Seven of 19 students in Sarah Hays' second-grade class at California Elementary School take turns reinforcing lessons on computers during language and math time each day.
And before Christmas, thanks to about $9,000 from the recent cookie dough sales, her classroom will have 10 stations.
Last year, Hays' second-graders had access to in-classroom computers about 10 minutes each week. Since two weeks into the school year, when the recent Monsanto Company America's Farmers Grow Rural Education grant provided the five new Chromebooks, Hays' students have gotten about 30 minutes each day.
That is one of 31 examples in grades 2-5 regular classrooms.
The Monsanto grant gave $10,000 to the school, as the result of an application by Principal Daniel Williams and nominations by 29 county farmers this spring.
The application focused on enhancing math and science for third through fifth grades, Williams said in the Sept. 30 Pinto Connection.
The school purchased 50 Chromebooks in August. That helped toward Williams' original goal of having a 2:1 ratio of students to classroom devices by Christmas.
In fact, the school has surpassed that with the cookie dough sales, which will provide another 40 Chromebooks.
That will make 200 machines purchased since August, well beyond the goal of 155.
In two more years, another cookie dough fundraiser through Great American Opportunities may be earmarked to put more Chromebooks into more classrooms, Williams said.
Since the influx of technology to regular classrooms, specialty classes, like Title 1 and music, have expressed their eagerness to also have more devices to better use technology in instruction.
Hays' students have written and published their own stories, watched educational videos, brushed up on math skills, tested over Scholastic reading materials and can better prepare for the new state standardized test, which will be computer-based.
In just a few weeks, Hays has seen her students become more comfortable and efficient using the computer's hardware and navigating through programs. She said she also has seen a marked improvement in their individual reading.
"I hope this makes their scores go up," Hays said. "Their math facts should go up by leaps and bounds.
"I feel technology is the biggest tool we can give our students in a world where no job is without technology."