Eckstein MS: Eckstein Annual Campaign Update

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Today is Sunday, September 7, 2008

Eckstein Annual Campaign Update

Keep Eckstein‘s Computer Network Running -- Please Donate to the Eckstein Annual Campaign Today!

Each of us depends upon computer technology, and it‘s especially critical at Eckstein Middle School. One of EAC‘s larger allocations ($10,000) is for the technology program at Eckstein. That‘s really no surprise: Our 1,200 students and 115 teachers, administrators and support staff depend on Eckstein‘s computer network to be in working order on a daily basis. Without your donation to EAC, the technology program at Eckstein would not be able to function.

Although Eckstein does have access to a part-time computer network analyst employed by the Seattle School District, his time is divided among many other schools, so the amount of help he can give Eckstein is limited. Hence, EAC funds a part-time computer technician from the technical support service “U-Wired” to help with Eckstein‘s technical support. U-Wired is a group of university college students in computer engineering courses who intern on campus and at local schools like Eckstein. Eckstein currently has one U-Wired resource who works about 20 hours per week.

The U-Wired resource does the majority of the hands-on, maintenance work necessary to keep the technical tools in the classrooms and labs running for the teachers and students on a daily basis. He manages student accounts, resets passwords, un-jams printers, analyzes hardware failures, repairs/replaces hardware (e.g., hard drives), installs software, and recovers files. There are approximately 300 PCs and Macs that the students use and 100 that the administrators/teachers use including desktops in the mini labs. Each administrator and teacher has a printer in their area or classroom. It‘s incredible that there are so many devices that are supported by only one 20-hour per week resource along with a part-time network analyst. Not all requests for service or assistance are able to be completed on a timely basis. Compare this to the information technology support normally found in a company with 400 employees!!

At Eckstein, there are two servers located at the school.
• The District provided one of the servers which hosts and stores teacher/admin work and applications on it. Schools need to provide funding for additional services.
• In 2000, the EAC purchased a second server, called the FP server, which is used to store student academic work. The FP server is a critical server resource as students can work on a document in one class, say Social Studies, then access the same document in another related class such as Language Arts, and also again in the Homework Center. By spring, the student server typically reaches its maximum storage capacity. Several years ago, the EAC purchased a replacement server which is expected to last another year or so. As this equipment ages, more and more support is needed to maintain it and support the students who use and rely upon it for their academic work.
Outside of the current EAC allocation for technology, there are two additional areas in need. The EAC would like to support these needs in addition to the current technology allocation -- it‘s dependent upon the generosity of people like you:
The server that hosts the Eckstein website has a very limited life left in it. Eric Miller, the teacher advisor for Eckstein‘s technology program, recommends moving the data on that server to a hosted environment which would cost $100 per year. There are no funds allocated to support this. There is also no incidental budget available to replace keyboards, mice or network printer cartridges in the lab printers. An initial $500 per year should be allocated to an incidental computer equipment and supplies replacement fund.

Please help make sure that our students and teachers are supported with the technical help they need. Please send in your contribution to EAC today. Send your check payable to the “Alliance for Education—Eckstein” to the Eckstein Annual Campaign, Eckstein Middle School, 3003 N. E. 75th Street, Seattle, WA 98115. Thank you!