The School!
Paulette Elementary
Week 20
|
Friday night Union County beat Carter at football! That in itself is news but not earth shattering. But it made me take notice. Let us take a moment to itemize our county. We are putting in a four lane road through the county. We are building a new state of the art school. We are currently building a new bridge across Norris Lake. When did we become the poster county for change? |
|
 At
times I thought it was my imagination that told me other counties made
fun of us. I even noticed that Quinten Tarantino usually makes some
reference to us in his movies. For example in Pulp Fiction the weird
Pawn Shop owner's name is Maynard. But suddenly he makes his newest
movie and the hero of the movie is from Maynardville, Tennessee. Quite
a jump from a psychopathic pawn shop owner to a hero who single handed
wins WW2.Where did all this change come from? Why now? Last week representatives from thirteen counties came to tour us and see the changes that are taking place. Among other things they came to visit the new Paulette School that is making so much news. I was at a restaurant in Farragut the other evening and overheard the conversation at the next table. They were talking in a negative manner about their county government. They were  using
the Paulette School as an example of how it should be done in Knox
County. Now I have no idea what they were referring to but that was the
conversation.I began to reflect on the changes that have come about in the last ten months in our county. Ten months ago people were telling me we could not get a new school and here we are. Ten months ago people were telling me that industry wouldn't come to us because we had no road infrastructure. Ten months later we have a muddy mess that will turn into a shiny new four lane. Now we have thirteen counties coming for a visit and we have something to show them. For once we aren't having people come to see our need, but coming to see what we have accomplished. Milan Church helped out by serving these visitors breakfast. At this breakfast Walter's State College gave a presentation about the partnership between their college and the Union County School system. My daughter will graduate UCHS with college credits already under her belt. After leaving Milan Church Wayne Goforth and Jason Bailey took them next door to tour the new Paulette Elementary School. I suppose the new road and bridge were in the works long before Director Wayne Goforth envisioned Paulette. But what has  happened
is called leadership. Leadership of those who pushed the bridge and
road, and leadership of a Director of Schools and a School Board who
would not take no for an answer.What does industry look for? First cheap taxes and low property costs, we have that. Second they look for an eager work force, we demonstrate that with our people driving for hours to find work. Next they look for good roads leading to interstates, and we are building those. Finally the people that own and operate those companies look for good schools. Now that we rank in the top ten we can display for them a state of the art 21st century school. Whether you were for or against the new school we can all agree it puts in place the last piece of the puzzle. Once the puzzle is completed not only will the children benefit but the county as a whole will profit! This week the electricians have been hard at work putting in the under-concrete conduit (Figures 2 & 3). This conduit will carry electricity, broadband internet, as well as communications to each room. The maze of conduit is like a spiderweb of pvc. There is a master map of each piece that serves as a road map when the wire needs to be run. Now once the concrete is poured the conduit will be locked in place. So the question becomes how do they get the wire through it? It seems logical that they start by pushing the wire in  one end and it comes out the other. This works for short runs but some of these conduits are 100 feet long.This troubled me so being the inquisitive sort I asked. It seems that the answer was given to me right here in 1982 in James Shumate's Physics class. We studied how things will move inwards toward a vacuum. A string is tied to a round weight and placed in one end of the conduit. Behind the weight is placed cotton wadding. On the other end of the conduit a large vacuum is hooked up. Within a few seconds the weight and cotton pull the string through. The string is then tied to the wire and used to pull the wire through. I honestly remember sitting in physics learning about reactions to vacuum and wondering what I would ever use this knowledge for. Also this week we have reached the 50% area of being in the dry. The membrane I have spoken of in earlier articles now covers half the building (Figure 1). The ultimate purpose of this membrane is to stop vapor and condensation from the roof. But right now it will be used to protect the concrete that will be poured within the next few weeks. The video that accompanies this article was taken from the middle of the structure just before the conduit was placed. It reflects a complete 360 degree view broken into 45 degree segments. |
|