St. Williams the Abbot Students 'Race' for Enhanced Technology

Nearly 600 students at St. William the Abbot School in Seaford walked and jogged with smiles on their faces Thursday morning during the Catholic school’s 2012 Race for Education event aimed at enhancing technology in the classroom.

St. Williams the Abbot School students in nursery through eighth grade and faculty participated in the jog-a-thon by either jogging or walking around a designed ¼ mile area for one hour while cheered on by family, friends and sponsors. The school is aiming to purchase 66 iPads along with mobile iPad carts and at least 33 laptops for its computer lab and so thus far raised more than $77,000 toward this effort.

Prior to Thursday’s jog-a-thon, St. Williams to potential sponsors seeking support for its 2012 Race for Education. Many of the letters sent off include personal messages from the students about the importance of enhancing educational technology in today’s classrooms.  

Roberta Ryan, technology coordinator at St. Williams the Abbot School, said once a new computer lab is in place with new laptops, 34 desktops from the room will be moved into the classrooms. She added that once the iPads are received, the school will be able to incorporate its core curricular subjects through cutting edge technology. The school will also be ahead of the curve when it comes to a new 2014 requirement that standardized tests in New York schools be online.

“Students today primarily learn through the engagement of technology,” said Ryan, who added that the school’s efforts for the 2012 Race for Education have been in the planning stages since May.

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“The iPad is a wonderful tool for helping students apply knowledge in an imaginative way,” said St. Williams the Abbot School Principal Margaret Grimaldi. “Our teaching promotes higher thinking skills, taking information and transforming it into knowledge. We believe that integrating this technology into our learning environment will encourage just that.”

Thursday’s jog-a-thon featured music played by a disc jockey and a visit by the mascot for the Long Island Ducks Atlantic League baseball team.

Area business sponsors that have supported St. Williams the School’s 2012 Race for Education effort include:

• Medallion Retail
• T. Novelli Contracting
• Great Eastern Management, Inc.
• ACC Construction Corporation
• Anne-Marie L. Monahan, Esq.
• Diamond Electric, Inc. and Crossfit Diamond
• The Church Bulletin, Inc.
• The Harrington Allstate Agency
• Langistic Networks, Inc.
• Michael P. Punturieri, Financial Advisor, The Legend Group