Members of the Gros Cap School Board found themselves back in the classroom Monday, September 19, where they received a formal explanation of the technological progress resulting from the Freedom to Learn program. Marcia Sweeney stood in front of a $1,500 “Smart Board” explaining that teachers and students are now connected with a program which allows them to view their curriculum at all times, including new content standards and benchmarks provided by the state.

According to Mrs. Sweeney, the program can be aligned to each school’s curriculum, making it easy for teachers to match their lesson plans with what is expected by the state.

“The old argument of exactly what to teach is no longer an issue,” she said.

Standing beside a broadcast of the mathematics curriculum for her class, Mrs. Sweeney explained how teachers can access overviews of specific subjects, study guides to go with them, view sample lessons, and give tests. Mrs. Sweeney chose to purchase the Smart Board, the only one in the building, for her classroom with her share of a Freedom to Learn grant through the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District.

According to Superintendent William Peltier, this method allows him to walk into any room and see exactly how teachers are matching their lessons to the curriculum expectations.

The program is especially useful for integrating subjects covered by the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) into classroom studies. The MEAP is to be completely online soon, he said, and using laptop computers in the classroom will make students of Gros Cap familiar with the format.

Integrating the curriculum into the laptop program also allows a greater degree of flexibility than before, which will help students get back on track faster after absences, he said.

Although the laptops, now used by sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, do not leave the school, students with computers can access the curriculum from home. Individual assignments, if teachers choose to set them up, could also be viewed from home.

Gros Cap is ahead of some other districts. Some are restricting the use of the laptops excessively, said Mr. Peltier. According to him, schools that have locked away their computers out of fear of students damaging them could lose those computers.

“It’s a matter of trusting students to be responsible,” he said. “But if you give them the responsibility, they tend to do fine.”

The school board agreed that students are already technologically adept and even computer savvy, but teachers need to be familiarized with new educational tools in order to use them effectively. Therefore, training was to be part of an in-service program Monday, September 26.

Although the new laptops are keeping Gros Cap school up to date, a great deal of Internet use is required by the new curriculum, and the server the building uses is not up the task.

“It’s 10 years old,” said Mr. Peltier. “It just can’t handle the stress.” Therefore, the board made a motion to apply for a $6,900 grant through the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians to buy a new server for the school. A resolution was signed and given to Mr. Peltier, a process newly instituted to keep better track of how the tribe’s funding is used.

New technology is not the only new issue at Gros Cap school, however. Students are also keeping their hands in the organic world by decorating pumpkins for the Parent Teacher Organization, and the Student Council is taking on national issues by promoting a penny drive to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina.