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Performance-Learning Center Lobby Gets a Technology Boost

New Phenom Blue Interactive Video Board Managed by WHS Digital Media Class

October 30, 2012

Wahoo Public Schools has teamed up with Phenom Blue to provide an interactive video board that is located in the lobby of the Performance-Learning Center.

The interactive board is controlled entirely by a person’s touch. The board is funded by sponsorships from local businesses. The idea for this board came from Board President Rob Brigham and Superintendent Galen Boldt.

"As a brand experience agency, Phenom Blue uses technology to connect people and brands every day. Recently, we’ve partnered with Wahoo Public Schools to revolutionize student interaction with their schools: a fun and interactive yearbook application that makes the most memorable document of our lives a totally amazing collaborative experience,” commented Joe Olsen, President and CEO of Phenom Blue.

This interactive board will serve as a place where people can enjoy looking back at pictures from previous years and contribute their memories via the internet. It will have senior pictures from past WHS senior classes. It will have pictures of current activities in our school. It will serve as a place for memorials of former alumni to be remembered. It will also recognize people who provide scholarships for our seniors.

“We wanted to give honor to fine arts people, people who give scholarships, to remember people who have memorials, and to get information out to the public,” said Boldt.

Boldt also hopes this will give exposure to the Wahoo Public Schools Foundation. The Foundation is a place where people can give donations and be recognized for it.

A major benefit of this board is the experience the kids in the WHS Digital Media class will receive. Students in this class are responsible for putting all the pictures and information on the board. They also have the responsibility of meeting with the people who donate to this board. They are in charge of ensuring that those who choose to donate are recognized, and that the media content they want on the board is put on there.

“We came up with a SUR40 app featuring a multi-touch interface to facilitate social interaction. The yearbook spans generations, provides a window to the school district’s past and allows students and faculty to discover alumni information, sponsorships and memorials. Working with a school district differs from our typical client projects. We are effectively partnering with the entire city of Wahoo because schools anchor communities and help shape the trajectory of our lives. It’s been great to see how much fun the kids are having with their awesome new yearbook," Olsen added.

“We are really excited about this project. This is a new venture that we are just starting on the ground floor with, but the possibilities for this board are very exciting. It is a very cool piece of technology. Our students so far have done a terrific job of getting this project started,” said Kevin Scheef, the digital media instructor.

The members of the Digital Media class are Ty Kander, KJ Russ, Courtney Jones, Richie Davidson, McKenna Hanson, Andrew Schwimmer, and Alicia Iversen.

“The future is really in the hands of our students. We are all learning as we go. One thing I would like to do, though, is place more boards around the school,” said Boldt.