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As soon as the 2017-2018 academic year came to a close, the Technology Department began work on all facets of technology @SRDS. Projects included teaching video production, robotics, coding and 3D printing offered to kids for 3 weeks during the SRDS Rebel Rays Summer program in June. Director of Technology Laura Hollis along with resident tech "guru" Niles Patel, SRDS alum Jack Hansen, and Upper School interns Jordan H., Davis P., and Matthew K. offered instruction to summer program attendees.
The SRDS Digital Arts Summer Program, co-directed by Laura Hollis and Graphic Arts Teacher Keri Eisenberg along with consultant Liz Blazer worked with students in grades 5-9 to study soda and gummy candy and find ways to make healthier (parent-approved) recipes. They also learned about ad campaigns, pixelation and animation, green screen and video editing. Students created their own soda and candy brands and designed packaging, advertisements and videos for marketing purposes.
A first-time offering on the SRDS campus, the Next Level Day Camp also utilized the wonderful SRDS resources. Camp classes were taught in video production, photography/photoshop basics, Scratch Programming, and 3D Printing by Laura Hollis, Niles Patel, Verne Becker and Upper School interns Matt K. and Davis P.
In addition to this busy schedule, many upgrades were made to the technology and infrastructure on the SRDS campus including:
- Entire Campus Phone System
- PA Announcement hardware
- WiFi Access Points
- 12 interactive projector/flat panels in Alford & North Halls
- New iPads in 1st, 3rd & 5th grades
- New Chromebooks in 2nd, 3rd and Upper School Library
- New MakerBot Z18 3D printer in IDEAS lab
- Updated all Adobe Creative Cloud software in Graphics Lab
- Updated licenses for all academic software & apps
- Replaced PCs for business office, front office & Maintenance staff
- Replaced iMacs in US Art studio & IDEAS Lab
- Replacement cycle for faculty laptops (¼ of the faculty/staff have new machines)
- New video equipment in Rebel Vision studio
- New Verizon Gigabit
Phew... I'm exhausted just reading the list of accomplishments! A sincere and heartfelt thank you to an amazing Technology Department and the student interns who worked all summer long to keep SRDS on the technological cutting edge.
