MAPS Power Learning
Our MAPS Campus offers many opportunities for students to learn and grow on an educational journey of their own design. At the leading edge of connected learning, MAPS provides the advantage of Power Learning, one-to-one device program, to provide every student with the tools necessary to connect with their world and create their own pathway for success.
Power Learning Support Team
Location: 525 Twelfth Street, Manistee, MI 49660 | Map
Telephone: 231-723-2547
Technology Office Hours: M-F: 7:30am – 4pm
District Technology Team
Kenneth Blakey-Shell – District Technology Director – kblakeyshell@manistee.org
Gabe Delgado – Device Support – gdelgado@manistee.org
Matt Froncek – Apple Certified Technician – mfroncek@manistee.org
David Gagstetter – Data & Device Systems – dgagstetter@manistee.org
Power Learning Mission
Education in the 21st Century is a dynamically changing environment. Not only do students need the specific skills and knowledge defined by the core curriculum, but students also need to be able to utilize technology resources in order to be prepared for a rapidly changing competitive global world. We must inspire creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication, so that students are ready to meet the Manistee Area Public Schools’ technology mission:
“The administration and staff of MAPS will help our students acquire the essential skills and knowledge needed to reach their fullest potential. In our partnership with the students, parents, and the community of Manistee, it is our mission to provide our students with the educational, emotional, physical, and social environment necessary for the development of every individual, while preparing all students to comprehend, contribute, and function within a technologically-based society. We will also assist in the facilitation of each student’s transition from childhood to adolescence.”
We believe the use of mobile technology coupled with personalized teaching strategies will change the way students connect, communicate and collaborate within their learning environment and beyond. Mobile technology will also provide the advantage of extending learning beyond the traditional time and space constraints.
Power Learning Goals
The PowerLearning one-to-one technology initiative will provide greater opportunities for students who will be full-time participants of MAPS programming in the following ways:
- Academic achievement
- Technology literacy
- Engagement in their daily educational experience
- Preparing for the requirements of college and the workforce
- Teachers will be able to use technology for more inquiry-based, student-centered instruction.
Grades K-6 Power Learning
Through the guidance of our faculty, our students will use mobile technology to enhance their learning in the following ways:
- Students will create a positive digital footprint.
- Students will navigate the digital waters with ethical discernment.
- Students will learn in a personalized learning environment.
- Students will employ powerful communication skills to share and extend their learning.
- Students will gain understanding of cultural and societal issues associated with technology
Accessibility to mobile technology is essential for students and teachers. In the Elementary PowerLearning program, students in grades 1st-6th grade classrooms will have a personal mobile device to use for their education. We use the iPad which is user friendly and age appropriate for students to utilize. A media rich learning environment fosters creative collaborative efforts and connects to a wide range of powerful resources.
Grades 7-12 Power Learning
Middle/High School Power Learning Goals
The industrial-era model of education – one teacher lecturing to students for a set period of time using a narrow set of resources – is no longer how the real world works. But it is the education model that persists today in schools, and it is critical that we transform the current state of education.
The PowerLearning one-to-one laptop initiative will provide greater opportunities for students who will be full-time participants of MMHS programming in the following ways:
- Academic achievement
- Technology literacy
- Engagement in their daily educational experience
- Preparing for the requirements of college and the workforce
- Teachers will be able to use technology for more inquiry-based, student-centered instruction.
Options for Power Learning Participation
- Check Out/In Option: Students will use the computer during the school day and must check in the laptop at the end of the school day. There is no user fee associated with this option. Students are responsible for any damage that is a result of not adhering to the PowerLearning Student and Parent expectations. A PowerLearning Agreement must be signed by parent and student and turned in before a student will be issued a laptop.
- Take Home Option: Students can take home the PowerLearning laptop each evening for the duration of the school year. A PowerLearning Agreement must be signed by parent and student and turned in before a student will be issued a laptop. All fees and fines must be paid before participating in the Take Home Option. The Take Home Fee includes accidental damage coverage for families. See below for terms and conditions. Parents may still want to consider a rider on their homeowners/renters insurance to further reduce their liability.
- Take Home Fee: If a family chooses the take home option there is a yearly fee that does two things:
- Covers the district’s liability for the computer and associated equipment
- Provides accidental damage coverage with a $99 deductible. Multiple device damages and/or misuse situations by a student will be reviewed by administration for consideration of negligence/malicious behavior.
- Take Home Fee Structure:
- Full-Pay Lunch Students: $80 per year non-refundable fee
- Reduced Lunch Students: $50 per year non-refundable fee
- Free Lunch Students: $40 per year non-refundable fee
- Scholarships are available for families that cannot afford the above fee. Families must fill out the PowerLearning Scholarship Form which is available in the MMHS Office. Families must also submit a Free/Reduced Lunch Application to be eligible.
- Households with three or more students taking home a PowerLearning device are eligible for a 30% Take-Home Fee reduction. It is the responsibility of the family to notify each school’s secretary upon payment that they are eligible for a family discount.
- Take Home Fee: If a family chooses the take home option there is a yearly fee that does two things:
Power Learning Scholarship Program
For those families finding the PowerLearning fee to be a financial burden, we have set up the means to allow their students to fully share in the success of PowerLearning. The fee is required in order to cover the necessary insurance for a student to be able to take the laptop home. While it is not mandatory that students have computer access at home, being able to take home the laptop for homework and studying does increase student’s educational opportunity.