FARMINGTON — Mt. Blue High School students will have the world at their fingertips when they receive their new Apple computers with worldwide video conferencing capabilities, computer technician Michael Miner said Wednesday.

It probably won’t happen on opening day, Monday, Aug. 31, according to Mt. Blue Regional School District Superintendent Michael Cormier. Grades kindergarten through nine start then; grades 10 through 12 begin Tuesday, Sept. 1.

More than 900 new laptops have been received over the summer, and Miner and computer tech Jon Richard have programmed about 700 so far, Miner said. Miner is one of four computer techs who take care of more than 3,000
computers for the district.

The shiny white machines will be given cases and assigned to students, many of whom have used laptops at Mt. Blue Middle School. Now, grades nine through 12 will have them, high school Principal Monique Poulin said.

“It takes lots of juggling but we’re changing the way we do business,” she added.

Student access at the school and home provides them with the opportunity for word processing, PowerPoint presentations, research and math and science labs, Cormier said. Once the school’s new renovation/addition is complete, students will also use the computers to monitor the affects of heat supplied by wood chip boilers.

Eventually, the school will move to electronic textbooks, Cormier said. With the cost of science books averaging $60 to $80 a piece and becoming outdated within two or three years, the school can buy a yearly license to download the latest information with interactive features for the students. Young people read from the computer all the time, so now they can study from it at home and print off sections as needed, he said.

“We are only limited by imagination and software in regard to it’s future use,” Cormier said.

Another exciting step for the district, wood chip boilers were installed in Academy Hill School in Wilton and Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon this summer, Cormier said. The Wilton school boiler received a test run in recent 90-degree weather and New Sharon’s should be up and running soon, he said.

“It decreases our dependence on oil while using a natural resource from our area,” Cormier said.

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Computer techs at Mt. Blue High School, Jon Richard, left, and Mike Miner, right, program one laptop after another Wednesday for students, teachers and staff at the school. Tables loaded with white, Apple laptops surround them as they have had more than 900 to program this summer.

Mt. Blue High School computer tech Mike Miner, left, and Jon Richard, right, program one laptop after another Wednesday for students,
teachers and staff at the school in Farmington. Tables loaded with white Apple
laptops surround them as they have had more than 900 to program this
summer.

Mt. Blue High School computer tech Mike Miner programs one laptop after another Wednesday, preparing them for
students,
teachers and staff at the Farmington school. Tables loaded with the Apple
laptops surround him and computer tech Jon Richard. They have had more than 900 to program this
summer.