Meeting Notes 2/10/2107
Meeting Participants: Willa, Charity, Dorothy, David, Pauline, Edwin, Dan, Lauren, Omar, Fatimah.
TECHNOLOGY DEMO
Paul from Madison County Schools’ IT Dept gave a demonstration of the IT equipment available at the school. The costs of laptops have gone down substantially within the last 6-12 months.
Projectors
- USTP (ultra short throw projector) costs $1500. They are installed 3-ft from the wall and are mounted to the wall
- Casio projectors: $800; lasts for approximately 7 years. They are bright and may be in the presenters’ eyes. They sometimes leave a bright spot on the board. Needs an extended bar for mounting from the ceiling. Operates using a LED/laser light combo so there’s little noise. There’s no need to turn off lights as a speaker presents.
Mimio/smart board capability
- Mimios cost $600-900. Turns a white board into a smartboard. Includes lessons/templates in a gallery. Can connect to HMDI and is capable of using sound.
- Can use “idea paint” on a smooth wall to create white board.
- The school system currently uses chalkboard and a material over it to make it a white board. Most teachers like having both projector space with whiteboard writing space
Desktop vs. laptop vs. docking station: the Friends group will rely on Paul’s recommendation
Interactive large TV: costs $3500. There’s less flexibility with only using a TV
Document camera: costs $600-700. The school system has some that are 7-8 years old. Teachers like to place books under them.
Printers: There’s a cost/copy option with Toshiba, so that a printer is not need at the Anderson School.
Wiring of fiber/high-speed internet and equipment: David will meet with Joe David (Madison Co Schools) and will include Dan. Fiber needs to be installed before the end of June since it’s covered under the e-rate program. Also needed before we can do anything else. David will work with Paul, Joe, Dan, and Scott (architect) to develop an order — need to focus on location of the fiber cabinet, rack, fiber route, etc. (all this needs power). David reiterated that all this needs to be done by July at the latest; in a worst-case scenario, Paul mentioned that at least the fiber can be installed and not energized.
The Friends Group needs to go home and think about all the scenarios that could happen at the Anderson School so that the room(s) are designed to handle them.
GENERAL
- The Madison Co. Schools Superintendent visited the Anderson School last Thursday. He is excited about the project and sees it potential; could possibly be a professional development site for teachers in the region
- There is now a link to the Anderson School project on the Madison County School’s website
- Need to update google search info, maybe SEO search criteria
- Simone has updated the Friends Group’s website for the Anderson School with new photos
- Steve Tweed wants to interview alumni from the school
- Madison County Expo is on Mar 11; need volunteers to help with the booth and answer questions
ALUMNI RELATIONS
Fatimah is creating a letter and audio message to get alumni to attend the next Alumni mtg on March 24. She will send out a recurring email every 2 weeks re: work days. She also is collecting emails.
BUDGET REVIEW
The storage unit fee of $210 has been paid through June 2017. Willa requested that we work on freeing up storage space at the school. Dan mentioned this may be a problem as there is already a lot of stuff there. Need to add Madison Expo fee of $75 to expenses.
CONSTRUCTION
- David will convene a meeting soon with Scott, Dan, Paul, and Joe to work on a schedule/priority list of outstanding items.
- There’s a construction course at Madison Co High School taught by Brad Franklin. They are working on a pavilion in Mars Hill. We may be able to get the class to work on the siding of the school.
FUNDRAISING
- Holden visited the school last Thursday. By spring, some school-wide projects will be done. David feels encouraged that some funding from the Madison County School system.
- David/Willa received a call from the Tourism Development Authority and they strongly recommended that the school submit another grant application. David will work on that ASAP.
- The NC State Employees Credit Union has a $2 Mil fund. Need to work on submitting an application.
- Fatimah will continue to follow up with Mr. Smitt (sp?) at Wells Fargo and wants to include David
HISTORY
No new updates. Dan is looking for any interior and exterior photos of the school. Only has photos from Fatimah. These photos are needed to help figure out where to place things. Charity will see if she has some from her time at the school or anytime. She has one from a play. Omar mentioned that Alonzo may have some pictures.
WORK DAYS
- There have been 3 workdays since the last January meeting. Dan, Les, Fatimah, and Omar have participated. Right now, most of the available work is done; we can use volunteers when it is time to put up the bead board.
- We need to make a decision on the flooring. There’s a lot of asphalt/tar glue on the original flooring. David mentioned that Steve Wallin has equipment that may remove this material. If this stuff does not come off, Dan mentioned that we may have to re-do the entire floor. The Huff House has tongue & groove pine flooring of the same period that’s 4” wide–it does not match the flooring in the school but should be considered for the addition. MHU is waiting on us to remove everything before demolishing it. David mentioned we should also approach Brad Franklin about the flooring. If we do have to remove some of the original flooring, some wood could be salvaged for the stage.
- There are 2 sets of doors at the Huff House if needed
- If the Tankerslee Rosenwald School in AL does not move forward, we could approach them about folding doors, bead board, flooring, and the blackboard
- Main issues remaining: need to beef up foundation corners, drainage, and flooring. Most of this volunteers cannot do.