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Description
IF YOU WERE to picture South Dakota in 1910, you might imagine things like barn raisings, farmhouses, horses, and perhaps small, one-room country schoolhouses. Even though some of those one-room schoolhouses remain, much has changed in the last 100 years, thanks to some future-oriented governors and state leaders willing to support, fund, and implement systemic change in this Midwestern plains state. This is a story of vision, cooperation, planning, and teamwork that is translating into bright futures for every South Dakota student.
This is also a story of Faith. In 2004, the small community of Faith, SD, received word that its school building had been condemned. This very rural yet technologically progressive district in the northwest corner of the state, population 521, was faced with the challenge of few capital outlay dollars, the need for a new building, and the desire to provide the best resources for its students, including a plan to go wireless at the high school and implement a 1-to-1 laptop program. What was it to do?
Mel Dutton, Faith School District's CEO, says the choice was not an easy one. The district decided to maximize the few dollars it had for the best interests of its 80 students and purchased seven modular building units housing 14 classrooms. It then put the rest of its minimal capital into wireless laptops for all of its high school students.
"It would be nice to have a permanent structure," Dutton says, "but we may be in these units for a while yet, so we can't have a gap in these kids' education. Students will need this [technology] for the future." The district's boldness has paid off. The staff is receptive to... |
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