SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- One local high school is setting up their students for success by giving each one of them access to a laptop.
Computers are quickly taking the place of books, paper and pencils in the classroom. East Valley High School took the change to a whole new level. The East Valley School District bought a brand new Macbook Air for every single high school student.
"For a lot of kids that go to school with us they don't have computer access at home, so to have that at home is a lot of help,” said Student Alex Sternod.
Principal Matt Stevens said they are the first public school in the area to do this. They purchased 1,100 computers. Each one costs about $980.
The district used money from their technology budget they had already set aside to update its computer lab. They also used additional state funds they got last school year for higher enrollment. The school saw an unexpected increase in students enrolled in Career and Technical Education courses. These course include business, family and consumer sciences, agriculture and shop classes.
The investment seems to be already paying off for students.
"This is the easier way to make sure my homework gets done and I have significant time to do it,” said student Shaylor Leyk.
Students can take the laptops back and forth from home and school. If they do not want to take it home, they can check one out each day. Each laptop has a filter to make sure students cannot see inappropriate content.
Principal Stevens said the idea is make sure nothing gets in the way of success for students. Every student gets the same opportunity to learn in a world that is ever changing through technology.
"Not just are we getting kids ready for a diploma, but we want to get them ready for what's next in life. There's not too many places in life where you don't need some type of computer literacy or ability to operate that kind of system,” said Stevens.