Clearwire ,a provider of 4G wireless broadband services, and the Innovative Technology Fund have awarded the St. Louis Public School District a grant to provide 21 Dell Latitude E6410 netbooks and two years of service on the CLEAR 4G network, providing unlimited mobile internet access.
Kelvin Adams, superintendent of schools, said the gift offered “the opportunity to enhance academics through cutting-edge technology and resources.”
The grant, valued at more than $20,000, will support college-bound students at Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, Gateway Institute of Technology High School, Carnahan High School of the Future and Big Picture High School. It will support the following programs: the Saturday Scholars sponsored by the University of Missouri’s School of Medicine and by the Washington University’s School of Medicine; the St. Louis University Partnership program at Clyde C. Miller Career Academy; and the Ranken Dual Enrollment program at Ranken Technical College.
Travis Revelle, general manager for CLEAR, said the company hopes “that these students will realize the benefit of true 4G high-speed mobile broadband.”
The Innovative Technology Education Fund (www.enhancinglearning.org) is a St. Louis-based charitable nonprofit operating as a private foundation. ITEF is also an FCC license holder of four Educational Broadband channels in St. Louis.
Recently, the district’s Special Administrative Board, CLEAR and the Innovative Technology Fund honored three outstanding participants from the benefiting programs by awarding each student with the Spirit of Excellence Award and a Kodak Zi8 camera.
Wonnell Byrd, the 2011 Valedictorian of Big Picture Academy, earned the Spirit of Excellence Award for exceptional academic achievements at Ranken Technical College. Working five hours a day for five days a week, Byrd earned a 3.8 GPA in the Industrial Technology Associate Degree program through the district’s Ranken Technical College Dual Enrollment Program.
India Riggins, a junior from Clyde C. Miller Career Academy specializing in the Biotechnology pathway, earned the Spirit of Excellence Award for her extraordinary participation the St. Louis University Anatomy Program. She worked with medical students at St. Louis University on dissections and then took the knowledge back to Clyde C. Miller Career Academy to teach sophomores how different organs function and how to properly dissect specimens.
Adam Benckendorf, a junior from Metro Academic and Classical Academy, earned the Spirit of Excellence Award for his remarkable performance with the Saturday Scholars program sponsored by the University of Missouri’s School of Medicine and by the Washington University’s School of Medicine. The program, which focuses on medicine and human anatomy, brought students to the anatomy labs at both major universities for immersion experiences. Benckendorf stood out from his peers with his engaging attitude while shadowing doctors, performing dissections, and touring medical departments.Â
