ST. FRANCIS – Ashley Hafford and Jessica Ouellette may have been the luckiest pupils at their elementary school this week when they were the first to put some new classroom technology through its paces.

“This is awesome,” Ashley said. “I want one of these for Christmas.”

The two had just fired up a pair of laser PC6 portable computers, two of 20 purchased for their school thanks to a $6,495 education grant from MBNA.

“During writing projects in the past, I borrowed two [word processing] machines,” said Mary Pelletier, seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at St. Francis Elementary School. “Students were impressed by these devices, yet two keyboards were not sufficient for the entire class, so I applied and received a grant from MBNA.”

The portable word-processing machines were unveiled at the Nov. 18 district school board meeting at the St. Francis school. They were presented to the pupils before the Thanksgiving holidays.

Ashley and Jessica were at the right place at the right time immediately after the board meeting to get a head start on their classmates.

As the two pupils slid desks together and rapidly typed in commands and text, Pelletier described in practical terms what the technology will mean for her students.

“The main goal of my project is for each student to have access to a computer so they can take pride in their work,” she said. “During the middle school years, students need to prepare themselves academically and technologically for high school.”

Book reports, research projects, spelling lessons and keyboarding are all lessons that can be completed with the computers.

With a single computer in the classroom and a school computer lab booked most of the day for regular classes, Pelletier said individual student computer time is at a premium at the small school.

“Students do not often have the opportunity to use the lab to type their writing assignments,” she said.

In addition, pupils often begin a project in the classroom and must put it aside for at least a day when their limited time on the in-school computers is expired.

“Students who are not able to complete assignments in class will be able to sign out a machine and finish their tasks at home,” Pelletier said.

“We can take these home?” Ashley said, looking up from the keyboard. “This is really going to help me. If I start a book report at school, now I can finish it at home.”

The young pupil was a bit crestfallen to learn moments later she will have to wait a year to get her hands on one of the machines for her schoolwork.

The grant funds purchased enough of the portable units to outfit all seventh- and eighth-graders at the school. Ashley, unfortunately, is in grade six.

She was, however, undaunted as she navigated her way around the machine’s commands and functions. “This technology is a really good idea,” she said. “It will make doing work easier.”

Jessica, a seventh-grader, agreed. “Instead of starting work over again the next day, now we can work on it at home and at school,” she said.

After creating notes and rough drafts of their assignments, Pelletier said, pupils can use the PC6s to create subsequent drafts, which they can edit to final copies.

The portable units connect to the classroom desktop computer by infrared sensors that were purchased and installed through the grant.

“Almost 70 percent of [St. Francis middle school] students come from economically challenged backgrounds,” Pelletier said. “Many do not have access to computers at home.”

Each unit comes with word processing, spreadsheet, database, scientific and typing tutorial software already installed.

Pelletier said her project goes a long way toward meeting Gov. Angus King’s declared goal of using $50 million to get a laptop computer for every seventh-grader in the state, and at a much lower cost.

“These machines are so easy to use, there is nothing to plug in,” Pelletier said. Each unit carries a price tag of under $400. Grant funds also enabled her to purchase carrying cases, power sources and a storage unit.

“The world is going more and more toward technology,” Pelletier said. “These kids need to be prepared.”

From mathematics to spelling, Pelletier envisions a revolution in the way her pupils complete their work.

“They can even type in spelling assignments and test their results against the computer’s spell check feature,” she said.

“This has spell check on it?” Jessica said. “Cool.”