In the Fall of 2011 two education concepts that are important for me came together in a perfect storm:
- The importance of aesthetics for children
- Making use of the physical space of the school as a backdrop for learning. (Both of which I learned a lot from the book The Third Teacher.)
A Senior student was interested in majoring in the field of Audio Engineering at college and our Guidance Department inquired if I would put together an independent study for her as an elective class to give her a head start. I jumped at the chance since it was the perfect opportunity for me to mentor someone in my undergraduate field and at the same time tackle one of the schools toughest aesthetic obstacles. With a little budget and the right connections we were able to deliver a welcome improvement to our auditorium listening experience.
Aesthetics in older buildings are often over looked. As Smartboards and laptops were installed, classrooms began to resemble museums of yesterday’s technology. I did a hard target search of every room in the building in the Summer of 2011 to try to minimize the little things that might distract students and help create a more safe and orderly learning environment.
Maintaining and improving our infrastructure became a priority at the end of the 2011 school year. Important servers and other hardware were never properly planned for or installed previous to my tenure and the seriousness of vulnerability was obvious.
Incorporating more MAC devices has become essential as more and more students now have them at home and have experience using them. This is a daunting task considering the costs involved and the fact that technology at this school does not have an operating budget other than E-Rate, FAMIS and an occasional grant. As in the past however, we find a way.
Anthony Tricarico 