By Bill Utterback

NEW BRIGHTON — On a wide screen in the classroom of New Brighton Middle School teacher Rick Schwartz, young Alexander, not yet labeled “The Great,” read Homer’s “The Iliad” from a scroll.

A narrator reminded students that as he moved toward greatness, Alexander, inspired by Homer’s portrait of Achilles, always traveled with a copy of “The Iliad.”

It’s not likely that seventh-grade pupils in the social studies class at New Brighton will carry interactive whiteboards as they travel toward greatness, but teachers and administrators hope the new technology provides enduring images and insights that inspire growth.

The New Brighton Area School District opened its middle school doors Thursday for politicians, educators and other interested individuals to tour high-tech classrooms. The district had three interactive boards in July 2008 but has expanded to 56 in less than two years, said Robert Lee, director of technology.

In the middle school, classrooms for language arts, math, science and social studies have been outfitted with interactive boards. The band/chorus room also has a board.

“We want our students to have the highest, greatest, most advanced technology … but never forgetting about reading, writing and math,” Principal Joseph Guarino said.

The district used money from federal and state grants to grow its technological capability.

“We’re a small school district, a small community, but we’re trying to do what’s right by our children,” Superintendent David Pietro said.

The children appreciate the effort.

“It enhances our whole experience,” said seventh-grader Kelly Lane.

“It helps a middle school student’s attention span,” said Maria Taylor, also a seventh-grader. “People get distracted. They pass notes. The white boards definitely keep your attention a lot longer than a teacher reading from a book.”

In the social studies classroom, Schwartz concluded the lesson on Alexander by handing each youngster a handheld device called a Qwizdom. The pupils plugged an identification number into the device and then used it to take a multiple-choice quiz. Questions appeared on the whiteboard.

Schwartz used the new technology to drive home an ancient point: “Aristotle taught Alexander to learn by: A. Observing; B. Reasoning; C. Thinking ahead; D. All of the above.”

The children punched a “D” into their devices. Schwartz could instantly see which questions troubled pupils most and returned to the material before they left the room.

“It’s a nice tool to see immediate feedback,” Schwartz said.

In a seventh-grade science class, teacher Anthony Martella, by touching the screen, summoned video images from Webcams inside volcanoes in Hawaii, from Mount St. Helen’s and from other volcanic eruptions. He summoned a chart listing the all-time largest volcanic events and an illustration showing the Earth’s structure beneath a volcano.

“Everything flows together. There is no stopping and starting,” Martella said.

Guarino, as he explained the district’s relationship with technology, recalled a recent Sunday spent in church. He watched a child playing with a handheld video game.

“He was using two or three screens at the same time, and he was moving seamlessly between them. That’s kids today. That’s how they’re wired today. We have to maintain that interest level or the math and the reading and the writing mean nothing.”

Bill Utterback can be reached online at butterback@timesonline.com.

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