By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

A former boss of Hooksett School District Technology Director James Colby would sometimes give Colby an unusual compliment.

"My old superintendent used to call me a 'scrounge,'" said Colby. "If I could get something for free, or at little to no cost, I would get it."

Colby's "scrounging" has been benefitting the Hooksett School District - where he started as a computer teacher at Hooksett Memorial School - for nearly a decade.

Just three years ago, shortly after Colby took the newly created technology director position, only two computer labs existed in Hooksett's public schools. Now, with little to no effect on Hooksett's taxpayers, a sixth computer lab - at David R. Cawley Middle School - is set to open.

Thanks to people like Hooksett School District Technology Director Jim Colby and groups like the ELVES, students throughout the district have more access to technology. Sixth-grade science and social studies teacher Kevin Fleury has 13 computers in Cawley School alone. Pictured are some of his students, Laurin Brainerd, left, Jared Chandler, center, and Jon Godbout. (Nicholas Brown Photo)

The movement toward technological advancement in Hooksett's schools was spurred in part by a short letter to the editor in The Hooksett Banner by then sixth-grader Danni Ithier. In her letter, Ithier asked for help from the community in gathering resources for a computer lab at Fred C. Underhill School. The response was tremendous.

Support from both local and national individuals and organizations poured in, initiating a wave that's been in motion ever since.

Hooksett's three schools now have about 450 to 500 PCs that were either acquired through grants or by donation from area private schools, or larger groups like the U.S. military.

"Most of the equipment we have are either from grants or donations," said Colby, who must oversee every new piece of technology that enters the district. "It creates a lot smaller burden on the taxpayers, and I have a hard time saying no."

Colby said, however, that he maintains high standards regarding the quality of equipment that comes into the schools.

David Pearl, a father of three students in the Hooksett district, began working with Colby and others four years ago, when the Electronic Learning Volunteers Enhancing Schools, or ELVES, group was formed to get a computer lab built at Underhill.

Colby and the ELVES, composed of parents, teachers and community members, have collaborated through the years to bring computers into the district, as well as encourage teachers to use them.

"Jim (Colby) always embraces the new stuff even though that usually means more work for him," said Pearl.

Pearl said Colby personifies one of the ELVES' driving goals.

"We're trying to sow the seeds," said Pearl. "We're just trying to give kids the skills to best use technology."

Colby, who spent the good majority of a recent weekend repairing a server that crashed on a Friday at Cawley, said he's well aware that more computers translates into more work for him.

But as he pointed to a row of computers, Colby said, "These things are becoming tools more than pencils. It's phenomenal what's out there for these kids."

Colby admitted that he's also drawn to the challenge of coordinating a districtwide network.

"When it's all up and running," he said, "that's the beauty of it."