Funding, Grants & Awards | News
New Jersey School Lands $48,000 Technology Grant
Wrightstown, NJ-based New Hanover Township School will receive a $48,000 technology grant from a partnership among the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, Lowe's, and Samsung Hope for Children.
Selected as the winner of the 2012 Team Up for Technology grant, the school will receive $11,500 in technology from Samsung and $36,500 from the Jimmie Johnson Foundation to buy audio-visual equipment, microscopes, laptops, desktops, and projectors.
Head custodian Danny Nelson nominated the school for the grant, and at the announcement, representatives from Samsung presented Nelson with a Samsung Galaxy Tab and a Lowe's gift bag. "Our school has lost aid money and really can't afford to purchase any new computers. I see our kids work hard every day with what we provide and make the best of it. I would like to help these children out some way so I am writing and entering our school, which could really use this makeover," Nelson wrote in his nomination letter.
"On behalf of the entire New Hanover Township School community, I want to thank Lowe's, Samsung, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, and Mr. Johnson himself, for their generous gift," said Scott Larkin, principal of New Hanover Township School. "Our students truly have an insatiable desire for learning. This technology makeover will be the spark plug that drives them through the finish line, and onto victory in education."
Barringer Academic Center in Charlotte, NC, was the runner-up and received 100 Samsung Galaxy Tabs. Third place Pewamo-Westphalia High School in Westphalia, MI received 50 Tabs.
The semi-finalists included:
The foundation received upwards of 1,300 grant applications and chose 10 semi-finalists. They each received a kit with a Samsung digital camcorder and laptop and had to create a two-minute video demonstrating their school's technology needs.
For more information about the grant, visit jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.
Go to youtube.com to view the school's winning video. A playlist of all the semi-finalist's videos is also available at youtube.com.
About the Author
Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @editortim.