Private school gets tech boost from business council

Students and teachers at Faith Lutheran Middle School and High School are getting a boost from the Las Vegas business community — a technological one at that.

For more than a decade, the Faith Lutheran Business Advisory Council, a group comprising about 50 business leaders, has raised more than $450,000 to supplement the technology in the school’s classrooms.

It’s part of the culture at the school at 2015 S. Hualapai Way in Las Vegas that has been named an Apple Distinguished School for its commitment to technology.

Every sixth- through eighth-grader has an iPad. Every high school student is issued a MacBook Air for use in classroom studies.

Those items are purchased with the school’s $20 million budget that is financed primarily from tuition and fees. The council money has equipped classrooms with mounted video projectors in ceilings and screens on walls and has provided Apple TVs in classrooms. The money has also paid for smart boards in classrooms, 65-inch monitors for the gym and wiring to stream athletic games and chapel service live over the Web.

“They provided money in the classrooms that the budget couldn’t afford to get us,” said Steve Buuck, the school’s CEO. “They added some nice extras for the teachers and the students.”

The council was founded to connect the business community to the school, create more exposure for Faith Lutheran and raise money, said Steve Beatty, the council’s long-standing president who has been with the group since 2003. The majority of the council members are parents with children in the school.

The majority of the money is raised by the $1,000-a-year council membership and from sponsorships for networking breakfasts that bring in business leaders, politicians and other guests to speak on pertinent issues.

“It’s a cool thing for them wanting to help their kids and rest of the kids by providing a better learning environment and network with like-minded people to help grow their businesses,” Beatty said.

Students learn to use technology in practical ways at the school, Beatty said. Instead of writing a book report, they can make a PowerPoint or create a music video. Even with math, students will technology in practical ways that you would use in the workplace, he said.

“Our kids have to learn to be great at technology to compete in the workplace,” Beatty said. “They have to be great at technology to compete in most universities. The way that Faith uses technology — and I have had three kids go through school there — it’s enhanced the educational experience dramatically. I know my two in college are much more prepared by what they learned about technology at Faith.”

The council’s newest project calls for setting up a replica courtroom to hold mock trials as part of a justice and advocacy education program.

Faith Lutheran opened in 1979 with 43 students and had sixth- and seventh-graders only. The school grew as those early students moved onto eighth grade and high school.

Faith Lutheran settled on its fourth campus in 1998 and its enrollment increased from 250 to 500 students. Today, Faith Lutheran has 1,562 students, Buuck said. That makes it the largest private school in Nevada and largest Lutheran school in the nation, Buuck said.

“We will grow to 1,700 this fall, and we have a master plan in 15 to 20 years to have 3,000 students on the campus,” Buuck said.

Buuck said business community support is crucial as the school expands.

“We’re going to supply their next wave of workers and anything the business community can do to help better prepare students to enter the workforce betters the entire community,” Buuck said.