CALUMET CITY | New technology is on its way to Hoover-Schrum Elementary District 157.

Rose Jordan, the district's new technology director, said 17 laptop computers arrived Friday. Fifteen color laser printers and color scanners are scheduled to be delivered Tuesday.

Thanks to a $227,699 federal Enhancing Education Through Technology grant, the district also is buying SMART Board interactive white boards, desktop computers, digital cameras, software licensing, computer servers, projectors, flash drives and scanners for use in sixth- to eighth-grade language arts, math, social studies and science classrooms at Schrum Memorial School.

Classrooms have been prepared, and the district is waiting on the arrival of the SMART Boards. The SMART Boards are expected to be installed Sept. 26, 27 and 28 and should be ready for use by teachers and students in early October, Jordan said.

The installation work is expected to take about 1.5 hours per classroom, and teacher training will occur during four, eight-hour consecutive Saturday sessions in October.

Jordan said she stumbled on an unused SMART Board at Hoover Elementary School, and the district will put it to use as well.

District 157 Superintendent Michele Morris said she is proud the Calumet City district was one of the select few in the south suburbs chosen to receive the competitive grant. Sunnybrook Elementary District 171 in Lansing is getting a $222,254 grant.

"It provides us with opportunities that we may not have been able to provide for our children if we had not secured these funds. It will help us prepare (children), not only for high school but for this technological world we live in, " Morris said.

Jordan plans to order I-Pod Nanos before the Christmas break and to have teachers trained on them in February.

The popular, hand-held devices can be used to bring information to students via podcasts, Morris said.

The district also anticipates having a representative of a local vendor give a presentation to parents on how to be a smart technology consumer. One session will be before the Christmas holiday and another will be scheduled for the spring, Jordan said.