Journalism teacher Ted Leach explained that he is endowing students with ways to use today’s technology for video production and storytelling. “How else will they learn to use technology responsibly if we don’t teach them?” Leach acknowledged that most of the program’s students typically do not go to journalism school, but hoped that he was empowering them with awareness and education to make informed choices as “media consumers.”
The curriculum also stresses an ethics component which includes liability and privacy. “What decisions do you make as a publisher? What decisions do they make when publishing on Facebook?” The subject of community will be an intense focal point of study; it is Leach’s contention that kids want to talk about important stuff, and don’t appreciate information being “dumbed down” for them. “A 13-year-old kid is trying to figure out his identity, and understands because he is right in the middle of dealing with community.”
Maureen Bowers is the only Kingston school board trustee to also sit on the CCE board. “This is a venture for both organizations,” she said. “This is an incredible opportunity for students and even teachers who both get to work in a totally different environment. The teachers take ideas back to their classrooms. There is a sense of community collaboration and spirit.”
The renovation of the stellar building fashioned after the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s West End Branch, which Andrew Carnegie initially dropped $30,000 into in 1905, was a $3.7 million dollar undertaking which was paid for mostly by a $2.9 million district bond as well as monies from the city’s Community Development Block Grant allocation and Lowe’s Community Foundation. According to school board President James Shaughnessy, the once cram-packed library relocated itself to its more spacious Franklin Street location in the late 1970s, and stood unoccupied for over 30 years except for a brief period of time when the school district used its abandoned space as a carpentry shop. Renovations started in August 2010 and took roughly one year to complete, with a minor punch-list remaining. The exterior was treated to a facelift with new brickwork, re-pointing, and rebuilding crumbling steps. The building was mostly restored with its original window casings, trim and mantles — with new wood floors hewn of hard maple. An additional staircase was added as well as an elevator. There are tall divided louvered glass windows between the two upstairs rooms, each replete with a fireplace. The finished product is warm, airy, bright and very elegant learning space.
“This program is based on trust, as well as creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking — the four ‘C’s,” said Shaughnessy. “As the rest of the faculty sees how it goes here, it will spread.”
