RIDGECREST, La. – Like students at many other schools, children at Ridgecrest Elementary spend time each week working at computers. But as computers become more a part of school curriculum, the need for teacher training is important.

&uot;How can a teacher teach a child if she doesn’t have the training?&uot; said Ridgecrest seventh-grade teacher Linda Knight.

Funding from the America 2000 Technology Innovation Challenge Grant is helping districts such as Concordia Parish bridge the gap.

&uot;Teachers need to be adequately trained,&uot; Knight said. &uot;It’s through this grant that we’ve come so far.&uot;

Five schools in Concordia Parish — Ferriday High, Ferriday Junior High, Monterey High, Ridgecrest Elementary and Vidalia Junior High — are each to receive $10,000 during what is the third year of the five-year grant program.

These five schools, along with 10 schools in Catahoula, Franklin, Morehouse and Tensas parishes will also benefit. They will receive $149,666 through the Department of Education, said Leinda Peterman, project director for America 2000.

This year’s funding is different from the first two years, because it is site-based and will allow more teachers to benefit.

Four teachers at each school who have undergone two years of training will now pass what they have learned along to their fellow teachers.

The training will help all teachers impact students with technology, which is a better method of instruction in many areas, Peterman said.

&uot;These grants provide an opportunity for all core subject-area teachers at the school to receive up to six hours of training in technology-rich instructional techniques,&uot; based on state standards, she said.

And students think computer work is more fun, more realistic and a form of hands-on learning, Knight said.

&uot;It’s something they can grasp,&uot; she said.

The grant will pay for teacher stipends for after hours or Saturday training, materials, software and travel.

The Concordia Parish School District is the fiscal agent for the grant program in a partnership with Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, Louisiana Public Broadcasting and the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology.

The grant has also funded equipment for the schools, such as computers, digital cameras, scanners and internet service.