Check presented for student laptops

GULF SHORES, Ala. (WALA) - Baldwin County schools have taken a big step toward preparing students for the future.

It's, in part, because of a gift from a Baldwin County charitable foundation.

The Erie Hall Meyer Foundation donated $292,000 Friday to make sure every elementary and middle school student in both Orange Beach and Gulf Shores has a MacBook Air laptop.

Jennifer Cardwell, a teacher at Orange Beach Elementary School, said, "We are so excited here at Orange Beach Elementary to be receiving these MacBooks for the digital renaissance.  The opportunities that the children are going to have are tremendous.  It's going to transform their educational experience."

Baldwin County School Board President Angie Swiger said, "This is going to change the way our students learn. We think it's going to change their lives in a very big way."

The City of Gulf Shores had already contributed $988,000 for Mac laptops for elementary school students, and seventh and eighth graders in Gulf Shores.

Swiger said, "When you have a textbook, textbooks often are outdated by the time our children start using them. And, the students learning is limited to what the written word is in the textbook, so, what the Mac Book does is open the world to our children.  It's a limitless form of learning."

Orange Beach Elementary School Principal Lori Brocato said, "Our elementary students have the opportunity of a lifetime. Their worlds changed forever today with this announcement."

And Baldwin County Superintendent Dr. Alan Lee said the laptops will help prepare students for life outside four walls of a classroom.

Lee said, "It is the way of the future, and, all over this world, we are going to have competition, so, our children are going to graduate better prepared."

The Erie Hall Meyer Foundation supports schools, churches, parks, and other groups.