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FPCA drive aims to trade old technology for new
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If your CDs and DVDs are collecting dust while you enjoy your music and movies on digital platforms, First Presbyterian Christian Academy has a solution for you.

The school will collect gently used CDs and DVDs from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday at its campus to raise points toward technology upgrades, according to technology teacher Maria Reed.

"We’re taking it on to show kids that what other people would consider trash can be repurposed," she said. "And we gain the ability to get technology for our school and for others in the community."

Reed said she hopes to receive 10,000 items, which would enable the school to get either 50 Kindles, 12 iPads or a combination of the two, she said.

After the drive, the school will mail its donations to iPodMeister, a New York City company that collects used CDs and DVDs and awards points for each item it accepts. For credit, the items must be in decent condition with their original packaging and artwork. Each item is worth one point.

Through the company, donors can redeem their points for MP3 players, external hard drives, smart phones, e-readers and tablet computers. Every redemption item is brand new and in factory condition, according to ipodmeister.com.

"For every 199 points, we get a Kindle, and for every 749, we get an iPad," Reed said. "Any school could do this — any individual could do this."

Thanks to digitization, where users convert their entertainment media into digital formats, there no longer is a need to keep hard copies, she said.

"Out of my own collection alone, there were 200 (discs). That is a Kindle — and what was I going to do with those?" Reed said. "I’d rather donate it and know that I can see children being able to benefit from it for the long-term."

Keep Liberty Beautiful and country station KIX 96.5 also will attend the drive. There will be giveaways, games and live broadcasting by Nancy Lynn from 2-4 p.m.

In honor of the event, Keep Liberty Beautiful will raffle off one Kindle. Donors will receive one raffle ticket per household for the drawing.

Sara Swida, executive director of Keep Liberty Beautiful, said she supports the cause because it helps increase school resources while encouraging people to consider repurposing items.

"There are so many things out there that can have a life beyond the initial life that somebody used them for," she said.

The drive also offers the community a chance to help without requiring a monetary donation, she added.

Once the school redeems its points, the technology will be shared by teachers and students throughout the school, Reed said.

"The beauty of it being mobile is that it doesn’t stay in one class — it’s multigenerational and cross-curricular," she said.

The variety of applications available for iPads allows the school to load apps geared toward multiple topics without requiring huge investments up front, like traditional textbooks would, she said. E-readers also offer similar capabilities.

iTunes has an educational section for its apps, with focus areas in accessibility, reference, productivity and collaboration in addition to traditional primary academic topics, according to its website.

"The technology engages them, and they’re better learners because they retain the material," Reed said. "In order to be competitive in today’s world, that is how students are learning — it’s integrated into everything."

 

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