GRAVETTE - E.A.S.T. We often see these letters involving students at Gravette High School. We learned EAST is the acronym for “Environmental and Spatial Technologies” but we wonder: Just what is that?
The program is real. It has a particular focus for students who are challenged by questions and who search for answers that involve challenging complexities.
At Gravette High, EAST students develop strategies to find answers, particularly those in the complex technological world in which we live today.
Such was the project of a five-member team, “Alpha,” who faced the challenge of mapping sidewalks in Gravette.
Sounds simple? The students quickly learned there is more to such a project than digging out a tape measure. It involved providing all types of information for the city of Gravette to use in planning for additional sidewalks, information needed when seeking money for such a project.
Alpha team members Wyatt Gibbons, Ryan Bolduc, Jacob Taylor, Andy Gardner and Emili Akins discovered how to tap into GPS-GIS satellites for location information, utilized computers and tracked reference points. Unexpected challenges popped up when it was discovered some “current” points were not accurate, that plots currently on paper didn’t paint an accurate picture.
Of course the project also involved walking the walk routes which can accurately be called hands/feet-on research.
Always there to help guide their studies was Taos Jones, who is the facilitator director of the EAST projects at Gravette High.
This past year, 45 students have been involved in the EAST class which is actually called “EAST LAB.” The members have been involved in various other projects this year, as have students during the past four years Jones has been the facilitator.
One project has been organizing the city of Gravette’s massive file of city ordinances which have accumulated during the past 100-plus years and which involve every segment of operations in the city. Team members discovered that many ordinances are now obsolete, that many have been repealed and many have been amended numerous times.
Organizing and cataloging the documents into a manageable and easily accessed format will be of value to the city and its citizens for many years to come.
Another ongoing project has been locating and identifying grave sites in Hillcrest Cemetery. The cemetery, which dates back more than a hundred years, has been, and is, a particular challenge, made greater because many grave sites are not marked; many have never been used. Utilizing GIS, the research being undertaken will enable the city to provide a “Find a Grave” service on the city’s web page. Jones indicated this “is a big work in progress” and will take several years to complete.
Projects of past teams have included helping to develop the original Phase I Wildlife Trail in Pop Allum Park and continuing with Phase II of the project which was completed earlier this year. Future plans for expansion of the trail system will prove challenging for future students if they choose to adopt such a project.
Jones explained that, as a facilitator, his job is to suggest possible projects, listen to and consider projects the students themselves suggest and then help them as they work, and evaluate and guide them in their studies.
“I’m there to help them (the students) as they decide on a project and its path, and to help keep them on the path,” Jones said.
Another project that shows their work, Jones mentioned, is the creation of posters placed at the Eagle Watch nature trail at SWEPCO near Gentry. The students identified plant and bird species which can be seen at the site and created attractive posters which aid trail walkers as they enjoy their walks.
Six EAST-lab students, this year, attended the International Convention held in Hot Springs: Meagan Ward, Kylee Davis, Mollie Hendren, Tyler Kerley, Josh Lockhart and Spencer Heald were evaluated by judges through a personal interview system. They earned a superior rating, Taos said. “This was a first time for the Gravette students,” he said proudly.
EAST began as a pilot program in Arkansas during the 1995-96 school year in Greenbrier High School with the aim to “educate students in technology in a group/team format.” Thus the team approach was set which enables students to work together as they learn and solve problems.
EAST is now in several hundred schools in many states, among them Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, California and Iowa.
News, Pages 10 on 05/22/2013