Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School awarded $50K Title I grant for SMALLab technology

MIDLAND, Pa., March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- From their smartphones to video games and social media, young people today play, communicate – and learn – through interactive technology.

A nearly $50,000 Title I Innovation Grant will allow Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School to acquire SMALLab technology. Through SMALLab, students learn by virtually stepping inside the interactive media with which they are so familiar.

A "semi-immersive" construct, a SMALLab (Situated Multimedia Art Learning Lab) creates a space with a projected computer display which students can enter and move around on, while others gather around. Students inside SMALLab hold glowing balls that are their interface with the computer, somewhat like a mouse or Wii controller.

"We believe we are the first school in this area with a SMALLab. We think it will make learning fun and improve comprehension for students who struggle to learn with more traditional teaching methods," according to LPPACS Federal Programs Coordinator Dr. Lindsay Rodgers, who wrote the grant application and oversees Title I programs.

Lincoln Park was notified Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that it has been awarded a Title I Innovation Grant in the amount of $49,844.88, only one of 30 schools in the commonwealth to receive Innovation Grants this year. Lincoln Park became eligible by being named a Title I Distinguished School for academic achievement, one of 87 schools in Pennsylvania so named.

The bulk of the grant award will go toward the $34,999 cost of the SMALLab, said Dr. Rodgers. Some $3,419.14 will fund purchase of five whiteboard tables and 10 whiteboard wallmounts to create a "whiteboard lab."

"The whiteboard lab will help students in Title I tutoring and small classes practice mathematics content," Dr. Rodgers said.

Some $400 in grant money will purchase eight iPads so Title I teachers can interact with Smartboards from anywhere in the classroom. The remainder of the grant will go toward workbooks to help Title I students prepare for the Keystone graduation exam and PSSA state testing.

About Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School

Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School (www.lppacs.org) is a Pennsylvania public school providing a state-approved academic program and pre-professional training for grades 7-12 in music, theater, dance, creative writing, health science arts and media arts. The school enrolls 675 students from more than 80 school districts in Western Pennsylvania.

Contact P.K.Poling, CEO and principal, 724.643.9004

SOURCE Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School

Related Links

http://www.lppacs.org