When Michael Doig, an Earth Sciences teacher at Bedford Stuyvesant Preparatory High School, applied for a grant at the end of the last school year, he assumed it was just going to end up in the ether. “It was one of those things that constantly comes through the mailbox,” Doig said about the application. But in early October, Doig was notified that he had been awarded $54,000 from the City Council of New York. “I was stoked,” Doig said.
Doig’s proposal included requests for a laptop cart, desktop computers, microscopes, and a SMART board. With one computer lab in the school, which is usually occupied by computer classes, “the science department didn’t have much in the way of technology.” Doig hopes to teach students how to graph data using Excel, start a school web site, and get students blogging. Doig also teaches a film class and his ambitions there include teaching students video and podcasting skills.
Doig’s award got other teachers excited and inspired to look into securing grants as well. For now, the students are mostly being kept in the dark. “We’re trying not to tell them because we don’t want them to get too excited,” Doig said.
Bedford Stuyvesant Preparatory High School is an alternative high school for transfer and older students. It typically works with students struggling to complete their secondary education.
