South Memphis Students Receive Laptops, Hotspots In Technology Drive

A technology drive began this week to provide Shelby County high schools students with laptops and internet hotspots, WMC 5 reports. The drive began Monday and will run through Friday afternoon.

With students in Shelby County learning remotely, many have faced problems with either a lack of devices or limited access to the internet. To help students in disadvantaged zip codes, the Memphis Education Fund has partnered with SchoolSeed to give approximately 120 seniors in 38106 and 38126 in South Memphis with a Chromebook laptop and T-Mobil hotspot, according to WMC 5.

"We wanted to focus on the zip codes and the students that historically have been the most disadvantaged," said Terence Patterson, CEO of Memphis Education Fund.

According to its website, the Memphis Education Fund aims to improve low-performing schools by "fueling targeted innovations, inspiration, and investment in teachers, schools, and communities."

Students will be able to keep the laptops and hotspots, which Patterson hopes will allow students to research colleges and opportunities they may not have been able to before.

"We think it is a pure game changer. Because they now have all of the tools and resources as their more affluent peers in other zip codes, even around the country," said Patterson. "And so we want to try and level the playing field."

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