Technology Grows at St. John Brebeuf School

St. John Brebeuf Wins “Schools Work Smarter” $5000 Award

St. John Brebeuf (SJB) School in Niles is the winner of the 2015 “Schools Work Smarter” sweepstakes. Presented by TeacherLists, the award comes with a $5,000 prize to help fund a 1:1 technology initiative in the 2015-2016 school year, according to Elise Matson, School Principal.

SJB was selected from 500 schools. The money will help fund a pilot technology program and some reading language arts initiatives. “We are still evaluating how best to put the funds to use in our school but are truly thrilled to be recognized in this way,” Matson added.

“We are incredibly grateful to TeacherLists for their generous donation to our school,” she said. “Over the past few years, TeacherLists has helped our students get off to the right start when they begin the school year. We hope to use the sweepstakes prize to help enhance our literacy program, especially for our younger students, while appropriately challenging all our students to improve their reading skills.

To facilitate use of the new technology, SJB completed putting Wi-Fi in the building and appointed Adam Taylor to be Assistant Principal of Learning and Technology.

While celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2015, SJB continues to show a commitment to improving our school using smart technologies. SJB piloted a 1:1 Chromebook initiative last year that provided 60 tablets and 60 Chromebook laptops for students to use for lessons and educational games. The goal of the three-year program is to familiarize students with technology and the positive role it can have on their learning.

Matson said, SJB recognized the fast pace at which technology is evolving and hatched a plan to become a 21st century school. The school had been saving from multiple fundraisers in order to implement a 1:1 initiative within three years. She added that another 100 units have been added this year to the tablets and laptops introduced to students in 2014.

Besides saving on the use of paper, TeacherLists provides a way to manage, find and share school supply lists for teachers and parents, free of charge. After uploading a school supply list once, educators can update and link the list to a school or personal website. Parents have the freedom of accessing and finding the most updated school supply list for each class/grade on a 24/7 basis. For more information about TeacherLists visit www.teacherlists.com.

For more information about SJB’s school, call 847-966-3266 or visit www.sjbschool.org.