SDO San Carlos City is not blind to the changes in educational landscape. Thus, part of its goals is to address the digital device and cope with the advancement of the technology to ensure every Carlos and Carlene’s connectivity to information and to the world, hence, the implementation of Project RACHEL.

Elder Steve Leininger, a Latter-Day Saint missionary, passionately declared, “Let’s make every student at SDO-SCC connect to the world of knowledge by providing internet connectivity without the actual internet,” as he introduced Project RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning) at the Training and Partnership Engagement Program held at SEPNAS Perez Hall on September 30, 2022.

Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning, or RACHEL, is a plug-and-play server that can instantly link an entire classroom of computers to a vast collection of instructional content. It maintains copies of a variety of free educational websites, including Wikipedia, Khan Academy, PhET physics simulations, and many more, and makes that information accessible via a local wireless connection. RACHEL may now wirelessly distribute free digital instructional content to adjacent tablets, laptops, and smartphones from anywhere in the world without requiring an internet connection or data plan. Everything required to bring a digital library to any offline community is also included.

Tamayo NHS, Agdao IS, Supo Es, C.P. Gutierez Es, Mabalbalino ES, Payar ES, Ignacio Centeno ES, Palospos ES, and Calomboyan ES were among the 11 remote schools chosen to pilot the use of RACHEL server in their individual schools, while SEPNAS and Central I ES were regarded as city schools.

Elder Steve and Sister Marilyn Leininger are Latter-Day Saint missionaries who donated eleven RACHEL servers. With them were Elder Lennard and Sister Bonnie Huff, Romeo Rodriguez, and Gerry Guerra.

(Romy De Loyola)