Students at Lisbon Community School use interactive technology in the classroom curriculum.

Lisbon Community School receives award

LISBON – Lisbon Community School Principal Carlene Iverson has announced that the school has received a $5,000 Teach Award from Best Buy Co. Inc. for integrating interactive technology into classroom curriculum.

Barbara Thompson, GATE teacher, has been using geographic information system technology with her gifted students and with fourth-grade teachers and students since 2006 to build computer-based interactive maps, allowing students to analyze data through the active manipulation of information and decision-making processes.

Through a connection with 4-H Technology Programs, students have used geographic information software to document the movement of native people who emigrated from Europe, crossed the Bering Land Bridge and spread out across North America; learned about farming areas in Maine; and studied watersheds for several of the major rivers in Maine.

The students have also used GPS hand held units to document their favorite places in Lisbon, to record locations of woody and herbaceous plants along a local walking trail and to evidence animal activity on and near the school’s campus.

The award will provide new laptop computers, digital cameras and an LCD projector for Thompson to use with students and with the 4-H program.”The purchase of this equipment will be instrumental in moving this program forward at Lisbon Community School,” Thompson said.

This year, Best Buy Teach Awards, which range from $1,000 to $10,000, have been given to more than 460 schools to sustain or enhance existing educational programs. Since 2003, the awards program has rewarded schools that creatively integrate interactive technology into their curricula.