When DeKalb County School District announced last year they were distributing Chromebooks to high school and middle school students, the news was met with great fanfare.
But for some students at Chamblee Charter High School, it is yet another expense they can’t afford.
The district's Digital Dreamer program, a two-year initiative which provides students with the laptops, was created to guarantee students have access to the district's online learning resources. But the all-too-good gesture came with a mandatory $20 insurance fee — something parent Mitra Saha said some students can't afford.
“I didn’t realize they struggled so much,” Saha told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a phone interview Wednesday. Saha said she learned about the issue during an open house at Chamblee Charter High School, where her son is a freshman.
“It was basically an eye opener for my son and me,” Saha said, adding her son wanted to do something to help.
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That's when they came up with the idea of a fundraising concert for underprivileged students at his school. Saha said her son got the idea after coming across Russian pianist Asiya Korepanova's website.
The fundraising idea was a natural fit since Korepanova's non-profit, Music for Minds, serves to bring classical performances directly to the classroom. She will also perform pro bono.
"Most students are unable to pay $20 per month for lunch and $20 per year to rent Google Chromebooks that are mandatory for the school curriculum," read a post on Korepanova 's Facebook page about the event.
The concert will be held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 6 at Chamblee Charter High School. Tickets can be purchased for as low as $10 and will go toward funding the mandatory fee for underprivileged students.
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