The Salt Lake Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management has donated 36 computers and 12 flat-screen monitors to Grantsville High School. The donation comes after the BLM recently upgraded its own computer equipment.

Grantsville High School technology teacher Preston Lorensen said, "I just want the BLM to know that we are appreciative of what they've done. It helps out here and it makes our lives easier."

The computers are being used in the library, in various classrooms and in the digital photography lab. The monitors have gone to teachers.

The decision to give the computers and screens to GHS was based on interest from the school, said Erin Darboven, public affairs specialist at the Salt Lake Field Office of the BLM. The BLM made some calls to see who was interested and the school was receptive to receiving the computers.

"We have such a connection with Tooele County, and not only the county but the people there," she said. "A lot of our work force comes from Tooele County -- folks that commute in. We have an investment in the future of Tooele County so we're more than happy to invest in that."

Lorensen said the donated computers replaced old, slow computers in the library that were difficult to work on. The flat-screen monitors replaced larger ones to free up space on teachers' desks. Another group of computers went into the digital photography lab, which previously didn't have any computers.

"They used to have to go into other labs and share those labs, but now we've got those computers so they can work right there," he said.

The donated computers are almost three times faster than the older computers and come with two to four times the amount of memory, Lorensen added.

swest@tooeletranscript.com