Apple has partnered with the Teach for America program and donated 9,000 first gen iPads to teachers that work in impoverished and dangerous schools. The donated iPads come from customers that gave to Apple’s public service program during the iPad 2 launch.
Many consumers opt to resale their used Apple devices when a new generation is released, but the people that gave to Apple’s public service program have helped to give iPads to teachers working in low-income communities throughout the US.
According to CNN, 9,000 first gen iPads have been distributed to teachers in 38 states. The donating is in conjunction with Teach for America — a program that trains recent graduates from some of America’s most prestigious universities to teach in the meanest and most dangerous schools throughout the nation.
“Katie Remington (Middlebury ’10) picked up hers — a refurbished model that looked like new — on Sunday and brought it to the inner-city high school in St. Louis where she runs the science department. “So far,” she wrote after the first day, “I’ve figured out it can make them finish their work fast for ‘iPad time.'”
Classrooms will obviously need more than one iPad before these low-income schools can reach ‘iSchool’ status, but this huge donation is definitely a good start.
How did Apple and Teach for America begin to work together? Steve Jobs’ wife is a member of the program’s board of directors.
(via Macgasm)
