Randolph County School System awarded digital learning grant

ASHEBORO — The Randolph County School System is going to receive some much-needed financial support thanks to a state grant.

The Randolph County Schools Board of Education accepted a $285,000 grant from the North Carolina State Board of Education at its January meeting.

The Digital Learning Initiative Impact Grant is a state-sponsored grant started in 2017 that aims to support districts by “creating hubs of innovation across the state that model digital leadership and that support NC educators in their professional growth, students’ access to highly-qualified educators and opportunities increases.”

“That’s a pretty big grant,” board chair Gary Cook said. “You guys do a great job of finding money, grants and all. We’re very fortunate for everybody that works on these grants.”

The district will use the funding to support a school system wide program aimed at growing the amount of digital learning opportunities for students.

“The project is titled Advancing K-12 Digital Learning through Computational Thinking and Innovation and it’s all about expanding opportunities for our students in STEM, robotics, coding, eSports, etc. at all schools,” said Shenna Creech, executive director of curriculum & instruction/director of digital teaching & learning. “So all schools will be impacted and there will be a lot of professional development opportunities for staff as well.”

That grant will be spread out across three years, meaning the district will be allocated $95,000 each year.

“We’ve got a really big team effort here,” superintendent Stephen Gainey said.

The board also recognized the recipients of the 2025-26 Randolph County School System Endowment Teacher Grant, which aims to support student needs and staff development.

The grant awarded a total of $6,420 dollars split amongst 27 county teachers in 14 different schools.

In addition, the board also recognized students from the Providence Grove High School Farm Business Management Team who competed at the National FFA Convention a few months prior.

The team finished as a silver emblem team and four students received individual honors as well.

Trey Blakley and Hunter Ward were individual gold finalists and Peyton McGraw and Caleb Ward were individual silver finalists. The team’s advisor was Morgan Johnson.

The Randolph County Schools Board of Education will next meet Feb. 9.