Dr. Don Gemeinhardt joined the Boxlight family late last year as Director of Strategic Funding. He is a grant and proposal subject matter expert who has worked with various companies involved with education, compliance training, and student, faculty, and police officer development. His role at Boxlight is focused on helping schools and districts identify funding opportunities for education technology, STEM solutions, and professional development.

Holy Trinity Parish School, located in Louisville, KY (U.S.), was looking to replace their aging technology with interactive flat panels. A recipient of the 2004 Catholic Schools of Tomorrow Innovations in Education Award, they prided themselves on providing state-of-the art technology for teachers and students to boost interactive learning and collaboration. Previously, classrooms were outfitted with SMART interactive whiteboards and ceiling mounted projectors with some of classrooms having SMART interactive flat panels. They were now looking for panels that would really set them apart and engage their students in 21^st century learning.

We have exciting news! The MimioMarket App will be available on the ProColor Series 3 panels on February 19! MimioMarket gives users access to over 100 safe and tested apps for education. Our App Team checks every app submitted to the store and you can be sure apps will be free of advertisements, in-app purchases, and inappropriate content.

We’re approaching the one-year mark of distance teaching and learning for most of our country’s schools. Last spring when schools closed, teachers had to quickly navigate new and unfamiliar technology so that they could maintain some degree of educational normalcy for their students. Many education-focused companies and organizations developed and facilitated a variety of teacher training courses that centered on software and platforms that districts invested in to deliver lessons to the millions of students now having to school remotely. Courses included learning the basic tools of GSuite for Education or Microsoft Office 365, creating and delivering lessons using specific software and applications (think Zoom), and maneuvering the complexity of all these apps, platforms, and software to deliver lessons that would engage students so that they would show up to live lessons when scheduled. Our nation’s teachers handled what they could (with blood, sweat, and tears) and came out of this unprecedented situation with more education technology knowledge than they had before this.

The Ridgeway School, located in Farnham, Surrey (U.K.), wanted to enhance their students’ learning experience and further support their various needs with innovative education technology. Because of special needs of their students, they were specifically in the market for technology equipment that could withstand heavy wear and tear or any potential damage.

In late December of last year, Congress approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 in response to the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has created. In the CAA, over $54 billion is available for K-12 schools to use, which is in addition to what was provided in the CARES Act ($13.2 billion). The purpose of these funds includes purchasing materials and education technology to address learning loss and improve school facilities and infrastructure to reduce the risk of transmitting the coronavirus. Funding will be available through September 2022. There will be instructions from both the federal government and each state to explain the process the overall process of using the funding.

Boxlight recently welcomed Aleasha Stevens to the company where she will serve as Education Consultant and lead the development and delivery of the company’s virtual learning center. In this role, she will use best practices to facilitate demonstrations on Boxlight education technology solutions including interactive displays, MimioStudio lesson creation and presentation software, and the MimioConnect blended learning platform. Stevens is driven by a passion to advocate for the needs of all learners, particularly those who have not been empowered to do so for themselves. This has led her to dedicate her life to advocating for the needs of children as a classroom teacher, literacy program director, VP of Education Services, and an education technology consultant.

Bob Wallace, a now retired high school biology teacher in Crawfordville, Florida, was resolute in his goal that his students graduate with a full range of academic skill sets and technical knowledge that would prepare them for a successful future. In his over 30 years of teaching, he found that textbooks alone could rarely explain important concepts that kept his students engaged and employed a variety of strategies to explain difficult science concepts to his students. He was consistently on the lookout for options that would keep his students engaged. He stated, “Over the years, I’ve used a lot of different things. I have done drawings on boards, still magnets, and I’ve used beads – the beads go bouncing all over the place and you end up losing all of them.”

ACE Energy Solutions, an oil gathering and marketing firm based in Katy, TX (U.S.), decided to upgrade their connectivity technology to boost company productivity. They were specifically looking for an audio-visual solution to simplify team connectivity, streamline meetings, and facilitate active collaboration.

Christine Tarver, a former 5^th grade teacher in Florida, wanted her students to experience hands-on learning combined with emerging technologies, understanding that by doing so they were more likely to develop the critical skills necessary for the 21^st century.