Smithtown — The future is now, thanks to a $100,000 donation by a generous parishioner which has moved St. Patrick’s School here years ahead on its technology plans. Thanks to the gift, SMART Boards, state-of-the-art interactive white boards, are being set up in every classroom of the elementary school. The donation also enabled the school to purchase 20 laptops, Senteo response systems which allow students to respond remotely to what they see on the boards, and training for all the teachers.
Assistant principal Linda Pymm said the school was very thankful for the gift from a parishioner who preferred to remain anonymous. “We had one SMART Board, and it was our plan to gradually get them for all the classes,” she said. “It would have taken us years. This moved us way ahead.” Installation is ongoing and should be complete by the end of this month.
SMART Boards connect computers to digital projectors and allow for interaction with a touch-sensitive display. Pymm said the new equipment provides advantages for teachers and students. With this technology, “the picture is alive. It makes learning come alive for every subject,” she said.
“Imagine you have a picture in a textbook of the circulatory system. On a SMART Board, you can see the blood passing through the heart,” she said. Teachers and students can “write” on the image with a special stylus.
Pymm added that the technology gives teachers more time to teach. “You can do your lesson plan on a computer, and with the SMART Board there’s no time spent writing it over on the blackboard.” She noted that using the SMART Board can also be environmentally green since it can save on making paper copies of materials.
“We are very, very thankful,” she said.
Bonnie Habyan, the mother of a sixth-grade student at St. Patrick’s, noted, “As a parent, I am extremely pleased that this will be available for my child. The kids are really excited, and they are really proud. This puts our school ahead of the curve.”