By Alyssa Duetsch
Ever since classes at Prospect have started to use iPads, students have had to give them up over the summer. This year, for the first time, this is being changed. The current freshmen class is going to take home their iPads this the summer and keep the same iPad for the next four years.
“The decision was made at the district level. So [in] our school, the freshmen were the only ones who got to keep the iPad,”  innovative technology facilitator Matt Hamilton said.
Hamilton says that before the freshmen are given permission to keep their iPads for the summer, they have to go through a process making sure that all iPads are verified, inform students about the protection plan, and make sure students are enrolled in the local device management software used at PHS. Along with that, the iPads are checked for damage.
Current sophomores, juniors who are enrolling in iPad classes will receive their devices at the beginning of next school year.
“We would have loved to have more students keep them,” Hamilton said.
Although iPad usage during the year has included games along with its purpose of educational advancements, some freshmen believe that their iPads will not be used for either.
“I’m just probably going to have it sit there,” freshman Annie Atwood said.
Others believe they may use it for social aspects but not take it anywhere out of fear of misplacing it.
“I’m probably going to like put it in a room … so I don’t lose it because that’s what I am afraid of,” freshman Nicole Sipko said. “I might use it to look at social media, but that’s it.”
As of now, iPad usage over the summer may be minimal or used for fun and games. However, there are high hopes for the future of iPad usage during summer vacation.
“At some point, we’re hoping that kids will be able to continue utilizing them instructionally outside of school in the summer,” Associate Principal Scott McDermott said. “There are some kids who take summer school, [and] there are other learning experiences [teachers] are hoping, once all staff in the district are up to speed in the same way, that they can create for kids.”