TEACHERS GIVE APPLES TO STUDENTS FOR SUMMER MONTHS

Kimberly Gwyn was looking for a way to reward grade school students who demonstrated an interest in taking more bytes from their Apples this summer.

So the Cape Girardeau Public Schools Technology coordinator organized a program to send 42 students home with an Apple computer and the appropriate software.

Gwyn is calling the program Keeping Up The Pace. Six students from each elementary school and the Louis J. Schultz Middle School will be rewarded for their uncommon interest in computers with unlimited access all summer.

"It's a way for them to keep their skills sharp and to share the computer with brothers and sisters," Gwyn said. "Not only will they not lose what they learned this year, they can learn more before the next school year starts."

The computers, which are on loan, will include software appropriate for students in grades one through six. The software will include material on mathematics, science and other subjects.

The students were chosen by teachers and principals on the basis of their ability and interest in computers. "It doesn't necessarily have to be an A student," Gwyn said. "It could be someone who showed marked improvement over the course of a school year."

Parents must sign a release form to take responsibility for the computer during the summer. "The parents have been very receptive to the idea," Gwyn said. They have also been willing to spread the wealth.

"One parent told me that they already had a computer at home so we gave the one meant for them to another student," Gwyn said.

Jackie Williams said her daughter, Carrie, a third-grade student at Clippard Elementary, was thrilled to be one of the students chosen for the Pick Up The Pace program.

"I picked her up from school and she told me she won a computer for the summer," Jackie Williams said. "I couldn't believe how excited she was. She will definitely put it to good use."