A Salesian School Hallmark...

by Mr. Richard Demeter

Faithful to St. John Bosco's desire to be in the vanguard of progress, the four Salesian high schools in California continue to meet the challenges posed to traditional educational pedagogy by the Information Age and the rapid pace of modern technology.

"The Information Age has provided a whole new world of resources and information for those engaged in all forms of learning, and technology offers new ways to help them succeed," explained Fr. Richard Presenti, recent past president of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower. "Our teachers must prepare our students for tomorrow by giving them twenty-first-century skills, a variety of literacies and the ability to become life-long learners."

This commitment is at the heart of the technology education changes which have already taken place or which are in progress at St. John Bosco High; Salesian High, Richmond; Salesian High, Los Angeles; and Don Bosco Technical Institute, Rosemead.

Over the past decade each of the schools has developed a formal plan to expand the use of technology in its curriculum and has hired a technology specialist to spearhead the effort. Each campus has at least one computer lab-with between 20 and 30 workstations-where students learn a range of computer skills in a formal classroom setting. Each school also offers its students access to the educational resources on the Internet.

The use of other types of instructional technology at the four schools is more varied. To different degrees the schools use cable television, portable or mounted TVs and VCRs, laser disk players, CD-ROMs, powered projection screens, desktop overhead projectors, electronic mail and TV broadcast equipment. Each campus's web site is a source of information about such topics as school activities and alumni events and offers links with other Salesian sites throughout the world.

In addition, each school employs computer technology for a variety of administrative functions (e.g., class scheduling) and has taken steps to train its faculty in the new technology. Mr. Mark Shalz, the technology coordinator at Salesian High in Richmond, pointed out that his school has devoted many faculty meetings this year to instructing teachers in the use of computers and Microsoft Word. "We want to use technology to make our teachers more effective and efficient. For instance, someday they'll be able to assign grades by entering them on a computer disk." Mr. Shalz is a 1982 Salesian High graduate and holds degrees in engineering physics and materials science from U.C. Berkeley.

To meet the needs of its students, Salesian High School in Los Angeles has began a major campaign to raise $300,000 for the creation of two more computer labs. Students there must take two semesters of computer instruction. During that time they learn word processing and desktop publishing skills and how to create spreadsheets, use data bases and access the Internet. An optional senior course focuses on graphics presentations and the use of accounting programs.

"I would like to see computer classes become part of the core curriculum, more than just two semesters," stressed the school's technology specialist, Mr. Charles Reynolds, who has 10 years of experience designing computer networks in the educational and medical fields. "After four years at a Salesian school, our students should be extremely computer literate, because they'll find it hard to obtain significant employment without computer skills."

As the models for the province, Bosco Tech and St. John Bosco have moved ahead of their sister schools in technology education. Each has transformed its library into a state-of-the-art learning center equipped with electronic on-line catalogues, various servers and a networked system of computers and printers. Bosco Tech actually has 200 multimedia computers in seven labs, while St. John Bosco recently installed fiber optic wiring in its classrooms and established a microwave connection with the education office of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. St. John Bosco has also conducted computer workshops for parents and the community.

As part of a comprehensive Technology Vision blueprint adopted in 1996, St. John Bosco High School sponsored a pilot program using eMate laptop computers. During the course students learned about the eMate itself, an electronic notebook that contains spreadsheet and word processing programs, a graphic calculator and a drawing pencil. Information could be entered into the laptop either by using the keyboard or by writing directly on the screen with a stylus.

"Although Apple Computers couldn't support the program as much as they had hoped, the pilot gave us an opportunity to see what laptop computers could do for our students," explained Assistant Principal, Jim Cross. "Now we'll be able to develop an appropriate policy."

In contrast to other Salesian schools, Bosco Tech offers technology education that is more varied and concentrated. Each quarter freshmen explore one of the eight technologies offered at the school: computer science, construction, design, electronics, graphic communications, manufacturing, materials science and power and transportation. After this broad exposure, the student chooses one technology as his major, which he pursues in double-period classes during his subsequent years at the Tech. At the same time, he takes a rigorous college prep academic curriculum.

"The students receive a solid base of technological knowledge as well as the other skills that will allow them to continue their study of technology on the college level or accept a variety of job and career opportunities," said Br. Gene Mylan, the dean of technology at the school.

High school graduates who enter Bosco Tech's junior college program can earn an Associate-in-Science degree in technology, transfer to a four-year institution, or enter the work force. Unlike the high school, the college is coeducational and open to students of any age.

In an effort to serve the wider community, several technology departments at Bosco Tech offer programs in adult or contract education. The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, for example, uses the campus for its evening classes, and Graphic Communications allows its facilities to be used for a series of Saturday computer classes. Manufacturing Technology, meanwhile, teaches a class to students enrolled in the Regional Occupational Program in the East San Gabriel Valley.

In addition, Bosco Tech frequently hosts visitors from around the world -- most recently from China and Korea -- who study the school's educational program with an eye to replicate as much of it as possible in their home country.