Teachers in Edinburgh have received free, larger computer monitors that will help them in the classroom.
Educators across all three Edinburgh Community Schools will now be able to see their entire grade book when they are inputting assignment scores and will be able to see and access more tabs across their computers. The donation of 183 computer monitors from State Farm Insurance will save the school district tens of thousands of dollars, said Bob Straugh, technology director for the school district.
State Farm Insurance agents were asked to recommend school districts in their community that would benefit from the donation, possible because one of the offices in Lafayette was getting new equipment. Don Wilson, an agent from Greenwood, began asking county school districts if they wanted the computer monitors.
“They were just available and I thought, ‘Wow, why can’t we get some for Johnson County schools,’ “ Don Wilson said.
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Edinburgh was appealing because his son, Scott Wilson, works as an agent in Columbus. The community straddles the Johnson-Bartholomew County line and students from both counties who live in the town attend schools in Edinburgh.
Don Wilson’s Greenwood agency is less than 30 minutes from Edinburgh. Scott Wilson’s agency is less than 10 minutes from the schools, Scott Wilson said.
Scott Wilson knows administrators in the Edinburgh school district, which also made the donation a good fit, he said.
“It is a big thing for State Farm to give back to the community,” Scott Wilson said.
The donated monitors will save the school district an estimated $46,000, Straugh said.
New computer monitors typically cost $200 to $250. Replacing monitors are low on the technology list for the school district, since an older monitor does not hinder the overall quality of the computer. For example, an older computer monitor will not make the computer run slowly, he said.
“(Monitors) are the last thing on the priority list,” he said. “It is more logical to take that money and to buy a new computer.”
Monitors are replaced slowly if a monitor goes out. Most teachers in the school district are using monitors that are between 15 and 17 inches. The donated monitors are 21 inches, Straugh said.
And the larger monitors will make each classroom look more modern, he said.
“I think it will make them happy,” Straugh said.
