HANCOCK COUNTY, Georgia — In Hancock County, 75 students were chosen to receive laptops to help them grow in their studies and to stay connected within the classroom.
Kids smiled from ear to ear and parents clapped and cheered today when 75 Hancock County students received free Chromebook laptops.
Family Connections-Communities in Schools of Hancock County received a grant and donation from AT&T to award the new Chromebook laptops to the kids.
Regional Director of AT&T Georgia Stan Shepherd mentioned how special it was for the students of Hancock County.
"To us, it feels like an investment in our future," Shepherd said. "There's nothing better than the look of a student as well as their families when they come up to receive a device that maybe they don't have at home."
When it comes to the selection process, Regina Butts, executive director of Family Connections-Communities in Schools of Hancock County, talked about why these kids were chosen.
"The choosing of the kids were done by our principals and our counselors in our school district to look at students who are in the needy of the needy," Butts said.
Butts also talked about the importance of technology. She said the students don't have digital resources and internet access at home.
"Being in rural Georgia, you have households that don't have internet access so therefore being able to provide those services to them and being able to link them with internet access is going to be a plus for our parents and students," Butts said.
Overall, students and parents talked about the importance of technology and how helpful and accessible it is.
"Here in Sparta, we are kind of limited because it's a rural area with internet and things of that nature so this is a really big opportunity for him as well as me, our family and we are very very proud," parent Joejunia Kenney said.
The goal is to ensure quality educational opportunities for every student.
"I'm proud of all of the students and I hope they really use and utilize the computer to learn learn learn," parent Jasmine Birdsong Fuller said.