Intel names Oakcliff Elementary School of Distinction
by Jonathan Cribbs
jonathan@dekalbchamp.com
Intel, one of the nation’s more ubiquitous tech companies, named Oakcliff Elementary School a finalist in its Schools of Distinction program. The distinction comes with a gift of $2,500.
School officials said they plan to use the money to expand outdoor science programs, including one in which students raise thousands of baby trout and release some into the wild.
“We teach them ecology,” said Mickey Coleman, a teacher at the school. “We teach them data and applying that data to the different stages the fish are going through.”
Intel’s program honors U.S. schools that use innovative teaching and learning environments to inspire high student performance in math and science. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company named 18 finalists April 20. The company chose Oakcliff Elementary for a number of reasons, according to a statement:
• At least one student from each continent – except Antarctica – attends the diverse school.
• It is a Title 1 School of Excellence, a federal designation, because it exceeds state and local achievement expectations in science, math and reading.
• The U.S. Department of Education named the school’s Small Fry to Go program – the trout project – the No. 1 after-school program nationwide.
The company also cited the school’s emphasis on hands-on learning exercises and departure from traditional book-and-lecture classes.
Six of the 18 schools, including one elementary, middle and high school, will receive an additional $10,000 grant and about $100,000 worth of curriculum material, hardware and software on May 5, all from the Intel Foundation. The top school will receive a $15,000 grant instead of the $10,000 grants.
If Oakcliff Elementary takes one of those awards, the school might use it to completely overhaul the school’s technology infrastructure, Coleman said. “Our building is very old,” he said. “To get updated with technology we’d really have to rewire the building.”
After that, the school might consider installing a closed-circuit television system that would allow them to post cameras over the Small Fry program, allowing students to monitor the growth of fish from the classroom if need be. The school might also buy more interactive whiteboards for students, another teacher said.
The 18 finalists were chosen from public and private schools in rural, urban and suburban areas.
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