Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gills Tells Rotarians About 'Good Things'

Good things are happening in Gurdon Schools.

This was the message given to the Gurdon Rotary Club at its regular meeting Thursday, April 3.

Gurdon High School Principal Leonard Gills gave the Rotarians a brief history of the Edcor grants the district received from International Paper Co. About 70 percent of the IP Foundation budget goes toward helping education, he said.

Last year Gurdon received $19,000 in IP grants. Two for GHS and one for Gurdon Primary School. Gills said Edcor gives more than $500,000 annually in grants.

He said Gurdon can apply for as many as six grants annually, with hopes of getting five approved and funded.

Gills turned the program over to Charles Failla, media director at GHS. He said Failla was responsible for writing the grant application which garnered $9,000 for GHS for technological use.

Failla said till 1993 he was unaware of networking, though the Gurdon district had done some networking with computers since 1983.

This was originally done, he said, with Apple computers at GPS. This progressed to a MacIntosh lab at Gurdon Middle School.

In 1993, he said, the Arkansas General Assembly formed the Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN). This program is working to link all school systems in Arkansas together via computer.

It's primary purpose is for student and financial management reporting to the Arkansas Department of Education.

But, before a school could get on the APSCN system, Failla said, it had to meet the specifications. This included having someone dedicated to operating the system and getting it installed. In Gurdon's case, this was Failla.

He attended a two-week training session to learn how to install a computer network system in the current GMS, which was then GHS. Once the training was completed, the APSCN program provided the wiring, cables, software, server, network interface cards and router needed to set it up in the school.

The phone lines had to be upgraded as well because they would be carrying a higher volume of calls. Southwestern Bell Telephone, he said, installed T-1 lines at GHS.

With everything in place, GHS was ready to go on-line with the internet. The district, Failla said, started slowly, with eight connections, in the spring of 1994.

Once the connections were in place, the district could E-mail others, telenet, download files from the internet, and put its OSCAR program on the system for the maintaining of grades, class schedules and report cards.

Fiberoptics entered the picture in the winter of 1995. Installing these lines cost Gurdon about $90,000.

Then, just for variety's sake, once this was completed, GHS moved to its new location on Highway 67, and the networking had to be installed all over again.

Failla said the district knew it needed more connections and help. A committee was formed and began brainstorming on how these new goals could be accomplished.

The answer it came up with was grant applications. Gurdon's district began writing grants to upgrade the network and add more terminals.

In addition, the committee wanted to teach the teachers how to better utilize the system, and, in many cases, how to get on the internet. Failla said there were times when the students became the teachers and helped their instructors log onto the information superhighway.

But, he said, the committee also had to find teachers who wanted to learn networking, as this isn't something the district wanted to force down their throats.

Because of this, teams were formed in all schools, with guidelines established. These teachers went through week-long, hands-on training programs where they learned to literally install networks. This included stringing the necessary wiring throughout the buildings.

The district upgraded from 25 to 50 users and has enough connections to share throughout the district.

As part of the grant, Failla said, this spring an in-service training session was held to let teachers know what is available on the internet and world wide web.

"The grant opened lots of areas of possibility for us," he told the club members.

However, he pointed out the computer and internet are nothing more than tools. "They won't replace the teachers," he said, "but will help them do their jobs better and help the students learn better and be more up to date."

At this time, Failla is working to create a web-site for GHS. With a web page, he said, people can learn about the community and visit Gurdon's schools.

Another plan is to make local area networks available to the public, along with adding more software.

"This is good learning experience for the students," Failla said of the APSCN system. "It gives them skills for the workplace."

But, he pointed out, more connections are needed at GMS, while more computers are needed at GPS. More teachers are also wanting to get on-line, he said.

"APSCN has allowed us to get teachers exposed to technology," he said, "and the students want technology.

"I say let them use it as best they can. It has costs, but that's why we write grants."

Failla said one ninth grade student completed an assignment and put it on their web page to be graded.

He said the Dawson Education Cooperative has begun giving internet training focusing on the middle level for the core courses.

"I think we're beginning to see what can be done in this area," he said. "We've got to keep up with the times. We can't use yesterday's technology today. There's a lot of stuff out there."

Gills said the district is now working on a distance learning program, with representatives visiting schools where this technology is in place.