Maine high school students psyched to get Apple laptops

And who wouldn't be??? Students in 36 Maine high schools will be receiving laptops leased from Apple in early December. After the state legislature voted against funding the laptop program, the Maine Department of Education took the DIY approach and brokered a deal with Apple directly. Apple agreed to give the schools the same $300 lease rate it would have given to the state, even when the number of laptop orders fell short of the number agreed upon.

The high school program is a natural outgrowth of the successful initiation three years ago of a program to give laptops to middle school students and teachers. Maine was the first in the nation to adopt such a program. Education Commissioner Susan Gendron hopes to expand the program next year to include all of the high schools in the state.

Students are, understandably, excited about the prospect of being handed their own laptops. "There isn't a day that goes by without a kid coming up to me and saying 'Hey, when are we getting our laptops?"' said Bruce Lindberg,
principal of SAD 43's Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Maine. Kudos to Apple for having their hearts in the right place here – though it's likely a very intelligent long-term business strategy, as well. I'm smiling at the thought of those kids opening the latches on their new Macs for the very first time!