THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408100167
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
BACK TO SCHOOL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COURTLAND LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Southampton High School - one of the most technologically advanced high schools in the state - will take yet another step into the future this fall.
A state grant will enable the school to provide modern research and communication capabilities for its students, Principal Bill Wright said.
``From anywhere in the school, you can access anything that is electronically accessible,'' Wright said of the new system. ``Anything that is an electronically based source, we can provide to the individual classroom.''
The state provided $27,000 to Southampton, and the locality contributed $9,000 of in-kind value, Wright said.
The grant will not buy computers and televisions for every classroom, but it will pay for the computer software to link them someday.
The school was designed and built for advanced technology. Each classroom is already wired for computer terminals and television monitors.
Last year, portable computer and television stations moved from one classroom to another. But not all of those computers are equipped with a ``local area network card.''
Part of the grant will pay for LAN cards for the remaining terminals, allowing them to link through a computer network. Another portion will be used to enhance the Pro Quest system that provides modern research capabilities.
The school also will buy an expanded file server, or the ``brains'' of the computer system, with grant money, Wright said.
``We're going to be better able to meet the capabilities the building was designed for,'' he said. ``Our ability to enhance instruction within the classroom is greatly improved.''
Using funds from other sources, the school will purchase a television screen or VCR monitor for every classroom by early fall to allow students to gain remote access to the school library system.
The school also will begin using interactive TV for announcements, Wright said. He will be able to broadcast daily on classroom monitors instead of over an intercom.
With that technology, school officials also will be able to broadcast programs from satellite, or from within the school, to each classroom.
``The capability of this building is beyond what 95 percent of the schools in the state would be,'' Wright said. ``Our challenge is to develop our full capacity from it. There's no sense in having a wire if you don't have something at the end of the wire.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Southampton High Principal Bill Wright, left, and Larry Frantz, the
audio-visual specialist, check the new equipment in the audio-visual
broadcast room.
by CNB