Poole said these laptops, which made their debut in District 30 on the first day of school, will be used by critical needs and sixth-grade students, in addition to speeding up the testing process. “We’re able to get the students in and out of that adaptive testing and back into the classroom and not have the computer lab shut down,” he said.

The laptops are split between the three schools and are hooked up to the district’s server. Meloni and his crew worked for two weeks in August and September to inspect each laptop and put the district’s operating system and software on them.

Meloni said he and his colleagues at District 30 use out of the box thinking to get the best services and opportunities for their students. “We’re saving a significant amount of money by procuring this type of resource,” he said, “and that means the world to a small school district in this economy that’s struggling to provide the best for our students.”

Comp4Kids distributes computers to low-income families in the tri-state area, in addition to school districts, public libraries and charitable organizations that service at-risk youth.

Zimmerman currently has a few hundred laptops ready to be given away, but is always looking for donations. For more information on his organization, visit Comp4Kids.org

District 30’s leaders are grateful for the support. “We would not be able to have rolled out 121 laptops,” Poole said. “That would have been a very long process to find the funds to do that. It’s really a pleasant surprise to know that that’s out there.”