On Friday, January 12th, Bowie students gathered in the library for their chance to grab one of the brand new Chromebook’s that have been made available to all students to enhance learning as well as resources. 

“With the Chromebook’s, I think we’ll be able to do a lot more with blend in class and therefore we will be able to better utilize blend,” chemistry teacher Jeanne Westmoreland said.

The reaction to the Chromebook’s varies, freshman Miranda Cardenas claims that overall the pros outweigh the cons.

“Some pros [of the Chromebook’s] are that you can customize them and use them for school and homework,” Cardenas said.

Junior Kalaiah Savage agrees with Cardenas that there are more pros, but that they are not just toys.

“The new Chromebook’s are ours to use, [therefore] they are something we have to be responsible for, and as students that’s a big responsibility.” Savage said.

During distribution students were separated by last name into classrooms, those teachers were instructed to show students a powerpoint about internet safety, cyber bullying, and general warnings when using the new laptops.

“The powerpoint was a little bit awkward because I didn’t know anyone in the room and some of it was a little longer than I preferred, but I felt overall the powerpoint had really good content,” Westmoreland said.

Some students, along with sophomore Nicholas Martinez, have shared that the Chromebook’s were a smart move, due to unreliable technology and limited resources.

“I think it was a smart move to give all of the students Chromebooks, because smartphones can be unreliable at times and not every teacher has computer carts,” Martinez said. “The Chromebooks ensure that every student will have access to Blend and other school related websites.”