Tuesday, Nov. 16
November 16, 2010
Neighbors angered over blight
November 18, 2010
The first graders at Mulberry Elementary in Houma screamed at Supriya Jindal as she delivered her closing remarks in the school’s library last Wednesday.
The students weren’t angry, tired or hungry. Instead, they were shouting the answer to Jindal’s final question at the close of an active technological demonstration orchestrated by Louisiana’s First Lady and Disney pop star Anna Margaret.
The Supriya Jindal Foundation for Louisiana’s Children awarded interactive whiteboard systems to the five first grade classrooms at Mulberry last week.
“Mulberry is one of the top performing schools here in Terrebonne Parish, so we are delighted to come out and reward them for their good work and to come out and say, ‘Keep it up,’” Jindal said. “We’ve got to keep going forward so we wanted to give them these new interactive tools to help their classrooms continue to go above and beyond.
“These systems are proven to show a 17 to 19 percentile gain in academic achievement according to a recent study to come out, so we know that they can continue to achieve even more at this school.”
The award package includes the following for each classroom: a laptop, a Promethean interactive whiteboard with a speaker system, an interactive response system for the students, all installation and instructor training for all teachers.
Margaret, an Alexandria native who was raised in Lecompte, was also on hand to speak to a group of students that consisted of her fans and beneficiaries of her Back to School Concert. Her message: follow your dreams.
The Disney star headlined a concert in Alexandria in August to raise money for Jindal’s foundation.
Margaret said she “loved” her first trip to Terrebonne Parish.
“After the oil spill occurred, I contacted my manager and I told him I wanted to do something about it and see if I could partake in anything,” she said. “He contacted Mrs. Supriya and she told us about her foundation and invited me to be a part of it.”
She said the concert raised between $35,000 and $40,000 and all the proceeds were used on the Whiteboards.
The whiteboards are powered by an overhead projector, and instructors can write, conduct quizzes, watch videos and make presentations on the techno-chalkboard.
Students respond to the quizzes with a hand-held Activote device. The whiteboard indicates to the teacher who responded first, who has yet to respond and a pie chart of the submitted answers.
The whiteboards were demonstrated for the teachers, and the first graders watched instructional videos teaching a math and a science lesson before they began a quiz on each subject.
Emily Gilmore, a first-grade teacher, said the classes began experimenting with the Whiteboards a week before they were officially presented, and she already notices the positive aspects.
“It’s going to keep them all engaged,” Gilmore said. “Just to write on the board, all their hands are raised. It makes learning active and fun.
“And it means no more rabbit ears on the projector, so I’m happy,” she continued, in reference to the shadow puppets her students used to make on the old-fashioned, big-bottomed projectors.
Jindal said her program, which she created two years ago, will have installed more than 160 Whiteboards by the end of 2010.
“I’ve had a wonderful time. I’m delighted to have Anna Margaret here with us today who helped to make this possible for this school,” Jindal said.
First-grade students at Mulberry Elementary in Houma present Louisiana’s First Lady Supriya Jindal and Disney pop star Anna Margaret with flowers and candy last Wednesday. Jindal and Margaret were on hand to award the first-grade classrooms with interactive whiteboard systems and demonstrate their use. ERIC BESSON
