Technology center is a tribute to Mary B. Gilbert

GRAND OPENING:
Mary Gilbert, left, opens the Cascade Union School District’s new technology center with Technology Director Tony Baldwin.

Anderson Middle School celebrated the opening of its new Mary Bass Gilbert Technology Center during a dedication ceremony held Thursday, April 23.

The center is a sentiment to how far the Cascade Union Elementary School District has come over the years, officials attending the event said.

"In 1997, the district had about 60 computers, no real network, and the connection to the internet was via 56k modem," said Tony Baldwin, technology director for the district.

"Today, we have more than 16 servers and 800 computers, all networked together using fiber optic cabling, and we connect to the internet with more than 400 times the speed - enough for every one of our 1490 students to be connected to our network programs, or the internet, all at once," he said.

The new technology center not only houses the network servers that make this possible, it also features a new technology lab with the potential for training for district employees, and for local businesses and community members to use.

"We are working on making it available to other folks, too, under the terms of a facility use permit," Baldwin said.

"It is a state-of-the-art training facility equipped with Smart boards, LCD projectors and interactive screens," said Wes Smith, superintendent of the Anderson elementary school district.

The center also features 30 computer workstations, Smith noted.

District officials will be working on setting the guidelines for use of the training center, as well as making connections will local agencies interested in using the training center over the summer.

"It would be competitively priced. We want to make it available to folks in an affordable fashion," Baldwin said.

The technology center is named after Mary Bass Gilbert, a district board member for 30 years.

"Mary was hugely influential in promoting technology to make us more efficient in our daily operations, and also to help kids integrate technology into their learning," superintendent Smith said.

Technology Director Baldwin reflected on Gilbert's efforts to spearhead technology in the district.

"When I came to work here, technology was in a different state than it's in right now," he said.

Gilbert led a trip to North Carolina to seek out education-based software more than a decade ago, not long after Baldwin started working for the district.

"It opened the door, and Mary really helped us make sure that the door was never closed," Baldwin said.

Smith appreciates Gilbert's ability to recognize the importance of technology.

"Mary worked in a time when there was very little technology. She wasn't a product of the technology workforce," he explained.

"There wasn't a lot besides telephones and typewriters. She's a visionary, given her time in the workplace," Smith said.