AvL Technologies and Eblen Charities partner to provide internet access to all Buncombe County Schools students

Press release from Eblen Charities:

Every student in Buncombe County Schools will now have the ability to access the internet at home even though they may not have had it previously or presently have the internet at home. AvL Technologies, the innovative industry leader in satellite communications, and Eblen Charities have created a new partnership that will help bring online services to students in Buncombe County Schools who may not have been able to afford them.

The All SET (Student Educational Technology) program will ensure that every student has the same opportunity and ability to be online while at home to enhance their studies and aid in homework assignments. This new venture will help provide mobile “Homework Hotspots” which will be connected to the tablets provided to the students by Buncombe County Schools and can only be used only for specific programs and educational content that is approved by the school system.

The All SET program will be instrumental in closing the “homework gap” that students face without having internet access at home. At the grade levels where students are taking devices home, All Set will allow teachers to know that students can complete assignments at home, allow every student to have the same access as their classmates, and keep them more engaged. This unique partnership expands a previous established program that provided internet access only to area high school students through a grant provided by Sprint but did not cover students in the lower grades who do not have the same opportunity to connect to online services as most other students.

“AvL is very pleased to have the opportunity to work in conjunction with Eblen Charities to provide connectivity to the home of those students without access to the World Wide Web for connection back to their school and controlled connectivity to the rest of the world,” states Jim Oliver, President, and Founder of AvL Technologies.

“A huge thank you to Eblen Charities and executive director Bill Murdock along with AVL Technologies and founder Jim Oliver for their significant support in reducing the homework gap that negatively impacts an important percentage of our students. Approximately 150 Buncombe County middle and intermediate school students as a result of this support can now access the internet from home through their US Cellular/ T Mobile hotspot device,” tells Dr. Tony Baldwin, Superintendent of Buncombe County Schools. “This unique partnership allows expansion of a previous mobile hotspot distribution that was implemented at the high school level through a Sprint 1M Project grant. How incredibly fortunate we are to have such community partners making a real difference for those students that need it.”

Currently, the All SET program is serving 126 students, which include 95 middle school students, 23 intermediate school students, and 8 high school students with projections of 150 students by the end of this school year and 300 students by the close of the 2018-2019 school year. The cost per student is $15 per month for the ten months school is in session.

“It is a great privilege for us to work with long-time friends and supporters Jim Oliver and AvL Technologies in this exiting and unique partnership that will help every student in Buncome County Schools have the same opportunity and educational tools as their classmates have at home,” adds Bill Murdock, executive director of Eblen Charities. “With the use of technology increasing into the early levels of the classroom and the student’s home and with the challenges that our schools face with budget cuts we are honored for all of us to come together in this tremendous partnership.”

For more information on the All SET program please contract Bill Murdock at 828-242-2848 or at wmurdock@eblencharities.org. For more information on AvL Technologies please visit www.avltech.com