By Leticia Fehling Aldine ISD Director of Internet Communications
EAST ALDINE – State Rep. Armando Walle helped connect the Aldine ISD Choice School campus with the opportunity to expand students’ access to technology.
Sixty-four Blanson CTE High School students received personal laptops on Wednesday, May 13, through a partnership between AT&T and Compudopt, designed to help close the digital divide and expand students’ access to technology.
The distribution took place at the Aldine ISD Choice School campus and included remarks from Tanya Makany-Rivera, director of external and legislative affairs at AT&T; Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney; State Rep. Armando Walle; and Blanson CTE High School Principal Joshua Van Donsel.
The opportunity came to Aldine ISD after AT&T reached out to Walle’s office about providing refurbished laptops to students. Walle, a MacArthur High School graduate who represents District 140, contacted Abel Garza, Aldine ISD assistant superintendent of government relations and constituent services, to help identify a campus. Walle selected Blanson CTE High School and asked campus leaders to develop a student selection process.
AT&T bought laptops from Compudopt, a non- Goffney. profit that provides refurbished computers; AT&T will provide digital access. Students received connectivity help, and AT&T will offer two years of technical support.
More Than a Device Of the 64 laptops distributed, about 70% were awarded to graduating seniors in the Class of 2026, and about 30% to rising seniors (Class of 2027). Students were selected through a campus process led by Blanson CTE High School counselor Dr. Rhonda Williams.
Juniors and seniors completed grade-level tasks that included essays explaining why they needed a laptop and how having one would support their success.
“Students wrote an essay on why they needed one and how it would impact their success,” Williams said. “Their stories impacted me. Some talked about how this would lessen the burden on their families, how it would help them with applying for a job, doing research, and more.”
During the program, Makany-Rivera said the event was one example of AT&T’s work to close the connectivity gap for students and families. She also thanked Walle for his continued support of schools and students.
Goffney thanked Walle and AT&T for investing in Aldine ISD students. She told students the laptops were more than devices; they were personal tools that could support research, college and career planning, job applications, and future opportunities.
She also reflected on her own experience as a high school student in 1990, when completing a research project required access to a printed encyclopedia set — a resource not every family had at home.
Today, Goffney said, students need access to technology and up-to-date information as they prepare for college, careers, and life beyond high school.
For the students receiving laptops, the moment was about more than taking home a computer. It was about taking home a tool that could help them plan, apply, research, create, and move closer to the choices and opportunities ahead.
A Community Investment in Student Success Walle also shared his personal connection to Aldine ISD and the Blanson CTE High School community. He told students he grew up near the campus, graduated from Mac- Arthur High School, and understood what it meant to find creative ways to access resources.
He said people helped him along the way, and the laptop distribution was one way to help students now.
“We want to provide tools to help you succeed in life,” Walle told students. Van Donsel encouraged students to use the laptops responsibly and to see them as tools that could open doors.
“These laptops and connectivity can help with scholarships and job applications,” Van Donsel said. “This is about choices and opportunities, as Dr. Goffney always says.”
After the remarks, Makany- Rivera called each recipient’s name as Garza presented the laptops to students. Seniors in the room shared where they plan to continue their education after graduation, naming colleges and universities that included The University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Lamar University, Lone Star College, Blinn College, Stephen F. Austin State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Oklahoma, and The University of Texas at San Antonio.
For students, the laptops represented both immediate support and future possibilities.
“I loved the opportunity to get a newer laptop,” said Salomón Parada Martínez, a current junior.
“I didn’t have a laptop before this,” said junior Ángel Flores López. “The laptop and connectivity will help me with my studies and work ahead.”
As Aldine ISD continues to prepare students to graduate with choices and opportunities, partnerships like this one help ensure students have access to the tools they need to take their next step.
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