Since becoming the technology coordinator at Westview Elementary School, Vikki Boring has been driving an effort to upgrade the school’s computer resources.

“I have three children at Westview and I have a computer science degree,” Mrs. Boring said. “I saw the need for help and this drive has made great progress this past summer alone.”

After identifying specific needs she began working with the school PTA to develop funding to make necessary improvements.

Because Westview is not a Title I school, upgrades in technology come from parent and community donations. With the PTA only able to host two fundraisers per year, it’s left up to parents and teachers to come up with ways to encourage people to donate for the cause.

“It was really sad this time last year if you went into the classrooms,” Mrs. Boring said. “Some of the machines were still using Windows 95 and our server was aging quickly.”

However, Mrs. Boring and the school technology committee got a good response from a letter sent to the community. Some local businesses gave over $1,000 each and students brought in loose change in a competition called “Rolling Wars.”

To date more than $14,000 has been raised to upgrade the school's technology and the total continues to move toward the $30,000 goal.

“We did purchase our new server and recently installed it,” Mrs. Boring said. “Just last week an individual donated enough money for us to buy 21 refurbished computers to replace our computer lab.”

The old lab computers will be moved into classrooms which will help teachers reach their goal of having four machines in each class.

Mrs. Boring said the possibilities of getting the technology updated will bring endless opportunities for growth and advancement.

“With good machines in the classes, students can take accelerated reading tests without having to leave the room,” she explained. “We’ll have access to the AR (Accelerated Reading) quizzes online, which is over 120,000 quizzes where as now we have to purchase each one.”

The technology committee is also working to get more teacher input through a survey to help prioritize the needs in the area of upgrades. Accelerated Reading is at the top of the list.

“We’re getting ready to ramp up our efforts again between now and the holidays,” Mrs. Boring said. “We want to get community support as well because the quality and reputation of our school benefits the community as a whole. We need their help to keep us at that level.”

Mrs. Boring added that in addition to monetary donations to go toward upgrades, the school will also accept used machines. To view a list of county requirements, visit www.westviewelementary.com.

For more information about the technology drive or to donate, visit www. westviewelementary.com or call the school office at 855-6141.