BEVERLY — Elementary students will soon be on the cutting edge of educational technology with a smart board in every classroom — thanks to a donation from Beverly graduate Mike Pascucci.
He's the man behind the Pascucci computer lab at Centerville, the Briscoe Middle School computer lab, and last year's donation of laptops for foreign language and reading classes at Briscoe.
This latest donation includes 81 smart boards and 81 laptops, DVR players and speaker systems to go with them, and wireless capability for all the elementary schools, for more than $500,000.
"He's done a lot over the years," said technology director Judy Miller.
Pascucci grew up in Beverly, went to Centerville and was the football captain at Beverly High School when he graduated in 1980. He went to Harvard, where he was also the football captain, and became a very successful financial businessman, said friend and former Centerville Principal Bill Foley, who presented the donation to the School Committee last week.
"Mike and his family are very committed to the community, and he has a strong sense of giving back," Foley said.
He's also been consistently humble about his donations and has always kept a low profile. Nevertheless, his contributions don't go unnoticed.
"It's a little overwhelming to contemplate the generosity of this family," said Ward 4 representative Karen Fogarty.
"It's absolutely fabulous," said Ward 6 representative Maria Decker.
The boards are a relatively new touch-screen technology that teachers can connect to their computers. They come with pens so teachers can write on them like a regular whiteboard, but they also have software that converts writing into text, interacts with students by having them touch the screen and pull up maps or graphs, and saves everything.
"It engages students more," Miller said. "Students who are visual learners will benefit tremendously, and it gives teachers the ability to save lessons and digitalize materials."
That's just the basics, Miller said. Teachers will go through a general training program during the school year and will have the option to do more rigorous training over the summer. The boards are capable of a tremendous amount and will have an enormous impact on education, she said.
"In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would be here talking about smart boards in every classroom," Miller said.
Pascucci initially donated enough boards for Centerville, and then expanded the donation to include all the elementary schools. The boards are in the process of being installed and should be up and running today.
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