Flowing Wells district surprises 15 students with new laptops

Fourteen students and their families filled in the Flowing Wells School District governing board room Wednesday.

They knew the youths were going to be recognized for their work ethics and being well-rounded, outstanding students. What they did not know was there were special gifts waiting to be handed out.

Fifteen high school freshmen and sophomores were chosen by their principals from last year as winners of new Lenovo laptops, which were sponsored by the charitable arm of the Watermark Retirement Communities.

The gifts were announced before an audience in the governing board room.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s amazing,’” said Raul Gonzalez, one of the recipients of the laptops.

The Flowing Wells High School freshman had no idea that was coming when he stepped into the room with his parents, Mario Hernandez and Carolina Gonzalez.

Hard-working, deserving and responsible were some of the words the principals used to describe the students who were chosen to receive laptops.

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The students were chosen based on how hard they worked, good attendance, taking challenging courses and engaging in extracurricular activities, including volunteering.

Watermark for Kids, the charitable arm of the retirement communities, began sponsoring laptops for select Flowing Wells students last year, said Richard Howell, a board member of the charity and the managing director for Watermark, which owns the Fountains at La Cholla retirement community.

“It’s to help kids thrive,” he said. His organization has an interest in helping out people in the communities that their retirement homes have a presence in.

Flowing Wells’ partnership with Watermark to provide laptops is a way to connect students with potential to opportunities, said Keven Stoltzfus, an assistant superintendent.

Hernandez, the father of Raul Gonzales, said he hopes his son uses the laptop to study hard and go to college.

Gonzalez said he would be doing that. He’s taking a pre-AP English course now, and he said he’d use the laptop to do most of his assignments and probably watching some Youtube videos, too.