technology can be the difference between a future above the poverty line or remaining below it.  The PEACE Fund developed this initiative in an effort to support these outstanding young people and the teachers who serve them.

The purpose of the New Year, New Opportunities contest was to give the kids and their teachers a “Helping Hand” rather than a hand-out as a way of leveling the playing field. Classrooms had to work together, using their collective imagination and creativity, along with a lot of hard work to tell an impactful story of how this technology would boost their education, the objective here being to teach students that through hard work, you can improve your own personal situation. Whether in this contest, in school, sports or beyond, it is a lesson we hope will stay with the children throughout their lives.

The response from the students and educators was overwhelming! 20 classrooms ranging from elementary to high school submitted imaginative and passionate video projects. The students demonstrated that they fully understood what the benefits of having individual access to technology in school are. The projects focused on everything from increasing the likelihood of going to college, to becoming an astronaut, to becoming the President of the United States! Their imagination showed no bounds as each of the classes worked together to deliver imaginative and inspiring submissions.  All school communities and the public were then invited to vote on their favorite submissions across 3 categories – Elementary School, Middle School and High School.

opening up prize

By the time the voting window closed nearly 50,000 votes had been cast and the top 9 classrooms were identified as winners of the contest. Adrian Paul (founder of The PEACE Fund) along with teachers, principals and leaders of the LAUSD, met at Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte Elementary where each of the teachers representing the winning classrooms were presented with 10 Microsoft Surface tablets to be used exclusively in their classrooms. And, as a testament to how moving the kids’ work really was, one additional runner-up classroom was selected by members of The PEACE Fund and awarded with 5 Surface tablets to recognize the hard work and dedication put into their effort. After the ceremony a representative from Microsoft delivered a training to the teachers on how to operate and take advantage of all the Surfaces had to offer.

In all, 10 classrooms were awarded with tablets. 10 educators were given the tools necessary to provide their students with the opportunity to enhance their education with technology. Hundreds of lives were changed.  Technology like this in the classroom is a new frontier for all of the winning teachers. As educators, they are on a new journey of learning along with their students. The teachers and students now have the opportunity and challenge before them to innovate and redefine what education looks like in their classrooms.

We are excited to see what they do with these tools and look forward to seeing the impact this helping hand initiative has on the kids and their future. The PEACE Fund will be receiving frequent updates from all the classrooms over the coming months and will pass those updates along to all of you.

PEACE Fund Radio was on hand interviewing and capturing all the winning teacher’s reactions and thoughts live! The show aired on Wednesday, February 10 at 11am PST.  To hear a recording of this very special show dedicated to coverage of this event, please visit PEACE Fund Radio (scroll down to Show Archives and select Feb. 10).

Congratulations to all the winning teachers and students! Your hard work and enthusiasm for your education is an inspiration to us all.

Here are the winning teachers/classrooms....

Emily Aguon - West Athens Elementary

Josie Torres - Sutter Middle School

Dr. LaTeira Haynes - Mervyn M. Dymally High School

Amy Crouse - Robert Hill Lane Elementary

Dante Palmieri - Ranchito Avenue Elementary

Nicole Fisher - Albion Street Elementary

Eladia Serna - Bryson Avenue Elementary

Miguel Lopez - Ranchito Elementary

Kareema Nasouf - John C. Fremont High School
Araceli Castro-Woodhead - Ninth Street Elementary