Date: Fri 04-Oct-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-internet-ConneCT-96

Full Text:

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

The familiar AT&T slogan, "Reach Out And Touch Someone," has taken on a whole

new meaning in Newtown schools since Wednesday, October 2.

That was the official kickoff date for the statewide educational initiative

called ConneCT 96, which followed the installation by volunteer groups on

Saturday, September 28 of thousands of access points around the state that

will link students in grades K-12 on the Internet.

Now, after sitting down at specially wired computers and clicking on-line to

http://www.connect96.org , Newtown students and their teachers can reach out

and touch other students and teachers anywhere in the state.

When access connections are completed, students will find a world of

information is at their fingertips - information that was once harder to

reach, stored away in schools and libraries, separated by distance and

district or state boundaries.

According to Newtown District Technology Consultant Steve Stevenson, the

potential educational impact of the ConneCT 96 program is huge.

Wiring Day

Mr Stevens was equally excited by the community spirit shown by Newtown

parents, teaching staff and interested residents, during the "wiring day" that

took place Saturday, September 28.

Without the efforts of those individuals, ConneCT 96 couldn't have happened in

this town, Mr Stevenson said Tuesday.

"A lot of citizens came out. Newtown is blessed with much technical talent.

But people helped in whatever way they could," he said.

Each of the six school buildings had a team leader, Mr Stevenson explained,

who was in charge of overseeing the installation of telephone and television

network cable lines so that sound signals - and eventually digital signals -

could be sent between computer modem sites.

The hard work Saturday followed much advance planning by the various school

team members who toured the buildings earlier in the week and, in some cases,

drilled holes through walls and ceiling beams in preparation for Saturday's

wiring job.

Hawley School Principal Linda Siciliano, who was a part of her school's team,

said Tuesday she couldn't have been more impressed with the spirit shown by

those volunteers in pulling more than 3,000 feet of cable in one day.

"They worked side by side, everyone rolling up their sleeves. They did it for

the kids," Mrs Siciliano said.

Hawley School parent, media paraprofessional and team leader Carmella Amodeo

agreed.

"They were on ladders with their heads stuck up in the ceiling. It took all

day to wire 10 rooms and we only stopped at 7 pm because we ran out of

materials," Mrs Amodeo said, adding "I couldn't have asked for a more

determined, energetic and cooperative group."

By Monday morning, two days after the wiring project, the school's ceiling

tiles had been replaced and the ladders taken away. Only a few red dots placed

here and there remained, left over signals that alerted an electrician of a

necessary connection or juncture point.

After the weekend's labor, the infrastructure to make ConneCT 96 a reality was

in place.

High Schoolers Go On Line

Newtown High Media Specialist Karen Mann said Monday she was just as excited

as anyone else about being a part of the ConneCT 96 initiative - but Wednesday

at 8 am would be a high point, for her.

That was when high school government class members would be joining more than

100 other high school classes nationwide, asking Vice-President Al Gore and

President Bill Clinton questions over the Internet.

As Democratic candidates for reelection, they would respond personally to

those questions.

Two Newtown students, Sharon Huffner and Jodi Cross, were to travel to the

Hartford Armory, along with social studies teacher Gwen Parks, to enter their

questions beside many other student representatives.

"We don't even know what the address is we're supposed to type in. They've

kept it tightly controlled," Ms Mann said, anticipating the Wednesday morning

session on line.

"We'll be watching it happen right before our eyes. It will be like watching a

teletype machine as we receive directions about what to do. Very exciting,"

she added, describing the scene she imagined would unfold in the school

library Wednesday morning.

"There'll be all kinds of extension cords and phone lines. We'll move the work

station to the middle of the room and then we'll all be huddled around the

computer," Ms Mann said.

Just like hundreds of other students in hundreds of other school media centers

around the state.

How Newtown Got ConneCTed

Like her counterparts, the media team leaders in the various Newtown schools,

Ms Mann couldn't wait to see what benefits ConneCT 96 and on-line

accessibility would bring.

"Many people have worked so hard over the last year. Now it's coming to

fruition," she said.

The ConneCT 96 program is a project begun under Governor John B. Rowland in

which state schools and libraries would be wired into what he has termed the

Global Neighborhood.

This move was undertaken partially to address a state deficiency in

wiring-readiness, which the governor wanted to see rectified.

In order to take part in ConneCT 96, each school district had to sign up for

the program, raise $600 to $800 for the connection kit and form a planning

team.

The Newtown Board of Education agreed to fund the project and North American

Internet is giving Newtown schools free access to the Internet during the

first year, according to Mr Stevenson.

Although some Newtown board members expressed the opinion that Newtown should

participate in ConneCT 96 because it would be a politically wise move to

follow the governor's initiative, they all agreed during a September 3 board

meeting that the ramifications of having access to the Internet would be

educationally significant and the project was well worth the expense and time

incurred to make it happen.

As a result of all these community members working together, the six school

buildings in the Newtown system - Newtown High, the Middle School, Hawley,

Middle Gate, Sandy Hook and Head O' Meadow, are now wired for whatever the

future in technology and communications can bring.