Daybreak schools win $10,000 tech grants

Daybreak Middle and Elementary school each have won $10,000 grants for new technology to help with literacy and other learning projects.

Teachers & Technology grants funded by the Qwest Foundation are awarded annually, in conjunction with the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Two Daybreak grant applications were among nine Washington school winners named on Tuesday.

First-grade teacher Debra Ortner, aided by substitute teacher Jessica Lee, won money to purchase 14 Apple iPad 2s. They will allow pupils to practice oral reading, record and videotape their best performances and eventually share digital presentations with online pen pals in Britain and Bahrain.

The group will build a wiki Web link for interactive access by all participating groups.

The fifth-grade teacher team of Marion Baty, Rachael Derbin, Ruth Tarbet-Mendoza, Mike Walsh and Kristina Wambold will purchase 54 seven-inch Web-enabled tablet PCs.

That’s enough to equip two of the five classrooms at a time. Teachers will help pupils learn fundamentals of “digital citizenship” — their rights, responsibilities and how to make informed decisions — per state educational standards now being field-tested.

They will choose a public issue to research, take a stance, and present the results of their work in person, and on blogs, Students must be prepared to discuss their position and defend its merits.