Chalkboards become a thing of the past

All it takes is the touch of your finger to bring new information to light for hundreds of students at Frontier Elementary.  Thirteen smartboards have been installed at the school.  Students say they are excited to use the new technology.

"It's a real cool thing, and I like it," said Dilyn Collum.

"When we are playing on it, it's fun to play on it," said Hallie Carter.

"It's like fun and you get to play a lot of games and it's really cool," said Makayla Shroeder.

"It's fun and we get to play games and math and stuff," said Hunter Baughman.

Second Grader Payton Clapper told News Channel 18 about one game she likes the most.

"The tomato game where if you get one right a tomato goes on your teacher. And if you don't it goes on you," said Payton Clapper.

This new interactive program helps students get out of their desks and get more involved in the classroom.

"Nowadays they have more technology in their home and bringing that into the classroom gives us a heads up.  It just keeps them more on task and it's just an advancement in their learning," said Deb Corso.

Principal Todd Reagan said the response from teachers and students has been positive.

"Going into the classroom after Christmas break when there were the new ones put it, there was a lot of jumping around and big smiles.  Teachers are even saying it's so much fun teaching with these, the kids love it and we are getting through our lessons quicker, because they are just so into it," said Todd Reagan.

All subjects including math, spelling, vocabulary and even music can be taught using the boards.

"It has taught me music better, because before we had the smart board it was really hard for me to understand the music, but now its easy because I can look at the board instead of looking at a piece of paper," Craig Marzkey.

"It helps us learn music, because when you are actually doing it you can experience it with your teacher instead of just looking inside a book," said Hannah Steill.

The school purchased the thirteen smartboards with the help of the community.  Several businesses and organizations pitched in to help raise $42,000 for the program.