School Program to Get Wide Exposure

A widely acclaimed technology program at Blackstock Junior High School will be featured later this month in a “town meeting” to be broadcast live via a nationwide satellite feed.

Blackstock Principal Robin Freeman will soon head to Washington for the Oct. 21 teleconference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and beamed to hundreds of communities across the country.

Freeman will take part in a panel discussion about the use of computer technology in the classroom, a subject that has vaulted her Port Hueneme junior high to national prominence.

“I think it’s pretty special,” Freeman said. “As a result of the pioneering work we have done to integrate technology into a variety of curricular areas, . . . we have come to the attention of the Department of Education.”

The Hueneme School District has received about $3.5 million in state grants since 1990 to boost technology at Blackstock and E.O. Green, the district’s other junior high.

At Blackstock, more than 1,000 students learn in so-called smart classrooms, interactive learning environments where computers and other electronic devices are the primary information-delivery systems.

The “town meeting” will be broadcast at 5 p.m. local time before a live audience, and a toll-free number will be available to call in and participate.

People interested in viewing the telecast are asked to call their cable company or (800) USA-LEARN.

The “town meetings” also are rebroadcast each month on cable television’s Learning Channel.