Jim Thorpe School District's Penn Kidder Campus is training parents to use software that allows them to track their child's progress - and giving them a chance to win a free Samsung Galaxy S4 tablet.

Penn Kidder has planned its first Parent Technology Night for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Parents are encouraged to come and learn how to use programs that they can use to reinforce what their child is being taught in the classroom.

Reading specialists will offer training in how to use Powerschool and Accelerated Reader, sites that are free for parents to use, as well as how to access free e-books from the Carbon-Lehigh IU.

PowerSchool is an online grade book that allows parents to keep up on their child's progress between progress reports.

"I think a lot of parents are still unsure of how to use (PowerSchool). A lot of times we have been surprised when parents say 'we didn't know we could do that,'" said Lorraine Robbins, a reading specialist who is helping coordinate the event.

Accelerated Reader is another free program that helps students in grades K-8 improve their reading skills. In past years, students would get incentives from teachers in exchange for using the program.

This year, for the first time, some teachers are including some results from the program in students' grades.

The Accelerated Reader program works in conjunction with a library of printed books at organized by AR reading level that is available at Penn Kidder. Students take a digital test to establish their reading level. Then, as they complete books from the library, they can also take quizzes about what they read.

"We want to familiarize parents with the program because teachers may be using it as a grade," Robbins said. "Every year, more and more teachers are getting on board with it."