Reconnecting McDowell takes next step; middle school kids getting laptops

Every middle school student in McDowell County will get a new laptop in events scheduled this week by the Reconnecting McDowell effort.

“Laptops have become an important tool for homework. Once a student in rural McDowell logs on to the World Wide Web, the same world opens up to them as it does for everyone else,” Gayle Manchin, chair of Reconnecting McDowell, said in a prepared statement.

There are 875 laptops to give out to students, their parents or guardians. The first event is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday at Mount View Middle School. The give out continues Tuesday evening at Sandy River Middle School in Avondale and then Wednesday evening at Southside K-8 School in War.

A multi-partner $284,000 grant is paying for the laptops.