News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters schools score 200 computers

About 200 new computers will be installed in Sisters classrooms after the community stepped up with approximately $6,000 in local donations in less than three weeks.

"The first round of computers should be arriving any time, with installation slated to begin in the elementary school. The remainder of the computers will arrive over the next couple of months," said schools superintendent Steve Swisher.

The computers are coming from a consortium of large businesses in the state led by Intel, which originally made the machines available at about $165 each to schools whose teachers provided lesson plans for instructional use.

Because Sisters teachers took the time to write out the ways in which they would use the computers, the Sisters School District qualified for 200 machines, more than any other school district in Central Oregon.

This put the district in need of raising $33,000. But then, Bend Cable agreed to purchase half of the computers through a matching grant, leaving local contributors to raise the other $16,500.

Fund-raising efforts at the Sisters Elementary School and the Sisters Schools Foundation had raised over $10,500. This left a gap of $6,000.

Following a newspaper article, thirteen donors made contributions ranging from $40 to $220. The Sisters Rotary Club and individual Rotarians donated $3,000. Then, Bruce and Nora Slayden donated another $1,500, putting the district over the top.

"On behalf of the teachers, staff and students of the Sisters School District, we sincerely appreciate the community coming forward again to help in this project," said Swisher.

 

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