From our September 14, 2000, edition.

CHS receives $75k computer lab grant 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Clarendon High School was awarded a $75,000 grant by the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) Board for technology advancement last week.

The TIF money, which comes from a fee assessed on telephone bills, will be used to update the small computer lab at the high school, and all classrooms will each be wired to accommodate four computers.

Principal Larry Jeffers said the grant will help keep CHS current with changing technology.

“It helps particularly when technology is advancing so fast,” Jeffers said.

CHS students are being introduced to modern technology and high-speed Internet access so that technology will be a medium through which work, play, research, and tasks are made easier and done more efficiently.

The Non-Competitive Grant for Texas Public Schools was designed to allow public schools to apply for technology advancement or distance learning grants.  These grants will fund up-to-date hardware and connectivity equipment, high-speed workstations, Internet access, or videoconferencing systems so that students may take classes from another campus or a college.

“The reason I got into education was to see students learn and succeed,” Jeffers said.  “Most of our students today are more proficient with a computer than many of the adults.  They are the future of Texas; and because technology is becoming a part of their everyday lives, they are progressively becoming more marketable and knowledgeable as they move into the future.”

Since its creation by the 74th Legislature in 1995, TIF has awarded $487 million in telecommunications infrastructure grants to schools, libraries, institutions of higher education, and not-for-profit healthcare facilities. The agency receives approximately $150 million per year in revenues from the telecommunications assessments to disburse over a ten years.