GENTRY -- Thursday was the day for which many signed up for the EAST Initiative at Gentry High School were waiting. It was the day the technological equipment and software arrived and was set up in the classroom.
Patrick Lanford, instructor and facilitator of the EAST Initiative for the Gentry School District, was at work with students unpacking boxes, cataloging items and putting things in their proper places. Craig Millsap, network administrator for the school district, and other students who assist with information technology were on hand to help with network connections and software installation.
The Gentry School District was chosen to participate in the EAST Initiative for the 2015-2016 school year. According to Judy Winslett, assistant superintendent of Gentry Schools, the district applied to be a part of the Environmental and Spatial Technologies Initiative and was the first among applicants to receive word on May 5 that its application was approved. A team from EAST Initiative visited the high school on April 24, she said.
As a result, the school district is receiving about $100,000 to $125,000 worth of technology and equipment; and Patrick Lanford, high school Spanish and sociology teacher and a leader at the high school in using Internet technology to create a paperless classroom, was appointed to be the EAST Initiative facilitator at the high school.
The EAST Initiative's project-based learning model enables students to learn to use some of the latest technology to accomplish projects for the school and community. Among technology made available through EAST grants are geographic information systems, computer animation programs, computer modeling software, video editing software, global positioning systems and computer-aided design software.
The program allows student teams to choose their own community projects and then work together, using the technology made available to them to complete their projects.
The EAST Initiative began as the result of the efforts of Tim Stephenson, a former law-enforcement officer turned teacher in Greenbrier, to provide the needed technology to give students hands-on experience with projects and technology which would enable them to learn and apply knowledge and skills the students weren't learning through more traditional methods of education.
His students first built a bridge in a wooded area near the school and then other structures, using the CAD program and expertise of one of the student's father. Seeing the need for technology in the classrooms to enable students to learn and apply skills, Stephenson built up a partnership with businesses and technology companies to provide the technology needed in the classrooms to enable students to learn through hands-on experience.
Student teams are given the opportunity to show their projects each spring at the annual EAST Partnership conference, have their projects judged and receive awards.
The EAST Initiative fits well with the school district's new goal of partnering with business and industry to better prepare students to obtain quality jobs upon graduation from high school, whether or not they choose to pursue a college education.
The technology and equipment which was anticipated to arrive during the summer break arrived and was installed Thursday, making it possible for students to become familiar with the new technology and select community projects which they can use the new technology and software to complete.
General News on 09/23/2015