By April Amadon/amadona@gnnewspaper.com
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
NEWFANE
March 07, 2008 09:57 pm
—
A lot has changed in the 23 years Sue Costanzo has been teaching.
Costanzo, the resource room teacher at Newfane High School, has seen technology grow and change over the years. Now, she’s turned to technology to help her keep her students on the cutting edge.
Costanzo has written up a proposal and submitted it to www.donorschoose.org, a Web site that allows educators to seek funding for equipment and improvements.
The problem for Costanzo’s class is a lack of usable computers. The room has only two good computers that more than 20 students must compete for, in order to complete written assignments.
“It became obvious we were going to struggle this year,” she said. “I work primarily with juniors and seniors. By the time they’re at the upper levels, they do use the computers a lot. It becomes even more difficult to try to meet everybody’s needs with really only two functional computers in the room.”
In the proposal, Costanzo explains that there is no district money available, and the computers in her classroom are “antiques from the 1990s.”
“There is a battle period over who gets the computer and for how long,” Costanzo wrote. “I have to send students to other classrooms so they can use a decent computer. This is not a good solution, because I can’t monitor their work.”
Costanzo searched the Web for ideas and came across Donors Choose. The site allows people to present proposals for what they need, and donors have the option of giving toward the cause.
She submitted her proposal on Oct. 30 for an Acer computer and LCD display to replace one of the old computers. The computer will cost $771.
Donations are tax-deductible, and donors can put in as much as they want.
Since the request was put on the site, there have been no donations made, but Costanzo is optimistic.
“We’re always hopeful,” she said. “It never hurts to apply.”
The new computer is important, she said, because students need to know how to use the latest technology in order to get ahead in the world.
With school budgets tight, teachers often have to seek other means to get the supplies they need.
“I think school is like everything else. We’re suffering from the state of the economy,” she said. “More and more, we’re finding that schools are looking for alternative sources. As teachers, we don’t want to put a burden on the community.”
She said she’d encourage other teachers to use resources like Donors Choose.
“It’s tough, because I know there are many, many people who would love to have access to the kind of technology that others have,” she said. “If it was a perfect world, we would all have the most up-to-date computers available.”
To see Costanzo’s proposal, visit www.donorschoose.org and search for proposal 120008.
Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.
HOW TO HELP
• DONATE: To help Newfane High School teacher Sue Costanzo purchase a new computer for her resource room, visit www.donorschoose.org and search for proposal 120008.
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