Created: 2/28/2007 6:32:21 AM 
(Columbia)- With talk of biometrics, and integrated media convergence, you may think the folks at Richland Two are making a sci-fi movie. But really, these are just everyday functions of their schools.
"The students are growing up with it, this is their age in time," said Sandlapper Elementary principal Linda Hall.
She's got her students using the biology of their fingertips to get some fish sticks, or learn about a t-rex by checking out library books.
The students place their finger on a sensor in the school library or in the lunch line and it automatically brings up their information. "You're seeing biometrics. It's done with your finger. Students never forget their finger," she said.
This is just one of the things some 100 folks from the National School Board Association are taking a look at in Richland Two. Superintendent Stephen Hefner says this national recognition for his district makes him very excited.
"I feel euphoric," he said. "It's a tribute to our teachers and our staff and the work that they do."
Hefner says the district has focused millions of dollars in federal grants on beefing up their techno-toolbox. But they say this is more than just fancy, expensive ways to buy a school lunch.
"It's not about learning the technology, it's about using the technology," Hefner said.
"These children are digital natives and they're growing up with these tools around them. We need to use these tools everyday as we teach and learn," Hall said.
They say this is a lesson in getting students comfortable with all kinds of hi-tech gadgets. "I think they pretty much came in comfortable with it. In fact when we first got the biometrics some children said 'Oh this is just like Piggly Wiggly.'"
It's a lesson that the whole country is paying attention to.
