After Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast in 2012, the Union Beach Memorial School was closed for renovation after serious flooding. The disaster damaged an abundance of the school’s supplies, including vital technology like tablets and computers.Trident Case, designer and manufacturer of education, business and lifestyle case solutions, learned about the school’s misfortune and donated a new Electra Charging Cart to help the institution get back on its feet.
“We learned about Union Beach Memorial School through Trident’s Electra Charging Cart giveaway contest,” Trident Case Vice President of Marketing, Vickie Achee explained. “The faculty, staff and students at Union Beach Memorial School worked hard to rebuild their community after the natural disaster, so providing them with a Charging Cart to make one part of their daily lives a bit simpler was an honor.”
Hurricane Sandy displaced nearly 700 students that attended Union Beach Memorial School in Union Beach, New Jersey for months after the disaster. Union Beach Memorial School Chief Technology Officer, Dennis Duarte explained, “Union Beach was one of the communities that was hit the hardest. With the school comprised of diligent staff and students that truly reflect the community, it was more important than ever to come together and help one another get back on our feet. Entering the Trident Case contest was one step along the way to provide students with the necessary tools needed to enhance their learning experience once again.”
After months of reconstruction, the school reopened to the community with help from New Jersey’s Title 1 Program. Through the program, the school is dedicated to ensuring that all children obtain a high-quality education and achieve, at a minimum, proficient on the challenging Common Core State Standards. At Union Beach Memorial School, the Charging Cart is used in the Title 1 Program. “This program covers the entire school community from first through eighth grade,” Duarte added.
Students and teachers throughout the entire school have access to tablets. If a teacher plans a lesson that would be improved with tablets, they can book the cart for a class period. Students then have access to the cart and the iPads throughout the lesson.
“Before the Charging Cart, teachers only had access to a few chargers for the iPads in their rooms,” Duarte continued. “This would limit the number of iPads a teacher could charge and effectively use in the classroom at times. With the Charging Cart, the school can provide students with more possibilities in the classroom by providing more iPads and tools to enhance the students’ learning."
