Manitou Springs High School installed two touch screen TVs in the Commons and outside the Jack Willie Gym where students and visitors can browse through the athletics, alumni composite photos and academic awards.
The district has slowly worked on the set up of the touch screen TVs starting with athletics and now moving on to the alumni class composites and academic awards.
Within the screens, many alumni groups weren’t posted up with some of the years being randomized. There are only 26 alumni groups that were posted up, with some of them being 2021, 2014, 2009 and 2008, and more in the past ranging from 1957 to 1990.
Kolleen Johnson, the Executive Director of Secondary Schools, said that the process of uploading the composites is in progress. “Some of the composites were missing prior to taking them down, so we won’t have those,” Johnson said, “but we are digitizing them in batches so some years are being worked on as well.” It has been a team effort to get the touch screen TVs updated.
The new touch screens are popular among students during class breaks and before and after school. They not only benefit the school, but also the Manitou community. “It helps us to honor the work and legacy of present and past Stangs,” Johnson said.
Gabriela Santos, a PE and Health teacher, feels that the addition of TV screens has had a positive impact on the school and community. “I love the accessibility of the screens,” Santos said. “For safety reasons, no one could enter the hallways during the school day; so the composites could not be seen by anyone else, now visitors who come for meetings and games can share in the school’s history. The options of what can be added to the screens also lets everyone past and present be honored and displayed.
Macie Aldridge (10) has used the touch screen TVs in the school. “I think I liked having the actual printed photos of former students here in the hallways, so when you’re just in the hallways, you can look at them,” Aldridge said. “But, I also do think it’s cool to look at all the sports photos from all the past years and this year.”
