By Margaret Hopper

Ben Potts packs information quickly into his technology report.Silver school board met at Cliff High School on November 15, 2016 with all board members present: Ashley Montenegro, Mike McMillan, Chris Arvidson, Frances Vasquez and Arnold Torres, president. The meeting began about 6:15. Vasquez asked that a phrase be changed on the past minutes before moving that they be accepted.

Ben Potts, technology director for the schools, gave the board an update, handing out a five-page report entitled Copper Country Summit, Featuring Google for Education. He called the event Gǣa big thing this year,Gǥ saying that meeting was funded by a grant from the Freeport McMoRan Foundation, and that it had been attended by 133 teachers from Silver, Cobre, Socorro, Calvary Christian, Magdalena and Morenci.

Nine presenters took part in eight sessions over the August 4-5 period. The information given at this meeting aimed at better informing area teachers about technology and their part in it. The event has been hailed as an excellent source of information and a fine gesture on the part of Silver School District. Potts said even more teachers would have attended, but timing had not worked for some schools.

In his updates, he quoted the increase from 18 labs in the district (2013) to 38 labs three years later (today). Fully half of the equipment now in use has been donated by Sandia Labs over the recent years. This August, Sandia had donated 297 computers, 68 laptops, 120 monitors and 25 printers.

Even used, the value of this last gift was valued at $125,000 in the report; some of it was still under warranty. Those needing repairs or upgrades generally cost the district between $50 and $100 each to bring them to workable condition. Silver then used its E-Rate funds, $38,000, for wireless and battery backups.

He then addressed bandwidth, comparing what was available when he came and where it was now, claiming that they needed to expand it again as soon as possible. A problem with that was that the districtG