(ABC 6 News) – Seated quietly in a fourth grade classroom at Chatfield Elementary, students attended to the stories on their iPad screens as teacher Kirsten Armstrong asked questions to challenge their knowledge.

“What is the climax of this story?” Armstrong said to the class before asking students to prove their point. “Highlight some evidence, how do you know?”

The fourth graders were conducting their reading and highlighting on old iPad screens, and while the technology they’re using won’t change next year, it will be more up to date.

School administrators recognized times are changing, so their technology also needs to change. That’s why they submitted the request for new iPads to the Chatfield Education Foundation, a group that raises money for the district.

Chatfield Education Foundation president Andy Harstad said his team reviews requests from Chatfield administrators all the time and they recognized the need for new iPads since the ones the school has are outdated.

“It benefits a lot of kids, that’s one of our main focuses when we donate,” Harstad said. “These iPads should last — a cycle is about three years.”

Principal for Chatfield Elementary Shane McBroom said the $50,000 donation gives the district some wiggle room in terms of their budget.

“We’re always trying to stretch our dollar as far as we can,” McBroom said. “It’s now something we don’t have to purchase.”

Meanwhile teachers like Armstrong said she has flexibility in what books she can assign students.

“There are so many titles that I am not able to get in the classroom that students have access to when they are reading online so it’s kind of nice to have both options,” Armstrong said.