Clarkstown’s Board of Education meeting on Monday night began with demonstrations of student talent and district advances.

Jacqueline Yi, a junior at Clarkstown South High School, played the Sonata in E Minor by J. S. Bach on her flute.  Yi has participated in the New York State Schools Music Association at level six and placed in All State.  She received a standing ovation from the audience and board after her performance.

A presentation of the middle and high schools’ usage of Google Chromebooks and Google Apps followed.  In September, several district teachers and administrators attended a Google program where they spoke about Clarkstown’s applications of the technology. 

Felix Festa Middle School teacher Michael St. John described how his 85 students collaborated to prepare a social studies exam guide within two hours using the Chromebooks and Google Apps.  He said the final result was material that each student could access and use. 

“It’s a nice way for them to do some higher level thinking together,” he said.

With Google Apps, students have the opportunity to continue working at home or in computer lab on projects.  The middle and high school teachers said with these tools in the classroom students get excited about projects. Seventh Grade Social Studies Teacher Paul Lepore said the students can work on the same project at the same time. 

District Director of Instructional Technology John Krouskoff said students are using a tool that is being used in the real world by business.  The district has 113 Google Chromebooks which power up in six seconds.  35 of them were a pre-release donation from Google and 13 were purchased by the Clarkstown Education Foundation and given to the district.  90 of the Chromebooks are based at Felix Festa divided between its three wings and the rest are used in the Heidi Bernasconi’s Clarkstown North High School marine biology and biology classes.

Wayne Merker a sixth grade science teacher, said students find the technology simple to use, which reduces the amount time giving directions.

“There’s very little instruction that I have to do,” said Merkert. “They find it very easy to use.”

Amber Klebanoff, a sixth grade English teacher, said the students are enthusiastic.

“It’s just so user friendly,” she said.  “They love it.  They love technology.” 

Krouskoff said he is working on the next phase of the district’s technology program.  That would allow students to bring their own technology into the classroom –smartphones, laptops and Chromebooks.