Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School receiving a $5,700 tech grant from Best Buy. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School receiving a $5,700 tech grant from Best Buy. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)
Sarnia

Sarnia High School Receives $5,700 Tech Grant (GALLERY)

Sarnia's Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School will be equipped with some of the latest technology thanks to a $5,700 Best Buy school grant.

The Michigan Ave. high school was one of 275 schools in Canada that applied for the tech grant, and one of just nine that were chosen.

Principal Jim Stewart says the money will be used towards an initiative called 'Idea-Lab'.

"It's centered around robotics and coding and things like that," says Stewart. "We're starting to get a real large crew of students coming in[the library] at lunch time. Originally it was about gaming and that sort of thing, but we decided we needed to make a shift towards something more educational."

The lab has been running since September, but the school was looking for tech upgrades to accommodate a larger group of students.

Librarian Jessica Weening spearheaded the application for the grant and says it will increase the difficulty for programming in robotics.

"We were looking at the Lego Mindstorms, but those were a bit out of our... a lot of our regular library budget," she says. "So I started looking around and found the Best Buy School Tech grant."

Weening says technology is something that high schools need to address, and at Alexander Mackenzie, they're embracing technology and information as much as they possibly can.

The Best Buy grants are given out annually to secondary schools in the fall and to elementary schools in the spring.

Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School receiving a $5,700 tech grant from Best Buy. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School receiving a $5,700 tech grant from Best Buy. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)

Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School receiving a $5,700 tech grant from Best Buy. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School receiving a $5,700 tech grant from Best Buy. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)

Alexander Mackenzie students in the library during the Best Buy tech grant presentation. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)Alexander Mackenzie students in the library during the Best Buy tech grant presentation. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)

Alexander Mackenzie students in library (File photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)Alexander Mackenzie students in library (File photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)

Librarian Jessica Weening and Principal Jim Stewart speak with Best Buy representatives.  February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)Librarian Jessica Weening and Principal Jim Stewart speak with Best Buy representatives. February 8, 2018. (Photo by Colin Gowdy, Blackburn News)

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