With big help from recent grad, Hudson schools set to replace district's 800 phones, for free
Produced by Tony Peterson
HUDSON, Wis. -- They say one person's trash is another person's treasure, and the actions of an IT person from the Hudson School District, working alongside a recent graduate, is proof of that.
Jennifer Lotze, the assistant director of teaching and learning for technology with the district, found "garbage" over three hours west in Wilmar, and turned it into gold, with the help of a former student.
"I knew I would need some new phones for our classrooms," Lotze said. "It's a really hard thing to find money for phones that are just something that we need, but not necessarily make learning better."
She contacted a phone vendor for pricing and got a unique perspective.
"They were replacing the phones at the hospital. Our vendor partner emailed me and said, 'Hey, they may have some phones,'" she said.
CentraCare is a hospital three hours away in Wilmar, Minnesota. They were updating their phone system and were about to throw out their old phones, so Lotze reached out with an idea.
"We could work together. I could take their old phones, which are newer than the ones that are in our classrooms. We saved money on them," Lotze said.
They saved the parties involved with the need to pay to have them recycled as well.
The Hudson School District saved over $100,000, and received 700 phones, enough for the district's eight schools.
There was, however, another obstacle -- how to prepare the phones for the school year. Lotze reached out to Jack Schwab.
"Everyone needs a purpose. Jack is a person people like, and Jack wants to be helpful and wants to work, and people want employees like Jack," assistant director of student services Jordan Wood said.
Schwab has been a part of Hudson schools for most of his life. He graduated a few months ago.
"We are fortunate enough in the Hudson School District to have a really, really powerful, robust transition program," Lotze said.
It's a program which helps students with disabilities not only graduate but continue on into the work force. Schwab has Kabuki syndrome, a rare disorder that affects multiple parts of the body, including loss of hearing.
"It's so easy to see the disability and not the person," mother Tammi Schwab said. "He's so much more than that."
Jack Schwab found out about Lotze's dilemma and wanted to use his computer prowess to help. He gave up a summer vacation of sports and video games in order to do just that.
"Jack has single-handedly cleaned several hundred phones and will continue to help us clean those phones and get our new Chromebooks set up," Lotze said, adding a message to local businesses. "If you're doing a refresh, think of us. It makes all the difference for us in schools. It allowed us to purchase more Chromebooks and do the things that students need."
Jack Schwab recently turned 21 and didn't want a traditional birthday cake, so he asked for candles on a pizza instead.