When I reflect back over the nearly eleven years of my principalship, the accomplishments that stand out as the most gratifying were those that involved envisioning and designing something new, and, ultimately, having a hand in bringing it to life. Whether re-defining our mission and vision, guiding philosophical shifts in school culture, or leading massive change in the instructional paradigm, these experiences all afforded the opportunity for creative expression. I guess that leaving a bit of your own soul in a project is, despite the labor, a deeply satisfying endeavor. And never is that more concretely felt than in a physical project that has a visible "before-and-after."
The Media Resource Center, designed and built in 2009, was the most ambitious such facility renovation of my tenure. After over a year of planning, the transformation was completed in a single summer. Nearly every summer since, I reflect back with my colleague and then-administrative assistant, Karen Raap, on how it was even possible that we completed all that work - and all our regular summer work - in just ten weeks. I think it was the juice of creativity that propelled us.
It was a year later that the Home and School Association funded $110,000 in technology upgrades hat included interactive whiteboards, the hardwired Mac lab in the Media Resource Center, teacher laptops, and most significantly, the robust wireless network that supports our work today. That defining moment began a tidal wave of instructional shifts. In short order, we put mobile technology into the hands of our students and there was no turning back. It didn't take long to realize that if we had known in 2009 where this foray into mobile technology would take us, we would never have installed a hardwired lab.
So here we are, nearly eight years later, still using those hearty desktop Macs that were predicted to last only five years. We have finally reached the sunset of their usefulness, however, as they are no longer capable of accepting updates to the Chrome browser. Chrome is, quite literally, our lifeline to the Google domain that is our contemporary workspace. Our plan for a replacement strategy that would move us to more functional and economical Chromebooks providentially aligned with proposing potential projects for the Auction "Ask." (This is the collaborative effort that has previously funded scholarships and made our new gym floor a reality.)
What began as a functional plan, evolved into a vision of an idealized space to better support the collaborative project work that is the framework of so much of our student learning today. A conceptualization of the redesigned computer lab portion of our Media Center is in your Home Folders today. I think you will recognize that the space was designed to support flexibility, collaborative project work, and creativity.
Much has been written about the importance of flexible-use spaces in educational environments of the future. (See Horizon Report). The transformation of our static computer lab into an inspiring creative learning lab is the next critical step in keeping our school relevant and forward-thinking. It will also send a confident message to prospective families, potentially attracting new students that would be a significant return on investment.
The only way we can manage a transformation of this scale in today's economy, however, is to pool our resources, as we did for the gym project last year. In the spirit of our James Bond Auction theme, this project has been dubbed "Operation Spectre." Thank you for whatever you can contribute to making this reimagined space a reality. If you won't be at the Auction, you can still participate. Simply send a check to the office made out to St. Robert Home and School Association with "Operation Spectre" in the memo line. No gift is too small. It's, rather, many gifts that will enable this project to come to life.
If we accomplish our fundraising mission, we will be able to give our children an inspiring workspace and excellent tools to support their creative endeavors. Can I put this renovation on my summer To-Do list?
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