When Tanner Elementary School Principal Angie Barnes noticed a rundown portable hidden away on the school’s campus, she immediately thought of how desperately her 347 students needed a designated computer lab. Convinced there was simply no space for a computer lab inside the school, the portable seemed like the perfect solution.

All that stood in her way was a handful of obstacles. The portable needed to be moved to the elementary side of the campus. It also needed repairs after years of use as a storage room. They also needed funding to fit the portable with laptop computers and computer stations.

When faced by a lack of funding to overcome these obstacles, Barnes turned to Shun Fletcher, a Tanner parent who works at Ascend Performance Materials in Decatur. Fletcher thought the Ascend Cares Foundation might be able to help the school get their computer lab.

Barnes said the Decatur-based plastics manufacturer more than delivered, pointing out the many new features in the portable during its grand opening Tuesday, including a row of brand-new Google Chromebooks, new flooring and ceilings. More than $20,000 was invested into the project, which included new lighting fixtures, security cameras, a wheelchair ramp, fresh paint and countertops that will serve as computer stations.

“Everyone knows that money is tight,” Barnes said. “We would have never been able to do something like this without Ascend. I cannot express how much I and how much our children appreciate this space.”

According to Karen Brown, Tanner Elementary’s assistant principal, the school was in dire need of a computer lab, especially after budget cuts reduced the number of laptop computers in the classrooms.

“When we lost the 1-to-1 initiative (one laptop computer per child) for our third- and fourth-graders, it became very difficult to complete all the testing and technology standards that are mandated by the state,” Brown said.

The computer lab, Brown said, will serve as a designated area where students can complete required benchmark testing and as a space for projects and research.

The school hopes to eventually allow parents who do not have access to a computer at home to use the lab to complete the online background checks necessary to become a school volunteer.

“I am really excited about that, because the more volunteers we have in our schools, the better it is for our kids,” Fletcher said.

He emphasized the importance of the lab for the Tanner community as a whole, pointing out the lab’s availability as a multi-use space for community-based programs such as English language classes.