2008 Woodie Awards
Future of schools begins in Philly
Kate Barr
Issue date: 10/6/06 Section: Perspectives
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Remember the feeling in high-school of walking down the halls with what felt like one hundred pounds of books in your school-bag? For the kids enrolled at the brand new "School of the Future," the weight of books on their shoulders is the furthest thing from their minds considering there are no books at this school. That's right, no books are necessary for this brand new West Philadelphia School.
The "School of the Future" opened its doors to students on Sept. 7th, hoping the new technology would be embraced and welcomed throughout the community. The idea for the school was actually thought of by Microsoft, in the high hopes of aiming students in the right direction in school. The company wanted to incorporate enough new ideas and technology into this school, hoping that in the future, all new high schools will be built this way.
High school to me was remembering my locker combination, getting lost going to classes, taking pages upon pages of notes, fighting for a spot in the computer lab and searching through thousands of books in the library, trying to find that one that had the information I needed. At the "School of the Future," they don't have anything that our generation was used to. Things such as smart-card accessible lockers, a PC tablet for every student, virtual teaching assistants and no library are just the beginning of what this school is offering to its students.
Call me old-fashioned, but I liked high school just the way it was. I liked learning about the library and having the option of sitting there to study. I enjoyed taking notes by hand and high-lighting in my textbooks. In my opinion, I think the "School of the Future" is taking away from everything we ever knew about school and coming around way too early.
Although I feel like the world isn't ready for high schools such as these, I do think that Microsoft is doing an amazing thing for the children in West Philadelphia. 99 percent of the students enrolled in the "School of the Future" are of minorities and 85 percent come from low-income families.
The "School of the Future" opened its doors to students on Sept. 7th, hoping the new technology would be embraced and welcomed throughout the community. The idea for the school was actually thought of by Microsoft, in the high hopes of aiming students in the right direction in school. The company wanted to incorporate enough new ideas and technology into this school, hoping that in the future, all new high schools will be built this way.
High school to me was remembering my locker combination, getting lost going to classes, taking pages upon pages of notes, fighting for a spot in the computer lab and searching through thousands of books in the library, trying to find that one that had the information I needed. At the "School of the Future," they don't have anything that our generation was used to. Things such as smart-card accessible lockers, a PC tablet for every student, virtual teaching assistants and no library are just the beginning of what this school is offering to its students.
Call me old-fashioned, but I liked high school just the way it was. I liked learning about the library and having the option of sitting there to study. I enjoyed taking notes by hand and high-lighting in my textbooks. In my opinion, I think the "School of the Future" is taking away from everything we ever knew about school and coming around way too early.
Although I feel like the world isn't ready for high schools such as these, I do think that Microsoft is doing an amazing thing for the children in West Philadelphia. 99 percent of the students enrolled in the "School of the Future" are of minorities and 85 percent come from low-income families.
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