HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative 2005

Beauvoir Elementary one of 205 schools nationwide selected
as HP Technology Grant Recipient

$35,000 HP Technology for Teaching grant includes HP wireless equipment, cash, and professional development to improve student achievement

Biloxi, MS, April 19, 2005 – Beauvoir Elementary was selected as a 2005 HP Teaching for Technology grant recipient. HP is awarding a total of  $6.2 million in cash and equipment to teams of five teachers at 174 kindergarten through 12^th grade public schools in the US and Puerto Rico. Preference was given to schools serving low-income students, and projects including a math or science component. The HP Technology for Teaching grant program is designed to transform and improve learning in the classroom through innovative uses of technology.

 Beauvoir Elementary will receive an HP award package valued at more than $35,000, which will include five HP Tablet PCs, five HP multimedia projectors, five HP digital cameras, an HP OfficeJet All-in-One, a $500 stipend per teacher and a professional development program that includes customized learning opportunities, expert mentoring and participation in an online learning community to support teachers’ use of technology.

 Beauvoir will use the equipment, funding and training to create an educational web site about local wetlands.  Beauvoir students will study local wetlands school wide. The students will use cameras and equipment received from the grant to record and study the environments in their own back yards. The project was begun when fourth graders looked for pictures of wetlands in coastal Mississippi on the internet and were unable to find any. Pat Crawford, a fourth grade teacher, began taking pictures and their wetlands web pages were begun. With this grant they will be able to expand and make this site one where all students can go to learn about wetlands in Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. Ms. Crawford’s Wetlands Web Page can be seen at: http://www.biloxischools.net/beauvoir/wetlands/plants_and_animals_of_the_missis.htm

 We are thrilled to be awarded this grant.  The equipment and training offered through the grant will enable us to use technology and partnerships with community agencies to teach students about our rich, varied local eco-system.   All too often, we take our surroundings for granted, never noticing the beauty in our own back yards.  Our students will learn to examine and appreciate some of the benefits of living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” commented grant coordinator and assistant principal, Scott Powell of Beauvoir Elementary. 

The 2005 HP Technology for Teaching grant program is also awarding grants totaling $2.3 million to 31 two- and four- year colleges and universities in the US and Puerto Rico. HP has committed $25 million to the three-year global program, which supports HP’s broader education goal of transforming teaching and learning through the integration of technology. More than 400 schools worldwide have received grants since the program’s inception last year.

“Technology has the power to positively transform the learning process for both educators and students,” said Bess Stephens, vice president, Philanthropy and Education, HP.  “By integrating technology into their teaching, educators can engage students in new and innovative ways to increase achievement, and ultimately to prepare them for greater success in the classroom and beyond.”

More information about the 2005 HP Technology for Teaching program and grant recipients is available at www.hp.com/go/hpteach.

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