East Wake Academy is a small, K-12 charter school of approximately 1,100 students located in Zebulon, NC.  It is a wonderful environment where teachers and students are encouraged to be creative and explore information.   We want to prepare our students for the 21st Century and we need more technology in our classrooms.

I am a Nationally Certified American Sign Language teacher hired to teach American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language and/or elective for the students in the high school.  There are only a handful of high schools in North Carolina that offer ASL to their students and East Wake Academy has always been forward thinking in its options for students.

In an ASL Class, we work with videos….A LOT of videos.  Our school Internet capabilities are not fast enough for my students to do video assignments in class and upload them to be graded.  Being a small school, we do not have computers for every student.  I am asking for a classroom set (about 20) of iPad 2s with “student proof” cases.  Currently, students are recording videos on my personal laptop.  The video quality is very poor and has so many lags and skips that the content is unreadable and thus un-gradable.  Students are not able to get the feedback that they need to improve their skills.  Their homework is usually recorded on their Smart Phones or on a home webcam and then uploaded to Google Drive to be graded.  However, we are in a very rural area and high-speed Internet is not an option for some students. On occasion, we have trouble with videos not uploading properly.

Having 20 iPad 2s with durable cases would allow students to complete required tasks in class, research, and create activities and videos.  There are apps available to improve their skills and all with the portability that an iPad 2 allows.  Having this resource available at school would also benefit those students who have trouble with internet or webcam access at home.

To donate to her classroom check out her fundraiser on other site digitalwish.com 

We are launching a new yearbook builder just in time for yearbook club. You design your yearbook and set the price. Students and parents can buy online. You'll save money on the cost, and the profits can be used to purchase new technology for your school. Its simple to create a yearbook just simply drag and drop pictures into built-in frames. There's no minimum order, and only a 3 week turnaround to receive printed yearbooks. Login and get started.

Free Webinar on Four Ways to Raise Money for Technology - Friday, Jan 31, 10:00 am EST.
We'll show you some fantastic tools for raising money for technology. Sign up, so we can send you all the information you need to participate. We'll show you great fundraising ideas including printed yearbooks, t-shirt drives, Recycle Forward, and how to find funding for technology through Digital Wish.

• Digital Wish Technology Fundraiser - Make a wish list and share it through print, email, and Facebook to generate donations.
• Printed Yearbook Fundraiser - Build a yearbook in record time online with fantastic design tools and generate funds for your technology needs.
• T-Shirts for Technology - Sell high-quality screen printed tees with zero upfront costs and zero risk. We ship directly to buyers, you keep the profits for technology.
• Recycle Forward - Get new technology for your classroom by recycling used electronics and ink cartridges for cash.

Sign up for the webinar here.
The recorded archive will be here afterwards. Read more.

Start a Yearbook Club - Here's how!
Read the new blog where we share tips from our after-school yearbook clubs. Start your own club to develop a printed yearbook online. With simple drag and drop skills, students can have a prominent role in yearbook design. Teach students the basics of graphic design, as well as, exploring the world of yearbook building online. Also starting at $8.49 for 20 pages, you can set your yearbook price and raise funds. Its a great way to fund technology in your schools. There's no minimum order on printed yearbooks. Get started.

Earn a Gift for Helping us Vote - Digital Wish could win $25,000 to help fund our classroom support programs in J.P. Morgan's Give-It-Away contest. If you can get a classroom of students to vote, please send me a note at jennifer@digitalwish.org. We have some some nice classroom gifts available as a warm thanks for your help. You can also help by spreading the word to others. Please share the link with others by Facebook.

Technology deals and donation programs - Check out our current technology deals and promotions:

• Califone USB Computer Microscope for only $99.95 - 47% off.
• Set of 10 lightweight headphones for $55 - 5% off
• Dell Optiplex compact classroom refurbished computer only $182.
• HP slim form and fast 3 Ghz refurbished classroom computer only $169.
• Brocade wireless access points and controllers donations.
• Mobile Beacon 4G wireless device donations and low $10/month service.
• 10.1" Asus VivoTab with Windows RT - $279 - 44% off. Ends Jan 31.

Congratulation to our winners!  Thank you all for your lesson plans.  Digital Wish chooses grant recipients based on the quality of a lesson plan, grant criteria, and adherence to grant guidelines for entries.

Congratulation to our winners!  Thank you all for your lesson plans.  Digital Wish chooses grant recipients based on the quality of a lesson plan, grant criteria, and adherence to grant guidelines for entries.




 

Congratulations to our September Grant recipients!

Would you like an opportunity to win one of our curriculum packages, software, or hardware devices?  Simply submit a lesson plan to our lesson plan library.  Monthly grants are awarded to the best submission per grant category.

http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/grant_awards

 

Take 5 and Vote for Digital Wish in JP Morgan Chase's $25,000 "GIVE IT AWAY" Contest - Help us grant more wishes! The nonprofit that receives the most votes will win $25,000. Your vote will go a long way toward helping our mission of solving technology shortfalls in classrooms. Digital Wish has a one in three chance to receive this grant so our chances are great with your support. Please click here to vote. Thank you!