For the 2008-2009 school year, DOT USA’s TeachUp! Program will expand to cover the Recovery School District in New Orleans, Louisiana. DOT USA is excited to play a part in the expansion and development of education in New Orleans schools as they begin to grow and continue to rebuild.

“The interest in the internship has been overwhelming,” said Yvonne Lehr, Intern Support Manager for the Recovery School District. “A large number of qualified young people have already been accepted as interns.”

The Recovery School District (RSD) is a special district that was created by the Louisiana Department of Education in 2003. Legislation called for schools with poor performance rates to be combined forming the RSD which would operate as a state controlled school district under the control of the Louisiana Department of Education.

The goal of the RSD is to take these underdeveloped, underperforming schools in Orleans Parish and create a foundation and an environment to promote higher standards of learning. Following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, New Orleans was left destroyed and completely devastated. The schools were no exception. In 2005 legislation passed allowing the RSD control over 102 public schools in Orleans Parish.

The RSD hopes to use their unfortunate post-Katrina situation as an opening to change the state of public education in New Orleans. DOT USA is excited to be a part of that change.  A $500,000 grant from the Louisiana Department of Education, approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE Board), will bring 20 DOT USA TeachUp! Interns into schools in the Recovery School District. Lehr says that many of the interns chosen have “stated their satisfaction with the opportunity to ‘give back’ and be part of the rebuilding of the schools in the Recovery School District.” DOT USA will also support 12 high school students as part of an IT Squad. This group of students will be comprised of juniors and seniors chosen by their qualifications as well as their goals and interests. 

“Technology is such an integral part of the lives of students that it is of extreme importance that the available technology be put to its best use in the schools,” said Lehr.

Over the next 10 months DOT USA will play an active role in preparing and equipping teachers and students with an understanding of technology and its uses in an ever advancing society.  DOT USA’s commitment to providing increased knowledge of technology combined with the Recovery School District’s goals of providing quality education set to a higher standard gives the schools in the RSD hope for a brighter future and a stronger foundation on which to build.