[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”6″ gal_title=”Seattle Prep”]
What is your name?
Micah Richardson
What school do you teach at?
Seattle Preparatory School
What city and state is your school located in?
Seattle, Washington
What different media are produced at the school?
Journalism (online and print newspaper) www.seapreppanther.org, Yearbook, Digital Filmmaking
How many students are involved at the media program at your school?
80
Describe your space for us.
Journalism uses a flexible learning lab which is also used by other programs and classes throughout the day. It is not a dedicated space for one program. The room has seven 42″ flatscreen displays that students can hook a machine up to project for others to see and work with. Each student has a Microsoft Surface or iPad on which they do all their computing. There are no computers which are stationary in the room. The tables can move about and are often repositioned depending on the activity occurring in the room.
What do you think are some of the benefits of the workspace you all have?
The flexibility of the room and sheer size of the room is nice to have. The large format displays allow several students to work together collaboratively on one document without huddling around a single small screen.
What do your students like most about the workspace you have?
My students like the fact that although it is not a traditional computer lab, we can still work collaboratively and can show everyone work on the screens when needed.
What computer programs and/or apps is your staff using on a regular basis for their work?
Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. Also Twitter, Instagram for social media accounts. Our website is hosted by SNO.
What tech equipment are your students using on a daily basis?
We have three Nikon DSLR cameras that we use, in addition to doing most of our work on Microsoft Surface Pros that each student has with InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator installed on them.
Aside from the computers and the programs, what are one or two pieces of equipment that you have that you think other programs should have.
We love having a portable whiteboard that we can move in and around the room for sketching ideas, planning pages, etc. We also make massive layout tips posters that we post around the room. These posters contain everything from layout standards to tips on how to write a good headline. They are original to our program and thus contain some of the unique reminders that we need to do our work at our school.
How is your workspace funded?
As a private school, we do not receive public or district funding. Our program is solely funded by the school.
Do you have anything on your wishlist for your space? If so, what do you have and why?
I love those whiteboard tables. They seem great for sketching out layout ideas and notes, but also can be used (duh) as a table.
(This is one of a series of posts where high school newsrooms are showcased. We’d love to showcase your newsroom on the site. To find out how, check out the information here and submit yours today.)
Written By: Aaron Manfull
