Students in Blanco High School’s Migrant program are the beneficiaries of a grant that provides them with a mini laptop and training support to help them be successful.

“This is a great opportunity for these students,” said BISD Director of Technology Thomas Cozzi. “Technology will enhance the students’ learning experience, and enable them to achieve their highest goals.”

The source of this support is through a Migrant grant, and the idea for it came through a needs assessment conducted by a parents advisory committee.

“These parents thought that this would be a need for our students,” said BISD Special Programs Director Kathy Anderson. “Mr. Cozzi did the training, and not only did it involve how to use the laptops, but also how to take care of them.”

According to Cozzi, the laptops are checked out through the district’s library system. Students are provided with filtered Internet access, and MS Office software. Students are also issued an 8GB pen-drive to save their files, and to transfer over projects to the district’s network for teacher evaluations.

The training program involves three sessions. The first session for students covers an introduction to laptops. The second session will be with parents, and the third session will be advanced hands-on training for students.

Said Cozzi, “This program is a pilot for programs that will make this type of technology available to more students in the future.”

Student Pete Chalico said, “The personal computers are great. They will help me complete homework, and apply for college applications. They are very useful. Mr. Cozzi’s training was very helpful and it made the computers easy to use. We are all grateful to have them.”