Oak Ridge High School Selected for the Sprint 1 Million Project

Providing Free Internet to Students for Homework Completion

Oak Ridge High School is excited to announce we will be participating in the Sprint 1 Million Project program, through which we will be receiving free internet devices and service to help our students complete their schoolwork from home. Sprint’s mission with this project is to provide free wireless devices and service to 1 million students who are in need of reliable internet service. The 1 Million Project is the largest corporate initiative in U.S. history to bridge the digital divide and help close the “Homework Gap” for students lacking home internet access. Sprint plans to welcome approximately 200,000 eligible high school students into the program each year for five years, offering them devices and connectivity for up to four years while in high school. Oak Ridge High School is now a part of this 5-year program. For the 2017-2018 school year, we will receive 300 devices. We will continue to communicate with Sprint annually to determine the device quantities needed for the following program years.

Our current plan is to request up to 300 Wi-Fi hot spots for all students in our school who do not have reliable internet access at home. We are currently sending out a survey to every rising high school student to ensure that students have the opportunity to communicate their needs and get permission from parents to participate. It is our desire that all students can have reliable internet access for their Access Oak Ridge devices next year.

Marcelo Claure, Sprint CEO states, “Education is the foundation for our society to prosper, and the internet is an incredibly powerful tool for learning. But it’s a huge problem in America that we have 5 million households with children that lack internet connections. Those kids have a huge disadvantage and we are failing them. All of us at Sprint are committed to changing this by providing 1 million students in need with free devices and free wireless connections.” Sprint believes that all students are curious, want a bright future and are willing to work hard to earn it. Because of these shared values, they are confident our collective efforts will lead to richer learning experiences for our students, and a better chance for success in school and life.