Getting on Board
Donation Puts High-Tech Tools in Classrooms
KINGFISHER — Students at Sts. Peter and Paul School have a new way of learning thanks to some generous parishioners. Three high-tech “Smart Boards” have been set up at the Catholic school providing teachers with an exciting tool that brings a whole new dimension into the classroom.

Principal Kimberly Kroener said two of the Smart Boards and the computers needed to operate them were gifts from two parishioners. The third Smart Board was purchased after a school fund-raising event. So far, the high-tech tools have been a big hit with students and faculty.

Kroener said she feared some of the teachers may not be too excited about tackling this new technology, but to her surprise, they have all embraced it and seem to be really enjoying the interactivity it brings to the classroom.

Seventh- and eighth-grade students in Monti Allen’s class were eager to demonstrate the many ways the Smart Boards can be used in learning. The students groaned when it was time to dissect a frog, as if the scalpel creating the incision was tearing into a real frog.

“There’s no way we could dissect a real frog in here,” said Kroener. The Smart Board creates a lifelike and interactive science lab without the mess.

The Smart Board is basically a 77-inch computer screen that can be operated by touch. It also serves as a dry erase board, allowing students and teachers to write on it and with the touch of a button erase and move on.

Father Stephen Hamilton, pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul, has been incorporating the Smart Boards into Bible study classes, Kroener said.

The principal said the $9,000 investment will keep the students at Sts. Peter and Paul on a level playing field in terms of technology with the local public schools.

“I didn’t want our kids going to high school and not knowing what this is all about,” she said.

Sts. Peter and Paul students Sydney Kippenberger, Macey McAlexander and Matthew Walta watch as fellow student Macy Mueggenborg takes part in the virtual dissection of a frog on one of the school’s new “Smart Boards.” Sooner Catholic Photos