East Orange, NJ, November 21, 2019: Mayor Ted Green is proud to announce that a total of 150 iPads have been donated to the East Orange Public School District to create greater access to technology for its students through an ongoing partnership with the City of East Orange and Novartis Pharmaceuticals in East Hanover.
“Our East Orange teachers, supervisors and administrators have done a phenomenal job of integrating technology into the school’s curriculum to make learning more engaging for our students,” said Mayor Ted R. Green. “These new iPads, a generous gift from Novartis, are a game changer for our students as they will have a whole new world of opportunities to learn, communicate, create and explore new ideas right at their fingertips.”
According to City Compliance Officer David Sharp, the donation was the direct result of a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training and the Novartis’ Multicultural Teen Corporate Mentoring Program. In that program, students are paired with corporate employees for an introduction into the pharmaceutical industry and insights to various career opportunities.
“This donation of iPads through our corporate partnership with Novartis plays an integral role in preparing our youth to be 21st century ready,” said Sharp. “It is the goal of the mayor to continue with such partnerships as we invite corporations to our city willing to create opportunities with career advancement and competitive wages.”
The announcement of the donation was made during the district’s Family Fun STEM Night held on Thursday, November 14 at STEM Academy, which featured special keynote speaker Dr. Renee Horton, a NASA physicist and engineer, along with hands-on demonstrations and activities in science, technology, engineering and math for families and students to create, explore and design together.
Christina Jaquez, EOSD English Department Chair, who served as a school liaison for the Novartis mentoring program, thanked Mayor Green and his team for helping to facilitate the donation.
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“Our mayor is a champion for ensuring that we have experiences and exposure for our youth, ensuring that they are future ready,” Jaquez said. “Our school district is moving in the right direction. We will be future ready.”
The iPads will be distributed to three high schools: East Orange Campus High School, Cicely L. Tyson High School of Performing and Fine Arts, STEM Academy and three Future Ready-certified elementary schools: Benjamin Banneker Academy, Langston Hughes Elementary School and Jackson Academy.
