Future Shop awards $150,000 to nine secondary schools through Future Generation Tech Lab Grant program

BURNABY, BC, Sept. 16, 2014 /CNW/ - Future Shop's Future Generation Tech Lab program is pleased to announce the nine secondary schools across Canada who will receive a collective total of $150,000 to improve their classroom technology and elevate student learning. Across all of the schools, more than 3,700 students will be impacted by this introduction of new technologies and educational enhancements.

"Future Shop is proud to present these nine secondary schools with the funds necessary to enhance their technology-based teachings. Over the last six years, our grants have helped nearly 115,000 students gain access to new tech, creating a community of young minds that has thrived on using technological tools in advancing their education," said Andrea Farnell, community relations manager, Future Shop. "We know that putting modern technology in the hands of students is the key for opening doors to future learning."

The nine schools receiving a Future Shop Future Generation Tech Lab Grant are:

• Smithers Secondary School – Smithers, BC
• Siwal Siwes Aboriginal Education – Mission, BC
• Technical Vocational High School – Winnipeg, MB
• Chippewa Secondary School – North Bay, ON
• Westmount Secondary School – Hamilton, ON
• REACH School – Saint-Lambert, QC
• LaSalle Community Comprehensive High School – LaSalle, QC
• Caledonia Regional High School – Hillsborough, NB
• Northumberland Regional High School – Westville, NS

The grants will be used at each school's discretion to purchase the technology and equipment they need to keep students inspired, motivated and empowered as they progress through their studies. This year's grant recipients plan to use their funds to take on a variety of projects, including a 'Life Skills' learning initiative for special education students, an updated library that reflects a '21^st century learning environment', and a robotics lab that will allow students to 'create, test, program and alter designs' as they see fit.

Future Shop received 135 school applications that were judged by an inter-departmental panel of Future Shop staff.

Founded in 2008, the Future Shop Future Generation Tech Lab grant program has awarded more than $2 Million in monetary grants to 74 schools seeking resources to update the classroom technology necessary to keep today's students engaged and inspired. The goal of the program is reducing the digital and socioeconomic divide for youth by providing them with modern technology to stay inspired as they move into post-secondary education and into the workforce.

For more information about Future Shop's Future Generation Tech Lab grant program, visit www.futureshop.ca/techlab.

About Future Shop
With 135 stores across the country and the nation's premier web store (www.futureshop.ca), Burnaby, BC-based Future Shop is Canada's largest retailer and e-tailer of consumer electronics. The company has enabled its website, Futureshop.ca, to deliver unparalleled content about the products it sells. Futureshop.ca also hosts an online community forum and tech blog called Tech Yeah for technology beginners and tech-savvy experts to exchange ideas, reviews, tips and other consumer electronics information (www.futureshop.ca/techyeah). As a proud corporate citizen, Future Shop has developed solutions to recycle used electronics and is committed to employee volunteerism and supporting non-profit organizations dedicated to transforming local youth into Future Leaders (see www.futureshop.ca/futuregeneration).

SOURCE: Future Shop

Media contact: Elliott Chun, Communications Manager, Future Shop, E: [email protected], P: 604.412.1764, Facebook: www.facebook.com/FutureShop, Twitter: www.twitter.com/FutureShopNews