Banner County back-to-school supplies include provided laptops

Inevitably children across the nation are pulled, sometimes kicking and screaming, back into the routine of school long before they feel summer is over.

Back-to-school means so many things, depending on who you are, but for juniors at Banner County High School, it means the chance to earn a laptop.

According to Superintendent Lana Sides, this is the fifth year that all high school students are issued a computer at the beginning of each school year.

“These students use these computers at school and at home and then check them in at the end of each school year,” she said. “Juniors are given new computers and then have the opportunity to take these computers with them when they graduate the next year.”

If BCHS graduates meet certain criteria they are allowed to keep the computer they were given in their junior year, free of charge.

They have to maintain good grades and attendance, Sides said, but if they don’t they are still offered the computer at a reduced purchase price.

“The program has increased the learning time for students since they no longer have to check out a computer daily and wait for it to boot up,” Sides added. “The one-to-one program provides excellent learning tools for students to take notes, complete assignments, complete research projects, and even participate in distance learning classes via Skype or similar programs.”