Facility innovations at Prescott High School are receiving praise from educators throughout Arizona, said Prescott Unified School District Superintendent Joe Howard.
Howard mentioned two projects other school administrators say they would like to imitate. He said personnel from schools throughout the state are asking if they can visit PHS to see the facilities for themselves:
- The creative media lab, more commonly called “The Lab,” is a technology-oriented classroom outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment. It opened in November.
The concept for The Lab came from faculty member Robyn Bryce. She attended a summer workshop at the University of Nebraska. Intrigued by what she saw, Bryce talked with Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Prescott Executive Director Christine Resnick and submitted a grant application to finance a technology lab.
Bryce’s grant proposal was approved for $43,420.31. Funds were used to transform an unused woodshop lab behind the school cafeteria into a media lab.
Further, a new course, Advanced Modern Manufacturing and Automation, was approved in mid-December by the PUSD board.
JCF of Greater Prescott President David Hess praised the program, saying, “Coupling of STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — to existing curricula is taking students to a new level.”
- The newly renovated athletic track and field with artificial turf and Olympic-quality composition track. It is surrounded by renovated bleachers with new railings and lighted by a power-saving LED stadium lighting system. It was completed in October.
Assistant Principal Clark Tenney said shortly after the new field was completed in early October, he and other PHS administrators were told by counterparts throughout the state, “we have literally the most contemporary athletic field of any public school in Arizona.”
The $2.5 million renovation of the track and field, funded by district bond and real estate sales, included replacement of the grass playing field with artificial turf, which will save $30,000 a year in water bills. A new LED overhead lighting system and bleacher railing was added, and a composition track was installed around the football field.
Groups and organizations can rent the athletic field. A complete set of guidelines about public use of the field is available online at www.PrescottBadgers.com.
