The School!
Paulette Elementary
Week 28
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Almost 50%!In the next couple of weeks we should hit the 50% complete mark. I remember when I built my house I thought it was almost done when the roof was on and it was in the dry. Shortly after I took these photos the company finished the roof. It looked like a school when I drove by it today. But progress in my house seemed to slow after the roof. I know it didn't actually slow down but it certainly seemed like it. I think it is because when the outer shell is done |
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 and
you drive by day after day you don't see a lot of difference. But the
fact is inside many people are busy with their respective jobs. In the
end a few months later the contractor finishes and you have a school.You know something else that works like that? A school itself. You can drive by a school like Maynardville Elementary or Paulette when it is finished. Each day you pass it seems the same. It would be human nature to assume not much is going on. It would be easy to assume that not much is changing. But inside many people are working daily at their jobs. Teachers work and people just take it for granted that they will. Each day they come in and seven and leave around four. It becomes routine and we expect it day in and day out. Yet each day just like the construction at Paulette little changes take place that we don't immediately see. A child goes home  knowing one thing that night he didn't know that morning. Another brick is laid in the foundation of that child's life.A few months down the road the school has another graduation and a finished product comes out. We stand there watching our children walk across that stage. Yes it is their day to celebrate, but do we reflect back on all the people who had a hand in building that student? A teacher doesn't just stand in front of a class and spout facts for kids to memorize. A teacher teaches a child how to learn. The child then learns for the rest of his life. A teacher who wants memorization may produce a test score that is adequate. A builder may build a building that keeps the rain off your head. But Director Goforth said something to me years ago that still rings true. A great teacher teaches a child how to learn. A great builder builds a building that can expand and meet needs for years to come. Neither should accept adequate. Now what makes a school great? Yes the teachers are the largest part of it and Union County is blessed with a great number of excellent teachers. A teacher may teach Kindergarten, but should never themselves quit learning. I have a very good friend who teaches Kindergarten here in the county and recently finished their master's. That isn't necessary to teach but they do it to teach  better. They never quit learning.You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford Teachers can make a school great indeed but there is far more to it. A man who just did not in any way support building a new school in Union County said something to me the other day. He told me that a building does not teach kids. I understand what he meant but it demonstrates a person who has been out of school too long. By that I don't mean he finshed High School or College in the 60's. I mean this is a man who has decided to quit learning. I read constantly and stress to my daughter daily to read. Studies have been tested and proven to be correct that say environment is on equal footing with teaching in the education process. Take yourself for example. When you go to work will you have a productive day if you are sick or if you are well? Will you get more building done if you are in the rain or in the dry? Children learn better when they are well that has been proven here in the county. Director Goforth and Eddie Graham have been  instrumental
in getting a staffed clinic in Maynardville Elementary. Since installed
the absentee rate has gone down and test scores have gone up. I know
before the clinic, disinfectant fogging and agressive cleaning my
daughter was sick weekly. Since the changes made at MES she has
experienced better health and better test scores.One of the most common reasons school kids are sick are respiratory illness brought about by dampness. I have mentioned before that Paulette will have an engineered system to take water away from the building. This may seem like a little thing because we all have gutters on our homes. But the water from the gutters have to flow somewhere. Figure 1 shows the bottom of a downspout ready to be installed at Paulette. It measures eight inches across its mouth. That is twice as large as a residential gutter. Figure 2 shows a piece of the gutter itself. I did not measure the gutter but it seems to be about twice as large as residential guttering. Plus I tried to lift a long piece of it and can report it is far heavier gauge aluminum than we find on our homes. All of this guttering will be draing to downspouts every few feet. The downspouts will not just empty onto the ground but will be connected to long spiderweb of underground piping. These pipes will carry the water away from the building and away from our children. No matter how well we drain the water there will still be humidity. Humidity is simply in the air and just hangs there like germs from little Franky's sneeze in Algebra class. Fortunately, the humidity and little Franky's sneeze have been considered at Paulette. Figure 3 shows air units that will be installed in each classroom. These air units provide heat and cool but go a little further, They also recycle and recondition the air in the  classroom.
They will control the humidity and also filter the germs from Franky's
sneeze. Each classroom and each student will be ventilated with the
freshest healthiest air possible.All of this takes a considerable amount of work and materials we may rarely see. When the school is completed and we walk through it we will be hard pressed to find a single wire. As I toured the site this week I saw spools of wire in each room. These wires are being run through conduit in the ceilings. Each worker is being fed from a spool like the one shown in Figure 4. Boxes upon boxes of wire lay ready in neat stacks. I have no idea of how many miles of wire will be installed in the building but it would be an astronomical number. All of this wire will be above the ceilings of the classrooms out of reach of children. In fact the way it will be accessed is shown in Figure 5. This small room will contain the steel stairs you see. Workers will climb these stairs to the second floor of the school. Most people don't realize that Paulette Elementary will have a second floor. But this second floor or loft will contain all the things that make the school operate. Heating and air systems, lighting, wiring, fire prevention etc. will all flow  through the loft room. Maintenance workers will be able to make necessary changes in classrooms without ever interrupting class.All of this is part of a well planned school system. A school system that is planning for the future of our county. All too often we get caught up in the here and now and we know prosperity comes from long term planning. Teachers prepare work and lesson plans in advance for the students in their charge. Principals go over these plans weekly to make sure the schools are on pace. The Director of Union County Schools has prepared a plan also. Much like a lesson plan he has prepared a plan to take our school system ten years down the road. As we get close to the 50% mark on this school I will invite him to comment on the new school. What has been the ups and the downs encountered and possibly his vision for the future of our children. Every time you stop building schools, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog. ~Mark Twain |
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