Rarely does a class go by when I do not use my Chromebook. When the bell sounds at the start of class, that Chromebook lid is coming up.
As a senior, I’ve been a Dowling Catholic student for seven semesters. Each semester, I’ve taken eight classes, and each class meets thirty-seven times over the course of a semester. With some quick math, 7 x 8 x 37, that means I’ve opened my Chromebook a minimum of 2,072 times. Before any homework.
All this to say…and calculate…my Chromebook is a school essential. Without it, my essays would go undone, my assignments unsubmitted, my emails unread, this very article unwritten. And I am but one among all of the students and faculty members who receive a Chromebook upon coming to Dowling Catholic, a number that amounts to over four-hundred new Chromebooks needed each year.
This year, on Tuesday, December 3rd, known nationally as “GivingTuesday,” Dowling Catholic has the goal of raising $25,000 in donations that will go towards the purchase of around seventy-five new chromebooks.
To highlight how integral chromebooks are to the Dowling Catholic experience, Mrs. Megan Andersen, the Library Media Specialist at Dowling Catholic, emphasizes how fast loaner Chromebooks are checked out by students whose devices are otherwise forgotten at home, not working, or out of battery. “After the weekend or a break from school,” she says, “all thirty-two of the loaner Chromebooks will be checked-out by students within the first half hour of the day.”
Dowling Catholic’s goal to purchase new Chromebooks with this year’s GivingTuesday donations will not only keep classes running smoothly—all 2,072 times—but the new Chromebooks will also ensure that students have reliable access to loaner devices when the need presents itself.
Mrs. Anna Wegelin, Dowling Catholic’s Annual Appeal Manager, encourages the community not only to consider donating but also to spread the word to donate. She says, “GivingTuesday is a day to inspire people to give back to causes that are important to them.” Chromebooks quite simply power Dowling Catholic’s classroom, and by coming together to donate during GivingTuesday, the Dowling Catholic community is investing in far more than technology; they are directly contributing to the success of this school by empowering students to fully engage with their education—what cause could be more important than that?
