Not your typical high school library

Learning is a little like breathing—you do it every day without realizing it, and, if you stop, the result is not good.

Today’s formal education still seeks to impart a basic body of knowledge to students and "soft skills" to successfully navigate the ever morphing world of their future.

There has been a great deal of recent discussion  about what Goochland schools will look like in the future to equip students for success in the twenty-first century job market.

The first step in that direction— a Learning Commons—was dedicated on December 6. The space formerly known as  Goochland’s High School Library, was transformed into a dynamic space that encourages collaboration among students, and offers a place for quiet reflections and even relaxation with video games.

Flexible furniture and large monitors provide opportunity for collaboration and relaxation.

(Before you complain about this, think about military drone operators, robotic surgery equipment, and  other state-of-the art technological wonders, that require the same hand-eye coordination and quick reflexes honed by video games. They’ve got to learn the basics somehow.)

Student artwork, a coffee machine, and old-fashioned magazines are features of the new GHS Learning Commons.

Dr. Jeremy Raley, Superintendent of Goochland Schools, explained that GHS students had been asking for this kind of space for a while. Their ideas, including color schemes and equipment, were incorporated into the design that became reality.

Books, the old fashioned kind with pages and covers, are still available, but so is WiFi for the online research that has replaced paging through encyclopedias whose information was sometimes out of date by the time they were printed. Walls of the smaller spaces are covered in white board to facilitate brainstorming. The furniture is flexible, its configuration limited only by the imagination of its users. Flooring is both carpet and wood. A charging station replaces overloaded outlets to provide “juice” for many devices at once.

The Learning Commons still has plenty of books.

Large monitors enable viewing of instructional videos and sharing work done on individual devices. A coffee machine, also a suggestion of students, is part of the attractive new space. The new color scheme, a welcome departure from the original gray that permeates the building, uses a range of hues to raise the energy of the Learning Commons.

This charging station can simultaneously provide "juice" for many devices.

GHS principal Chris Collins said that the Learning Commons is always filled with students, whereas the old library sparsely populated.

  

Funding for the transformation was provided by John and Amy Presley with a donation made through the Goochland Education Foundation,  to thank Goochland Schools for helping their son Max, who is deaf, reach his full potential. John said that area private schools had little interest in working with Max, contending that deaf children rarely graduate from high school.

The Presley family came to GHS and spoke with then principal Mike Newman, who was present for the event.  Long story short, Max enrolled at GHS and will not only graduate with the class of 2018, but will go on to attend Randolph College where he will play tennis and go on to bigger and better things in life.

School Board Chairperson Beth Hardy,  joins John and Amy Presley as they applaud the cutting of the ribbon by son Max. The rug is indicative of the new color scheme.

Everyone wins here, especially Goochland students. Thanks to the Presley family for its generosity and best wishes to Max for a successful life.

(If you have an extra bean or two that you’d like to donate to a worthy cause, please consider the GEF.  It is a 501 c (3) organization and you can see your money put to good use in your community. Visit goochlandedu.org for more information.)