May 2007 — News
Print this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
Kennedy Middle School Stimulates Learning with Multimedia, Computing Power
Middle school students in Germantown, WI who are eager to learn about the latest technology have a fervent ally in their principal, Steve Bold. As principal of the 890-student Kennedy Middle School there for the last 11 years, he has been a passionate proponent of implementing computer training, presentation technology, and video production into the curriculum whenever he can. The result is more engaged, interested and involved students. We talked to him at his bustling middle school about how he uses tech to teach, experiments with new tools, and how he envisions the use of this technology in the future.
T.H.E. Journal: This is a really big school. How do you use technology to teach all these students and keep them engaged?
Steve Bold: When I was hired as principal 11 years ago, we tried to determine what students were going to need 10 years down the road. After two or three years of exploration, we ultimately created a curriculum that was implemented here at the school. When I originally presented it to the Board of Education, it was based on my going to the job ads in the newspaper and looking for every entry level position that was listed. I highlighted each one, and asked what were the technical skills they wanted for their employees if they were going into this entry-level position?
From that point, I developed the notion that if this is the only class these children will have between now and when they enter into an entry-level position at that most basic level, we can say with confidence that all of the students would have had access and exposure to those skills. The key things that we looked at were keyboarding skills, so that kids can type at a rate of 25 to 30 words per minute with accuracy. We also implemented word processing skills [and] some multimedia capabilities, and we integrated safe use of the Internet. That seems obvious now, but if you think back to 1996, that may not have seemed as important back then. As we've seen what's happening with technology and the Internet and potential harmful effects of the Internet, educating kids early was critical.
T.H.E. Journal: Let's talk about the technology you're using in classrooms, aside from teaching of computers and technical applications. What about in "everyday classrooms" What sort of presentation equipment were you using when you first came here, and what are you using now?
Steve Bold: It was very limited when I first got here as the principal. We had some computer labs, and they were more Mac-based. That was the extent of it. It was very limited. There was more demand than the ability to meet the demand. There were more teachers in classrooms that wanted to use a computer lab, and we only had one lab. That's something that's evolved tremendously. We now have five or six labs that we can actually access.
T.H.E. Journal: How many kids per computer did you have then compared to now?
Steve Bold: Statistically breaking it down, there are at least, for sure, five times as many computers now as there were then. During that time, even with a progressive board of education with technology, few teachers had access to technology in order to develop instructional programming to use with students. A couple of years ago, there was a big push to get teachers access to laptops so that we could increase training opportunities for platforms of technology usage. At least they have the tools as teachers to be able to do those things, and then we incorporated them into the classroom.
T.H.E. Journal: What kinds of laptops are they using?
Steve Bold: They are HP laptops, and the deal was done with a three-year lease program.
