Huxford Elementary School has made another upgrade to the technology used in their classrooms.

Last week six Smart Boards were installed in the school’s fourth through sixth grade wing.

HES Principal Donna Silcox said the boards will be a huge help to teachers who have been eagerly awaiting the new equipment.

“The teachers have been wanting them for a long time,” Silcox said. “They delivered the first six, but we’re hoping we’re going to get enough with some other funding that everyone will get one.”

The new boards come with many advantages not offered by traditional chalkboards. Each Smart Board is controlled by a computer, which sends information to a projector mounted on the classroom’s ceiling. Teachers may use the equipment to project almost any image, chart or graph seen on the computer on a scale large enough for the entire classroom to view, ultimately giving students the advantage of using a computer without the need for each child to have a monitor on his or her desk.

Smart Boards can also serve the same functions as traditional chalkboards, allowing teachers and students to draw or write using a specially designed pen tool that utilizes “digital ink” to project images.

Silcox said the boards are a blessing provided by ARAA Title I funding procured by Escambia County Assistant Superintendent Mary Bess Powell.

More Smart Boards could be on the way in the near future for HES, and may be right on time as the schoool prepares to conplete work on  a new kindergarten wing, adding additional rooms for teachers.