Huntingdon adds Chromebooks for every 3rd-12th grade student

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Huntingdon students have gone hi-tech.

The 900 students in the Huntingdon Special School District’s third through 12th grades are all connected thanks to a new one-to-one initiative that allows students to have a Chromebook.

Officials said they’re the first school district in Tennessee to use the state’s leasing program to do it.

It cost the district over $300,000 to get the laptops for each student, but officials say being able to introduce them into the learning environment can make for better students in the long run.

“Technology’s everywhere, and so anytime we can expose our kids to that technology now, before they get out in the real world, it’s a benefit to them,” Huntingdon High School Principal Dr. Jonathan Kee said Tuesday.

Teachers think it’s helping bring education to millennials in a way they connect in the digital age.

“This generation, they all know technology. Well, they know social media. They know Instagram and Snapchat,” Huntingdon High School history teacher Robbie Miller said. “With these Chromebooks, we want to show them all the possibilities of the technology and how it can be integrated and how you can work together with it.”

High school students will be allowed to bring their Chromebook home and receive help from teachers even though they’re outside the classroom.

“They were able to message their teacher on Sunday afternoon,” Miller said. “The teacher got a message, and she was able to answer something. It took like three minutes to do, and so the student comes in and they have a better product.”

Huntingdon school officials believe being able to give their students an advantage is what’s best for the entire community.

“They’ve been open to change because they see this is truly an investment for our students, and it gives Huntingdon students an advantage going forward in their education,” Kee said.

The school district said students in their kindergarten through second grades each have iPads.

Huntingdon has a three-year lease on the Chromebooks with the state, which includes any repairs.