On Thursday, Sept. 15, Chapman was given the opportunity of a lifetime: Google, along with superintendents and teachers from all around the state of South Carolina came to Chapman to get an inside glance at what a one-to-one Chromebook-based classroom looks like and how it operates.

Principal Ty Dawkins said that the opportunity came about through a partnership and because of a great school district.

“We have a great partnership with Google and a district that thinks ahead, so through that, the opportunity came about,” Dawkins said.

Each visitor was placed into groups where from there, visited Mabry Middle School and toured Chapman to see how each core subject uses technology differently.

They were able to go into classrooms and see what a typical day in that particular class would look like.

For example, Laura Matz’s Chemistry I students were using their Chromebooks to complete simulations, and Alex Cater’s English I students were using their Chromebooks to interact as a class through google classroom.

While inside each classroom, the visitors were able to ask students and teachers questions on how Chromebooks are used in certain classes and what advantages the new technology has brought to each classroom.

Student ambassadors from Chapman were also assigned to groups to answer any questions the visitors may have from a student’s perspective who use chromebooks on a daily basis.

After the tours were over, all of the visitors gathered together in the media center to listen and watch a presentation from the members of Google.

During the presentation, the visitors were able to interact with each other and have group discussions on certain topics.

When the presentation concluded, the visitors gathered in other groups and went into certain rooms where they then had group discussions and listened to presentations from the people within that group and that is where their day ended.

Dawkins said that the experience went great.

“I feel (the visit) went outstanding,” Dawkins said. “We got so much positive feedback from the teachers and visitors.”