Las Posas Elementary School awarded technology grant
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

The Barona Band of Mission Indians awarded a $5,000 technology grant to Las Posas Elementary School recently.

The money will be used to buy electronic whiteboards, projectors and rolling carts for the school's two fifth-grade classrooms.

"We're very thankful to the Barona tribe that they've made this available to us," Principal Julie Antilla-Garza said. "Without this grant we would not have the funds to buy the equipment."

Antilla-Garza said teachers and administrators want to eventually outfit each classroom with the cutting-edge technology that acts like a digital chalkboard with a projection screen, but they chose to start with the fifth grade and move downward as money becomes available. The school already had an interactive whiteboard available to all classes in the computer lab.

Barona, a tribe based in Lakeside, Calif., in San Diego County, offers one grant through each of the 120 legislative districts- a potential $600,000 a year for California schools.

Only Las Posas in Camarillo and Moorpark's Flory Academy of Sciences and Technology applied in the 37th District, which covers Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ojai and parts of Los Angeles County.

The tribe awarded the grant to Las Posas because their application was received first, spokesperson Sheilla Alvarez said.

"It's as simple as first come, first served," she said.

To be eligible for the grant, schools must have the legislator's approval and show that the money will be used for academic purposes to enhance education in the classroom now and for years to come. The money cannot be used to pay for salaries, office supplies or field trips.

Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-Westlake Village) wrote letters of support for both Las Posas and Flory, but the ultimate decision rests with the tribe.

"We don't want to put the legislator in that difficult position; we do that for them," Alvarez said.

Since Barona began the grant program in June 2006, the tribe has awarded 80 grants to schools throughout California for a total of $400,000, Alvarez said.

"We'd love it if more schools applied or if more legislators nominated more schools," she said.