In a first-of-its-kind initiative for the Hunter, Morisset High School is benefitting from a program to provide free, refurbished laptops to students.
The Morisset High School Laptop Project empowers students to achieve their goals by giving them the digital tools they need to thrive in their learning.
Through a partnership with the Rotary Club of Morisset, the school has provided three dozen refurbished laptops to students to continue their learning at home.
Morisset High School principal Darren Brailey said the project allowed students to grow the digital skills they needed to succeed in the modern world.
“We know firsthand that students having access to digital devices is essential to their learning and having the skills they need to succeed outside of school as well,” he said.
“While the school continues to invest in new technologies to ensure our students are competent using digital technologies, we know from our experiences during the pandemic that any student who does not have access to devices to continue their education at home is at a disadvantage.
“We are so thankful that our local Rotary club is partnering with us to help bridge the gap and can see the long-term benefits to our whole community from this project.”
Morisset Rotary Laptop Project coordinator Mick Payze said it was the first time a Rotary club in the Hunter region had partnered with a school on such a project.
“As Rotarians, we are very proud to support our local young people to thrive at school,” he said.
“We want them to have the skills and confidence they need with digital devices to succeed now and into the future.”
Twins Zac and Ursula Hanger are among the Morisset High students to benefit from the program.
The proud Aboriginal students want to continue their studies at TAFE and university after finishing Year 12 next year.
“We’re getting a lot more work to complete at home now we are in Year 11 and not having our own computers at home does make it hard,” Ursula said.
Zac said the support of their school and the local Rotary club would help them achieve their goals.
“It’s not easy buying two of everything when you have twins, so we are really thankful to our school and the Rotary club for believing in us and providing us both laptops,” Zac said.
“It will really make a difference, especially when it comes to preparing for our preliminary HSC exams later this year, and HSC exams next year.”
The Rotary club has already raised enough money through fundraising and donations to purchase 36 refurbished laptops from social enterprise WorkVentures.
The club plans to donate another 25 laptops to Morisset High students later this year.
WorkVentures chief executive Caroline McDaid said, across Australia, nearly 400,000 high school students lacked a suitable device at home to support their education.
“As technologies like generative AI rapidly reshape the world, young people without access to digital tools are being left further behind,” she said.
“We’re proud to support this initiative with Morisset High School to help ensure every student has the tools, access, and skills they need to thrive in the digital economy.”
