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For more information, please contact:
Mary Nash, Berkshire Connect (413) 637-3955
or visit www.bwli.org
Middle schools in Pittsfield, North Adams
launch new wireless learning initiative
Ceremonies in North Adams, Pittsfield celebrate the beginning of
the digital age of learning in the Berkshires
PITTSFIELD—January 6, 2006—Celebrations of wireless learning were held today in North Adams and Pittsfield to herald the beginning of the digital age of education in the Berkshires. Business and community leaders in both cities joined together with the two mayors, school officials, parents, teachers and students in a ceremonial exchange of laptop computers to mark the new educational era, followed by student demonstrations of how the laptops will be integrated into the curriculum.
“With this launch of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative, we’re putting wireless laptops into the classroom in a one-to-one program for middle-school students and teachers. We’re embarking on an exciting journey that promises to change the educational landscape here in the Berkshires and throughout Massachusetts,” said Peter Larkin, COO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and the former state representative from Pittsfield who championed the initiative in the Legislature.
During January, in the first phase of the initiative, more than 700 seventh-grade students at the Silvio O. Conte Middle School in North Adams and the Herberg and Reid Middle Schools and the St. Mark School in Pittsfield will receive Apple iBook G4 wireless laptops. Last summer, 175 sixth, seventh- and eighth-grade teachers received laptops. Each of the schools has installed a wireless infrastructure to support the use of the laptops.
Over the next three years, a total of more than 2,300 wireless laptops will be distributed to middle-school students and teachers, explained Mike Supranowicz, a Steering Committee co-chair of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative (BWLI) and VP/COO of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce. “The goals of this pilot program are to help improve student achievement and transform the way education is delivered in the two cities,” he said. “Students will have an opportunity to improve their academic and research skills, learn to work more effectively in groups, and gain tools for enhancing their creativity.”
Both administrators and students voiced enthusiastic support for the initiative. “One-to-one computing will revolutionize education. For the first time, students from all walks of life will have equal and immediate access to the ever-expanding world of knowledge,” said Colleen Rossi, principal at Reid Middle School. Samantha Bissell, a seventh-grade student at Herberg Middle School, echoed these sentiments. “With the new laptop initiative,” she said, “all the students can now have access to use the computers and programs anytime they want.”
Teachers and staff have received special training through the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and through Apple Computer to facilitate the introduction of the wireless computer into the curriculum, according to James Stakenas, Steering Committee co-chair of BWLI and VP of Administration and Finance at MCLA. “This entire effort is a partnership that has brought together the local business and community leaders to change the paradigm of learning in our schools in the Berkshires, building a new generation skilled for tomorrow’s creative challenges,” he said.
Featured speakers at the ceremonies held in the two cities included: State Rep. Daniel Bosley; Peter Larkin; Donald Dubendorf, chair of the BWLI Steering Committee; Mayor James Ruberto of Pittsfield; Mayor John Barrett III of North Adams; Pittsfield School Superintendent Katherine Darlington; Margaret Downing, Director, Catholic Schools of Pittsfield; James Montepare, superintendent of North Adams schools; Michael Daly, President/CEO of Berkshire Bank; and Perri Petricca, CEO of Petricca Industries.
A key component of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative is the comprehensive evaluation of the program, which is being undertaken by Boston College’s Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative, housed in the Lynch School of Education. “The comparative evaluation will examine benefits for students and teachers,” said Michael Russell, Associate Professor at Boston College. “It is the first study of its kind in the nation. Based on the results of the evaluation of the pilot program, the Commonwealth may consider creating a statewide effort to introduce similar programs in communities throughout Massachusetts.”
Local sponsors of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative include Berkshire Bank, Hoosac Bank, Legacy Banks, Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Petricca Industries, General Systems Company, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, Country Curtains, Mayor John Barrett III and the City of North Adams, Mayor James M. Ruberto and the City of Pittsfield, and Sheriff Carmen C. Massimiano, Jr. and the Deputies of Berkshire County.
This three-year program is supported by a combination of state, private, and school funding. The state has designated $2 million toward the Initiative. An additional $2 million will be raised from the private sector. The schools are providing approximately $1.7 million, which represents both a cash contribution and dedicated staffing for BWLI. State support for the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative has been provided through the John Adams Innovation Institute, the economic development division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Berkshire Connect, Inc. is providing project management for the Initiative.