April 11, 2012 at 6:14 p.m.
Standing out from the crowd
Rhinelander High School's Digital Media Center, video board new highlights
Standing out from the crowd
The biggest advance was having a classroom that was specifically designed as a technology area, rather than trying to retro fit a computer lab into a standard classroom.
"They were just regular classrooms beforehand," RHS Business Education instructor Aaron Panke said.
"This was built with being a computer lab designed area first and a classroom.
"Just the design in general, with the curves, helps build in the creativity for the students. They can build off the concepts that are already here. We have an outstanding projector and screen, something you would see in maybe a top-of-the-line home theater, which really helps for the visuals for the students."
In addition to new surroundings, new hardware and software was installed with industry standard applications, such as Photoshop and InDesign.
"The curriculum is the biggest part that helped drive the room," Panke said. "We have some new classes, such as digital graphics, which following some Adobe curriculum for certification if they would choose to go for that. That allows us to get the latest and greatest software for the students to use, that is industry standard."
One student in the digital graphics class, senior Lexi Allen said the that what she has been able to do in the class has far exceeded what she can do at home, playing with Microsoft Word.
"It's helping me a lot, using all the different programs and getting used to using them and deciding whether or not (graphic design) is something I want to get into," Allen said. "Before I was just using the basic stuff, but now, I'm able to use Photoshop and InDesign and stuff like that."
Allen said she plans to go to college to become either a graphic designer or an elementary school teacher. Either way, the skills learned in the class will come in handy down the road.
"If I'm a teacher, I want to put a lot of graphic design elements into my classroom," she said. "If I'm not, I just want to be a great graphic designer."
Education and graphic design are just a couple of the numerous career paths students can discover in the digital media center.
"You can take a look at becoming a web designer to a computer analyst to a graphic designer," Panke said. "You have all the skills to start your own business, be an entrepreneur. We're also looking at the marketing careers, video production careers and hopefully we're going to start getting into some audio careers for some individuals and also some journalistic careers."
Other highlights of the digital media center include a high-definition projector, two stereo systems, and a collaboration area. Two rooms off the main digital media center have been built and plans are in the works to turn them into audio and video studios.
Those who attended Rhinelander High School sporting events this winter in the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium may have already noticed some of the results of the digital media center. Part of Miazga's donation to the high school renovation provided for the purchase of a video message board, which has the capability of displaying messages, stats, video and other information. On game nights, students get a chance to run the board.
"We've started a little club to get those kids that experience that have career aspirations of being the other part of sports," Panke said. "The board has been a nice touch for our students, I think. I think we'll see an increase in that club as we start to expand and figure out what we can and can't do with that software."
Usually reserved for college athlete facilities, the video board is a feature that makes the Miazga Gym unique.
"It's really exciting for our students to have that opportunity, as an athlete to see themselves up there and also to be the students that created that work, to see their work up there," Panke said.
The digital media center and the renovated gymnasium were part of a $13.7 million referendum passed by School District of Rhinelander voters in February 2010. More than $1 million of additional improvements were made possible through private funding spearheaded by the Hodag Facilities Foundation.
The result is one that Panke shares with pride.
"I think this definitely puts us as the star of the north in technology," he said. "I've mentioned to a lot of the other business educators in our area that if they want to come look at the facility, that they should do that to see how we have our setup, because it's really a state-of-the-art setup, I feel and is a competitive edge for our students."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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