The sights and sounds of learning can be a bit distracting at South Bend’s Dickinson Fine Arts Academy.

Last year, the school went one-to-one with computers, which means each student was paired with technology that they could use at home and at school.

The only problem? While they received new Chromebooks, the headphones and chargers have not endured.

“We may get distracted by other computers because we don't have headphones,” said Kiran McAllister, a seventh-grader.

That's because if headphones are missing or broken, the students turn up the volume and it gets quite noisy in the classroom.

“We are focused on our computer, but we are focused on others because we can hear those, too,” McAllister said.

Sometimes, their Chromebooks die right in the middle of a project.

“That's like the worst feeling ever,” said Airess Lynn, a Dickinson seventh-grader.

“If I get a charger, I can charge it here so I won't have to struggle without having a Chromebook with all my stuff on it,” Lynn said.

“We don't really have the headphones,” Dickinson math teacher Joe Hurt said. “We had some, but most of them were broken. And they're just years old.”

A $1,000 grant from Martin’s Super Markets will come in handy.

“This money is going to help give all these kids headphones so that they can have a more individualized experience when they're working in their programs,” Hurt said.

The money will also help the school purchase chargers.

“Since we use the computers every day, having some spare chargers in the classroom so kids can plug them in so they can have them to use is a great help,” Hurt said.

That will help students like Lynn stay focused.

“When I get headphones, I won't have to hear like everything else because my mind wanders all the time,” Lynn said.

If you want to nominate your school for a One School at a Time grant from Martin’s Super Markets, you can find a registration form by

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