By Jeffrey Jensen
Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corp.

Forty–plus years in service is quite a run. It’s even more remarkable if you’ve been used and maybe slightly abused by thousands of students over the years. But that’s the life of a Black Hawk Middle School desk.

Now, thanks to a donation of over $62,000 from Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates, 210 of these well-seasoned desks will be taken out of service and replaced with new tables and chairs.

“This donation was made possible by our employees,” said Amy Kerwin, Vice President of Community Investments at Great Lakes. “It’s a dollar-for-dollar corporate match for money raised by them during our 2016 United Way Campaign.”

The new furniture is everything the old desks were not: technology-friendly and perfect for collaborative learning. And it couldn’t arrive at a better time. Black Hawk is currently implementing the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Information & Technology Plan as a way to better prepare students for success in college. As part of that plan, all students at Black Hawk will be issued a Chromebook laptop computer. This gives students ready access to information, helping them evolve from passive to active learners who take on more responsibility, act as experts and become more engaged in their own learning.

The new furniture is the perfect complement to the district’s plan. Movable classroom furniture helps motivate students in the learning process by creating customizable spaces that work for individual, small group or large group instruction. So that all students will benefit from the new furniture, it will be placed in seven classrooms used for English and math.

“With every student using a laptop, it is important that their physical learning spaces match their new technology,” said Principal Kenya Walker. “The generous donation from Great Lakes makes that possible.”

“Great Lakes is thrilled to once again help the students of Black Hawk as part of our mission to change lives for the better,” said Kerwin. “We feel it’s important that they have all the tools they need to work on collaborative projects and creative problem-solving.”