April 2019 -听A new partnership between the 极速六合彩 transportation department and the automotive technology program at the 极速六合彩 Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center is giving high school auto tech students a unique opportunity to gain real-world experience. 极速六合彩 service fleet vehicles are sent to the CTC where auto tech students perform needed preventative听maintenance.

鈥淲e鈥檙e preparing our students to be ready for the workforce,鈥� said Guy Jones, 极速六合彩 fleet manager and the architect of this new partnership, along with Jamal Harvey, automotive technology teacher at the CTC.

The CTC, which opened in 2017 and was funded by the 2014 Bond program, houses a state-of-the-art automotive shop and educational space with equipment provided by the Moritz Automotive Dealerships. Upper classmen from all 极速六合彩 high schools travel to the CTC for automotive classes.

Service fleet vehicles are the district鈥檚 maintenance and operations vehicles. The majority are pickup trucks, Suburbans and vans, and many were also funded by the 2014 Bond. They are typically serviced in the transportation department鈥檚 own shop by the district鈥檚 professional mechanics.

But Jones came up with a new idea. Let the district鈥檚 automotive students do standard vehicle preventative maintenance (PMs) on the service fleet in the CTC shop, simulating for them what a real entry-level auto tech job is like. Larger repairs, including anything that might carry liability issues, would be left to the district鈥檚 mechanics.

The new partnership kicked off in January and is still getting off the ground, but already service fleet vehicles are going to the CTC for routine maintenance. The goal is to send six to eight each week.

The service fleet vehicles are dropped off at the CTC in the morning, and then auto tech students perform PMs and light repairs, including oil changes, fuel filter changes, tire rotations and alignments. Jamal Harvey and fellow CTC automotive teacher Gary Foote inspect and sign-off on all the students鈥� work. The students also inspect the vehicles and let the transportation department know if any larger issues exist.

Mastering preventative maintenance is crucial for the students, as that鈥檚 what will qualify them for their first jobs. And the chance to perform PMs on a large number of vehicles 鈥� especially vehicles that are operational and belong to a client 鈥� is exceptional.

鈥淚鈥檝e never had this happen at a district where they鈥檇 let us work on district vehicles,鈥� Harvey said.

The vehicles come in and go out, much like a real shop, offering students a real-world experience. And their work matters. Students get a strong sense of responsibility knowing their work on the vehicles helps the district and the district employees who drive them.

鈥淭he students see something new on a regular basis, and they get to run into problems,鈥� Harvey said.

Good problems 鈥� the kind that offer challenges that students must overcome, ultimately making them better mechanics.

鈥淭his gives them the skills to hold down a job,鈥� Harvey said.

Harvey explained that most auto mechanic shops will not employ anyone under 18, so getting real-world experience is hard to find. But the opportunity to work on service fleet vehicles fills that gap, giving students experience they can鈥檛 get anywhere else. Once they graduate, they鈥檒l be ready to get a job.

In addition to the service fleet vehicles, the transportation department also provided two old Silverado pickup trucks to the CTC shop. The trucks had exhausted their usefulness to the district and were slated for auction. Jones sent them to the CTC first though to serve as training vehicles, and he expects to send more in the future. The trucks will be auctioned by the District once the training opportunities have been fully realized.

鈥淭hese are great because it鈥檚 hard to get vehicles donated that actually run,鈥� Harvey said.

Students can train on these trucks and take them apart without having to worry about breaking something.

Jones and Harvey are extremely excited about their new partnership as both are passionate about sharing their automotive experience with students and preparing them for successful careers in the industry. 鈥淔ellow gear heads,鈥� as Jones described them, they believe this partnership is just the beginning.

鈥淏oth departments feel this could manifest itself into a program that has tremendous growth potential and be a program for other districts to model,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淲e can have this thing snowball.鈥�

For example, Jones and Harvey envision a future summer mentorship program for auto tech students at the transportation department. Students 鈥� after they have gained valuable PM experience at the CTC 鈥� would apply for, interview and ultimately earn a paid summer job at the 极速六合彩 transportation department shop. They would spend the summer getting real-life experience alongside the district鈥檚 professional mechanics.

Jones鈥� vision goes even further.

鈥淧erhaps someday we鈥檒l hire one of our auto tech graduates to become a mechanic for the district, or an automotive instructor, or even the fleet manager.鈥�

When Kyle Durr was an Arlington High School student taking agriculture classes, he wanted to raise animals. Since he didn't have a place to keep them, he posted a sign in a local feed store seeking a place to board a heifer and a goat.

The sign worked, but raising animals made for long days. Early every morning Durr got up to go look after his heifer, which was kept in Dalworthington Gardens, and then his goat, which stayed in Pantego - all before getting to school at 7:30.

He loved it though and eventually became an agriculture teacher himself at his alma mater, Arlington High School.

When he returned to AHS as a teacher, nothing had changed. His students also had to pay local residents with property to house their animals.

"As a teacher, I had to go to random people's houses to check on all the animals," Durr said.

That all changed in October 2017 when the new bond-funded 极速六合彩 Agricultural Science Center opened.

The Agricultural Science Center

"I would have had so much more success if I'd had this as a student," Durr said, with maybe a little envy, about the new Agricultural Science Center.

At least he gets to teach in the new 23,000 square-foot facility.

The building includes 54 flexible-fencing pens for goats and sheep, 14 heifer pens, rabbit pens, an animal exercise area, two large classrooms, and a metal construction lab.

The facility is also net-zero, with solar panels, a wind turbine and rain water storage tanks. The solar panels are already producing more than enough power to run the facility and are actually putting the excess electricity back on the grid. (Read more about the Ag Center's energy efficiency.)

Built on a large site, expansion is an option for the future if needed.

The future was and is very much behind the planning and vision that went into making the Ag Center a reality. Durr and Ginger Polster, principal of the new 极速六合彩 Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center and the Ag Center, assisted in the planning and design and were able to offer their expertise to the architects.

Smack in the middle of the Metroplex, the 极速六合彩's ag program isn't traditional agriculture with acres and acres of land. But even in the urban setting, agriculture is just as important.

"From the clothes you wear to the food you eat, agriculture is the foundation," Polster said.

"We have to think about ag differently," she said. "Students need to gain the understanding of where our food supply comes from and what it's going to look like in 10 years - and how it can be sustained. What does ag look like for the next generation?"

Polster wants students to get the big picture and participate in hands-on, real-world agriculture. She envisions the Ag Center as a place where students learn how ag works today, but also engage in non-traditional, cutting-edge ag methods that will revolutionize the industry in the future.

With rising populations but decreasing farm land in much of the world, non-traditional and new ag methods are growing in importance.

"That's the future," Polster said.

OPPORTUNITIES

While the Ag Center offers a lot of possibilities for the future, it is already providing many new opportunities for 极速六合彩 students today. Students are getting to learn and experience agriculture in a setting designed specifically for that.

Most importantly, the new facility opened ag education to all high school students in the district. Previously, only AHS and Martin High School had ag programs. Now students from all 极速六合彩 high schools can - and do - attend classes at the new facility.

It also opened welding to all 极速六合彩 students. Previously, Lamar and Seguin high schools did not have welding at all, and welding classes at other schools were often too full to accommodate all interested students. But now, introduction to welding is taught in the Ag Center's metal lab and is open to all district students. If a student decides to pursue welding further, he or she can take more advanced classes at the new Career and Technical Center.

The Ag Center doesn't just offer more students access to ag education, it also offers a significantly better educational experience than what used to be possible at AHS and Martin, along with additional courses.

To start with, the classrooms at the Ag Center are much better than the old ones. Besides being new, Durr said his classroom now is two-and-a-half times bigger than what he had at AHS.

Even better than the size is what's right outside the classroom - animals.

"It's pretty hard to teach an animal class using just a poster of a cow," Durr said, speaking from experience.

But now classes are "live labs," as Polster described them. Teachers and students can examine the animals and check vitals during class.

"We have a wealth of resources," Durr said.

The Ag Center is a great space for classes, but for many students, the best thing it offers is a free place to keep animals.

Free housing is what makes raising an animal possible for many students. Animals are expensive, and students foot 100 percent of the cost, from buying the animals to feeding and caring for them. On top of that, before the Ag Center, most students had to pay to board their animals somewhere. Thanks to the Ag Center, that cost has been eliminated, making raising an animal more affordable and realistic.

Durr gave the example of a student from Seguin who lives in an apartment but will raise a goat this year. Thanks to the Ag Center, he has a place to keep it. Another new ag student from Seguin participated in the Fort Worth Calf Scramble last year and won $500 to purchase a heifer. She'll get the heifer this school year and keep it at the Ag Center. Before the Ag Center, neither of those students would have had the opportunity to take ag classes at Seguin, much less raise an animal.

Being able to keep their goats and heifers at the Ag Center isn't just better for students, it's also better for the animals. The Ag Center's pens and facilities are an improvement over what most had in the past, allowing for a healthier living environment. Plus, the ag teachers are right there and can keep a close eye on the animals' health and well-being. And students have ample access to their animals as the facility is open daily from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. - and sometimes later.

The Ag Center can also host livestock shows, something the 极速六合彩 couldn't do in the past. Just two months after opening, the Ag Center hosted its first livestock show last December, the Arlington Winter Classic.

Experiences like raising animals and participating in livestock shows add significantly to the education in the classroom and offer invaluable lessons in areas like responsibility, entrepreneurship and leadership.

"A lot of learning happens outside the classroom," Durr said.

Future Farmers of America is another big part of that. The organization provides students a wealth of opportunities and learning experiences that help with career development and teach leadership. Previously, only AHS and Martin had chapters of FFA, but now the two chapters have merged to create a districtwide chapter open to all students, with meetings held at the Ag Center. Participation immediately doubled last year and will likely continue to grow.

GROWTH

The Ag Center is already fostering greater interest in ag education among Arlington students. In 2016-2017, the 极速六合彩 had only three ag teachers. But due to an increasing number of student course requests for agriculture, that number grew to nine last year and reached 10 for the 2018-2019 school year.

Courses at the Ag Center include ag mechanics, intro to welding, wildlife management, livestock production and veterinary medical applications. A vet assistant practicum, which includes a vet tech certification, has been added this school year.

"We'd like to add more courses based on student interest, courses like range management and a student-run orchard and garden," Durr said. "This program is only going to grow."

It's already growing, and growing fast. In fact, the Ag Center is already maxed out for this year with 559 students enrolled in classes at the new facility.

Those students, and many more after them, will all have it much better than their teacher Durr did when he was a student.

But Durr couldn't be happier about that.

The first and only net-zero building in the Arlington area is the 极速六合彩's new Agricultural Science Center. As a net-zero facility, it utilizes a solar array and wind turbine to produce more energy annually than it consumes. On average it produces more energy than it uses each day and pushes the surplus onto the local power grid.

On sunny summer days, the Ag Science Center's solar array produces about one megawatt of electricity, and the wind turbine produces about 1.7 kilowatts per day. Solar panels produce DC current, so inverters convert the DC voltage off the array into AC electricity that the building can use. None of the electricity is stored, so the Ag Science Center uses what it needs and then pushes any surplus onto the local power grid. Equipped with a bi-directional meter, the Ag Science Center can also buy electricity from the grid whenever solar and wind are not producing enough, like at night. The facility also has four rain water storage tanks and uses the collected water for irrigation and other purposes.

(See how much energy the Ag Center is producing on a daily basis.)

"This is the start of using solar to lower our energy use," said Danny Helm, 极速六合彩 energy manager.

Not only does it lower energy use, it also lowers energy bills. And the excess energy that the Ag Science Center produces and delivers to the local power grid provides the district a renewable energy credit on its monthly power bill.

"The idea of being environmentally conscience is not just reducing, reusing, and recycling," said Kelly Horn, 极速六合彩 executive director of facility services. "It has grown to include energy conservation and efficiency."

Energy efficiency is now a major priority for the 极速六合彩. In fact, since 2010-2011, the 极速六合彩 has reduced the amount of electricity it uses per square foot by 28 percent.

"The district as a whole has gone a long way toward being more efficient," Helm said.

But Helm, Horn and the district are always looking for more ways to improve. With the 2014 Bond program, they recognized an opportunity to take their energy efficiency efforts a step further.

"We wanted to bring something into the district that would be a teaching tool for the future," Helm said.

Thus, the district coupled its energy goals with plans to build a bond-funded ag education facility, and then worked with VLK Architects to design and build the net-zero Agricultural Science Center.

The Ag Science Center's purposeful design keeps energy consumption low, ensuring the energy production from the building's solar array and wind turbine is sufficient.

Good ventilation is key. One main corridor - wide enough for pickup trucks and animal trailers - runs the length of the building and has large garage doors on either end. That, combined with large fans and strategically-placed vents, ensures good air flow. LED lighting and high-efficiency HVAC equipment also keep energy consumption low.

"It's a small building," Helm said, designed with energy efficiency in mind."

It was also designed with ag education in mind. The 23,000 square-foot building houses 54 flexible-fencing pens for goats and sheep, 14 heifer pens, rabbit pens, an animal exercise area, two large classrooms and a metal construction lab.

Open less than a year - animals, teachers and students moved in during October 2017 - the Ag Center is already providing new opportunities for many Arlington students.

"Because of the Ag Science Center, now students from all six 极速六合彩 high schools can take ag classes," said Ginger Polster, principal of the Ag Science Center and the 极速六合彩 Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center. 听(Read more about the Ag Center's impact on students.)

Interest in ag education is growing, and the new facility is a big reason why. Classes at the Ag Science Center are already maxed out for the 2018-2019 school year with 559 high school students enrolled, and the number of ag teachers in the district has grown from three to 10 in the last three years to keep pace with student course requests.

But the district doesn't view the Ag Center as just a high school building. The vision for the facility includes students of all ages. Elementary and junior high students will get to visit the Ag Science Center as well, experience agriculture and learn lessons like where their food and clothes come from. And they'll learn about energy, electricity and conservation.

As part of that vision, the entrance to the Ag Science Center features a 55-inch interactive touch screen that will soon display a dashboard showing the Center's production and usage of energy. Students will be able to see in real-time how it all works. And since the Ag Science Center is sub-metered, the dashboard will show how much energy is being used by different building systems, like HVAC or lighting, at any given time.

Helm has been coordinating efforts with Danielle Reynolds, K-12 science coordinator in curriculum and instruction, to further enhance the use of the features of the Ag Science Center. Plans to include other data sources on the dashboard to be used in classroom instruction are under way. Real time data on weather and moon phases, local watershed information, animal life cycles and interactive games are to be embedded in the dashboard soon.

"Ideally, we would like to eventually include live feeds of the animals if possible," Reynolds said." The idea is to help elementary and secondary students see the connectivity of living and non-living things in our environment."

"The 极速六合彩's new Ag Science Center helps to make these ideas a reality for our students and our community," Horn said. "Our students will experience a facility unlike any other in the nation. The net-zero concept is not new to school construction, but the idea is still in its infancy. It just makes good sense to combine proven technologies and nature together to lessen our impact on the environment and, at the same time, help to educate our students."

听

March 2018 -听The 极速六合彩 transportation department is making significant headway this year in getting Zonar up and running.

Zonar is a tracking system that registers when students get on and off their school bus. Funded by the 2014 Bond and now installed on all 极速六合彩 buses, it also includes a GPS component that allows the transportation department to know where its buses are at all times.

鈥淭he system is an added safety for our students and a peace of mind for our parents and guardians," said Tim Collins, 极速六合彩 director of transportation.

Installing the system on buses was the easy part. The process of rolling the program out to students is much more involved.

The student riders each get a new 鈥淶-Pass鈥� ID badge, which has a little chip inside. When they get on or off the bus, they wave the ID badge near the Zonar reader at the front. A beep and green light confirms the card was read, and the time, date and location of where the student got on and off the bus is recorded immediately in a secure database, accessible only by the transportation department.

Debbie Swenson, 极速六合彩 transportation systems and technical analyst, is leading the campaign to get each of the 极速六合彩鈥檚 approximately 11,000 neighborhood bus riders badged.

鈥淚t is a huge undertaking,鈥� Swenson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being meticulous and doing it right. We鈥檙e being very careful to make sure every student who should get a badge gets one.鈥�

Swenson and the transportation department are focusing first on high schools and then junior highs, which represent the majority of student riders. First Swenson hosts an assembly at each campus to explain how Zonar works and to collect information on all the riders. She then reviews the list of students and ensures every eligible student from that campus is included. Finally, ID badges are issued to the students.

Swenson has now held the assemblies at all of the 极速六合彩鈥檚 traditional high schools. Students at Arlington, Martin, and the Career and Technical Center have received their badges. Badging is currently underway at Lamar and Sam Houston and is coming soon at Seguin and Bowie. Students at Bailey and Gunn junior high will also receive badges soon.

Swenson is aiming to complete all high schools and junior highs this academic school year, and then complete all elementaries next year.

It's a big process, especially since Zonar is just one of three new software systems the transportation department has recently adopted.

The department went live on the first day of school in August with a new routing software called Versatrans.

鈥淚t鈥檚 phenomenal,鈥� Swenson said. 鈥淭his is way beyond the system we were using before."

Versatrans includes so much more detail and allows for the creation of more efficient bus routes. It also helps determine the eligibility of students to ride the bus based on their home addresses.

In addition to Versatrans and Zonar, the 极速六合彩 transportation department recently implemented Bus Bulletin, a notification system that sends alerts when there are bus delays and schedule changes. It was rolled out last spring for schools so they would receive notification of bus changes in a timely manner. Then in January, the parent portal went live, which allows parents to receive the notifications specific to their children鈥檚 bus. Parents can sign up for text alerts, phone calls or emails. To sign up, .

March 2018 -听As you walk toward the end of the long hall at Pearcy Elementary, toward the two new STEM labs, you may hear a lot of noise coming from inside the last two rooms on the right.

"It's not quiet," Pearcy Principal Codi Van Duzee said.

It's the sound of excited discussion and even some laughter - the sounds of students figuring things out, working together, testing, failing and trying again.

It's the sound of learning - exactly what the two new STEM labs, which opened at the beginning of this school year, are for.

Pearcy has wasted no time taking full advantage of the renovated spaces.

All 极速六合彩 elementaries are getting two new STEM labs as part of the 2014 Bond program. The STEM - science, technology, engineering and math - labs represent the strong commitment the 极速六合彩 has made to improving education in science and math and sparking student interest in these disciplines. (Read more about the 极速六合彩's STEM labs)

Each school is also getting a staff person to manage the labs. But Pearcy went a step further and hired a full-time STEM and technology teacher, Karissa Johnston, in addition to the STEM manager.

Johnston, who, like her principal, can't hide her excitement and enthusiasm about their STEM labs, designs and teaches STEM lessons for all Pearcy classes, kindergarten through sixth grade. She aligns the lessons with what the students are doing in their other classes, incorporating science, technology and engineering into their regular coursework.

For example, when kindergarteners read the book "Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing," about P.T. Barnum's circus elephants crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Johnston designed a lesson that required students to build bridges out of Popsicle sticks and paper cups so that all the elephants could walk across.

Johnston also collaborates and co-teaches with other teachers who want to teach a particular lesson in the STEM labs, and she visits other classrooms to teach about technology.

"We already had very technology-focused teachers at Pearcy, but the STEM labs have taken us to another level," Van Duzee said. "Our whole building has been very focused on this idea of STEM learning."

This STEM learning is student-driven. The students work together to figure out how to problem solve or make something work.

"We're really focused on rigorous and relevant learning experiences with enriching hands-on activities," Van Duzee said.

A recent third-grade project involved making parachutes. Students in small groups had to design and make a parachute, then attach it to a small cup that held a miniature Santa Claus. Johnston gave each group "$10" to buy the supplies听 they needed from what she had provided in the classroom and then turned them loose to do the work. They had to carefully choose their supplies - and make sure they fit in their budget - and then make an operable parachute that, when tested from a specified height, would allow Santa to land standing up.

"Johnston never tells them how something is supposed to be done," Van Duzee said. "A lot of times there is no right answer."

She provides the supplies, parameters and information and then allows the students to discover and figure it out on their own.

All projects require collaboration and a lot of discussion. And often they involve failure.

The parachute might not work the first time. The code written by students to make a Lego robot move might not work the first time. Trial and error is required, along with thought and discussion on how to get it right the next time. It's about problem solving and figuring out why things work, or why they don't work.

"Value is in experience, and you learn so much when it's wrong," Van Duzee said.

There is no doubt this method of teaching is something that works.

"The kids love it," Van Duzee said. "And there are no discipline issues because the students want to be there.

"It's very much an enriching time for them."

While the lessons focus on science and technology, they also intentionally foster skills that will benefit students in all subjects now and into the future.

"We don't know what kinds of careers will be available when these students enter the job market," Van Duzee said.

But the skills they are learning in the STEM labs are transferable to any job - skills like working well in groups, problem solving, persevering, developing creative solutions to challenges, and valuing mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow.

Yes, it might be a little noisy on the hall as you walk toward the labs - the sounds of talking, laughing, discovering, learning.

But walk inside the labs and see where the noise is coming from. Look at some of the recent projects on display: the catapults, bridges, roller coasters, cardboard microwaves (actually used to cook s'mores) and more. And see the students huddled in discussion, or perched at a laptop writing code, or sprawled on the floor racing robots they built and programmed.

The STEM labs are working. You can hear it.

March 2018 -听Butler Elementary鈥檚 library isn鈥檛 always quiet. In fact, on some days it鈥檚 the loudest room in the school.

That鈥檚 because Butler鈥檚 library is no longer just a room full of books.

Now it鈥檚 also full of technology, with various types of robots, iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, Lego robotics and much more. And it鈥檚 full of students using the technology 鈥� but not always quietly.

The students love the technology 鈥� so much so that many stay after school to hang out in the library. Librarian Tamara Jackson hosts a makerspace twice a week with about 40 students each day. The makerspace 鈥� a time for students to explore and engage with the technology in the library 鈥� is so popular at Butler that Jackson had to cap attendance to keep it manageable.

鈥淎fter school can just be for fun,鈥� Jackson said about the makerspace time.

But it鈥檚 still educational.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e exploring, they鈥檙e talking, they鈥檙e collaborating.鈥�

Jackson provides the technology, along with art supplies and all the library books, and then the students are free to follow their curiosity to explore, create, play and learn.

At one afternoon session, four boys sat together at a table playing with 鈥� little ball-shaped robots controlled with iPads.

鈥淚 like the choice of activities,鈥� one said, and then started listing his favorites.

All four agreed the activity they like best is . They create stop-motion cartoons with little stick figurines, a green screen and an app.

Nearby, two other students used , a device with educational games that digitized their manual drawings. Other students played with robots or Legos or worked on art projects.

One student sat on the floor with her friends making wallets out of duct tape.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of fun,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o many new things.鈥�

They really are new things, because before Jackson arrived three years ago, the library did not have much technology.

But thanks to Jackson鈥檚 passion for technology and several Transformation Through Innovation grants, Butler鈥檚 library has changed dramatically.

鈥淣inety percent of what we use came from the TI grant,鈥� she said.

TI grants are funded by the 2014 Bond package and include $1 million in each of the bond鈥檚 five implementation years to be awarded to 极速六合彩 teachers and schools who develop innovative learning environments for their students through technology. The grant money鈥檚 purpose is to facilitate innovative teaching methods that truly transform the classroom and learning environment. It鈥檚 about using technology to teach in a new, more effective way.

鈥淲e use technology every single week in every single grade,鈥� Jackson said.

The technology is beneficial for all students, but it can be especially useful for those who may struggle with traditional teaching and learning techniques.

鈥淲e all learn differently,鈥� Jackson said.

The hands-on, experiential nature of the technology tools has a way of resonating with students in a way that nothing else does.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about Legos and robots," Jackson said. "It鈥檚 about making connections with learning. Technology can make something click. It can help students be successful.鈥�

Jackson uses the technology to complement what students are learning in their classrooms. It鈥檚 a cross-curricular tool used to foster curiosity, bring concepts and ideas alive, make connections, and deepen understanding.

A good example are the Lego StoryStarter sets. Jackson broke one class into six groups and had each group build various scenes with Legos to tell a story. Then they used iPads to create and narrate stop-motion movies using their Lego scenes.

For younger grades, Jackson assigned a similar project. Second graders built Lego scenes depicting stories they imagined and then took photos of the scenes with iPads. Once back in class, they used the photos to write the stories they had imagined.

So it may be a little louder in the library than it used to be, but that鈥檚 how Jackson intends it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about meeting the needs of each and every student,鈥� she said.

Junior high music uniforms and a concert piano for the future , along with hundreds of new instruments, highlighted phase three fine arts bond purchases. Much of the $1.6 million worth of equipment and uniforms started arriving in the district in August.

Uniforms for junior high band, choir and orchestra were a notable part of phase three orders as this is the first time the 极速六合彩 has provided them. Previously, junior highs had to use their own activity funds if they wanted uniforms.

鈥淭he formal uniforms our students wear from the 极速六合彩 bond have made a huge, positive impact on the orchestra,鈥� said Jennifer Martin, Boles Junior High鈥檚 orchestra director. 鈥淎 successful orchestra performance requires discipline, focus and professionalism in both听demeanor and in dress. These are also skills the students will need in many different career paths. I see my students transform from junior high students into professional adults when they change into their formal uniforms. They feel a shared sense of pride, confidence and professionalism that has enhanced our performances.鈥�

A committee of fine arts staff from across the district selected the uniforms. Unsatisfied with what was commercially available, the committee developed and ordered a design specifically for the 极速六合彩.

鈥淣ow we have a full set of concert wear that can be interchanged as enrollment fluctuates," said Dr. Jeremy Earnhart, 极速六合彩 director of fine arts.

The uniforms are the same for all 极速六合彩 junior highs, so if enrollment at one school increases, it can pull from a surplus at another school.

Phase three bond funds were also used to order a concert piano for the future districtwide . Though the Fine Arts Center isn鈥檛 scheduled to open until 2020, the piano was ordered now because it takes nearly two years to build.

The other instruments ordered in phase three shouldn鈥檛 take as long to receive. The nearly 1,000 new instruments include 312 violins, 152 violas, 149 cellos and some of everything else, from 49 flutes to one vibraphone. Other equipment ordered includes items like chairs, risers, Orff instruments, cases, miscellaneous percussion instruments, pianos, bows, supplemental high school uniforms and more.

Deciding what to buy is a long process and is based entirely on requests from teachers.

鈥淲e build a catalog of all the items they could possibly want or need,鈥� said Michael Stringer, 极速六合彩 coordinator of fine arts and former Martin High School orchestra director.

Teachers at each campus consider their needs, prioritize them and then use an online form to submit their requests. The fine arts department reviews all the campus requests and then submits a comprehensive batch of requests to the purchasing department to seek bids from potential vendors. The best bids are then sent to the 极速六合彩 Board of Trustees for approval. Once approval is granted, the items are ordered.

It鈥檚 a tedious process, Earnhart explained.

鈥淲hile technology will purchase 1,000 of the same laptops on one purchase order, we purchase a thousand different items with a thousand different purchase orders,鈥� he said.

Then receiving and tracking the orders, which are shipped directly to campuses, is practically a full-time job for Dee Benton, 极速六合彩 fine arts secretary, who has now been through this process eight times, dating back to the 2009 Bond program.

The work all pays off for students though.

The 2014 Bond program is about promoting fine arts access and growing programs. Since the 极速六合彩 eliminated instrument fees at the outset of the bond, student participation in band and orchestra has been rising, increasing the need for instruments. Bond funds are providing those instruments and ensuring that no student is denied the opportunity to participate.

The 2014 Bond package includes $9.8 million over the course of five years for district music capital.

To date, the 极速六合彩 security department has installed new security cameras and network video recorders (NVRs) at 55 campuses with funds from the 2014 Bond program. By the end of the five-year bond program, all campuses will receive new cameras.

The new cameras will allow the 极速六合彩 security department to increase video surveillance from 35 to 80 percent of all 极速六合彩 buildings. The increase in coverage includes entry-exit points, stairwells, cafeterias, gyms, libraries, hallways, loading docks and playgrounds.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult for someone to gain access to one of our upgraded facilities and for us to not be able to locate that individual on our security cameras,鈥� said James Smith Jr., 极速六合彩 security manager. 鈥淲ith our upgrades, we can now see locations we couldn鈥檛 see in past years.鈥�

More than 1,800 new cameras and more than 100 new NVRs have been installed so far. These new digital cameras are replacing old analog cameras and provide a better, clearer picture. The digital video taken by the new cameras is saved to a network video recorder (each elementary will have two NVRs, each junior high will have four and each high school will have five), which offers significantly more storage than the old analog recorders. If a principal or assistant principal needs some surveillance video saved, he or she can simply submit a request online and the security department will archive that video indefinitely.

鈥淲e have experienced great success in identifying suspects on various issues with the upgraded camera systems,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淥ur dispatchers are able to monitor any camera 24/7/365, plus campus staff can monitor them throughout the day. The upgrades help reduce the number of burglary offenses within our district because we鈥檙e able to quickly direct law enforcement to the suspects in or around our buildings to make an arrest. The camera upgrades have been a true asset to the taxpayers and school district.鈥�

The 55 completed campuses represent all but five of the planned locations for the first three phases of the bond program. The locations for phase four are currently being planned in conjunction with the network services department.

Installation of the cameras is done after the 极速六合彩鈥檚 network services department first wires each school. To be efficient and only take down the ceiling once, network services runs the wire for the cameras while also running wire for network upgrades, upgrading switches and installing additional wireless drops 鈥� improvements all also funded by the 2014 Bond package. Once the wiring is in place, the security department installs the cameras.

Wednesday, Aug. 23, was a momentous day for the 极速六合彩 as the brand new听, a centerpiece of the 2014 Bond program, opened for students.

Ginger Polster, the CTC鈥檚 principal, described the memorable day:

"After more than three years of planning, today we welcomed students from across the district to the 极速六合彩 Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center. To see the faces of our young adults look upon the CTC and realize the opportunities they now have will forever be etched in my memory. The students' expressions and words said it all. Just a few of the many things they said today included:

'How cool is this,'

'I can't believe I get to go to school here,'

'I wish I could stay here,'

'This is unbelievable,'

'I'm going to be able to get a job when I leave here.'"

Polster continued, "The first day at the CTC was an absolute success, which would not have been possible without the collaborative effort by the entire district to bring this all together, including transportation, food service, IT, facilities and maintenance, central office staff, our teachers, and of course our students.鈥�

Only part of the building opened for that first week of school, while other parts remained under construction. As a result, about half of the CTC鈥檚 scheduled students attended classes at the new facility during the first two weeks of school, while the other half temporarily attended classes at the 极速六合彩 Professional Development Center.

But on Sept. 5, more of the building opened and all scheduled classes and students occupied the facility.

While all of the building is now open, finishing touches and punch-list items throughout the building are being completed in the evenings and early mornings.

The 169,800 square-foot CTC - a major project of the 2014 Bond program - offers juniors and seniors from all 极速六合彩 high schools 27 programs of study, including 17 that are new to the district. More than 4,700 students will attend classes at the CTC and the听听each week.

See photos from the听听and see听.