In a stroke of luck that overcame long odds, Ballard High School received one of five grand prizes in the "Win a Wireless Lab," sweepstakes recently.

Ballard was selected from a random drawing from with over 170,500 entries nationwide. The program is sponsored by CDW Government Inc. and Discovery Education.

"You won these. Open your minds and see what you can gain from these," said Michael Bonner, account executive for CDW's Portland office, during a presentation in the Ballard High School library.

The equipment included: 20 Hewlett Packard notebook computers; three D-Link wireless access points; one projector; an printer; security software; Discovery Education multimedia CD-ROMS; and on site training. The equipment package is valued at $50,000.

"This is a great donation. We are very appreciative for our kids. We got lucky. It's a big asset for the school," said principal Phil Brockman.

Ballard classes took turns being introduced to the new technology on Oct. 25. The English as a Second Language program was first to try the laptops, with swiveling screens that become writing tablets. Special pens can be used to write on the surface of the tablets.

A program on the computer can read handwriting and convert it to text files.

Biology student Jesse Chugani said the computer would be useful when she is in class and does not want to type on a keyboard.

"They are amazing, you can take notes and do research," said Ali Youngman.

The sweepstake's goal is to help schools integrate technology resources in the curriculum.

"This is a campaign to get new technology to schools. With the wireless access point, you can see what the teacher is doing. The tablet frees the teacher to interact with students. It makes the classroom very interactive," said Bonner.

David Tucker, spokesperson for the Seattle School District watched as the students adapted to the laptops immediately. "These kids have an innate ability to work with technology. They can keep building on those skills," said Tucker.

All Ballard High programs will be able to sign up to use the lab. The complete package of equipment is portable and can be moved to classrooms.

"We will try to spread the wealth out throughout the year," said Brockman.

The other schools winning wireless labs were: Canutillo Elementary School, in Canutillo, Texas; Central Manor Elementary School, Washington Boro, Pa; John Simatovich Elementary School, Valparaiso, Ind.; and Spalding Public School, Spalding, Neb.

"We're grateful to have these laptops and technology in our school. They will help advance writing and research projects that directly relate to student achievement.

Mary Davison, a teacher in Ballard's Academy of Finance, submitted the winning entry.