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Mass Networks Education Partnership began
the BuildSmart project as a way to help districts deal with
their new construction and remodeling projects. The purpose
of the project includes:
1. Helping local leaders ensure that new school construction
or remodeling has a technology infrastructure and physical
layout capable of supporting a wide (and evolving) array of
technology that can be used for active student learning, educator
professional development, administrative tasks, and community
service.
2. Expanding stakeholder vision of what is possible by exposing
them to new ideas about school design and finding ways to
ensure that the people who will eventually use the facilities
are meaningfully involved in the design process in order to
improve the usefulness of the final design and increase local
support for the often politicized approval process.
3. Preparing local leaders to effectively interact with architects,
network engineers, and contractors on behalf of their community's
vision.
After talking with numerous educational leaders, municipal
officials, architects, network designers, and contractors,
we began the project by organizing two full-day BuildSmart
Conferences that were held over the 1999/2000 school year.
The first conference focused on the "Pre-Planning Process"
- what you should be doing now to lay the groundwork for a
successful school construction process. It was a huge success
with over 120 attendees representing almost 100 districts.
The second conference focused on the intricacies of successful
school-municipal coordination through the design, approval,
and construction processes. It also helped local leaders understand
legal and Department of Education requirements. This conference
attracted over 125 people from across the commonwealth.
During the 2001-2002 school year, Mass Networks sponsored
the first annual BuildSmart School Design Contest, a regional
competition to recognize excellence in the design of effective
learning spaces for technology-rich education. Whereas similar
contests have concentrated on the role of the architect, this
contest concentrated on the role of the educator and their
important contribution to the design process. The contest
was conducted in collaboration with the Northeast Region of
the Council of Educational Facility Planners International
(CEFPI) and had the endorsement of the Boston Society of Architects
(BSA).
The two schools selected as Grand Prize Winners each received
a cash award of $3,000. Three additional First Place winners
were awarded $1,000 each and two more schools were selected
for Honorable Mention. All winners also received a beautifully
inscribed plaque that we hope will be displayed proudly. Press
releases were sent to winning schools' local media and are
featured on the Mass Networks website. All winning entries
were honored at the CEFPI Northeast Annual Conference in Newport,
Rhode Island in April, 2002. Top winners were also invited
to participate in a panel discussion moderated by Steve Miller
at a plenary session of the conference.
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