Orland Township teams with St. Coletta’s on tech
Students at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. School for Exceptional Children are able to spend a little more time researching careers, creating resumes and participating in interactive lessons with teachers on Smart Boards, thanks to a donation from the Orland Township Highway Department.
The highway department routinely donates refurbished tablets and iPads to St. Coletta’s of Illinois through its E-Works recycling program, putting more technology in the hands of students and adults with developmental disabilities.
“Our students and Community Day Services participants wouldn’t have nearly as much access to technology without the Highway Department’s support,” said St. Coletta’s executive director Annette Skafgaard.
The Orland Township Highway Department offers
various recycling services to its residents, including of electronics. Some of the computers, tablets and iPads residents drop off at the facility on Wolf Road are refurbished and distributed to organizations such as St. Coletta’s of Illinois, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and vocational training services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
At Kennedy School, refurbished iPads are helpful when working with students with communication needs, said Principal Dawn Angelini. The refurbished tablets are useful in the school’s computer classroom, where students can access IXL lessons (a personalized digital learning space), work on career and job searches, write resumes and inventory items for the school’s central purchasing program.
“Before, students had to take turns using a single tablet to run inventory,” Skafgaard said. “Now they can learn how to pull orders, fill orders and inventory the remaining product together.”