Des Moines Public Schools has educated the students of Iowa’s capital city for more than 100 years. It is the largest provider of public education in the state, serving more than 30,000 students and employing nearly 5,000 staff members that span across 60 schools throughout the community. This district describes Des Moines as a “vibrant, innovative and diverse city.” A great example of how the district enables innovation took place when one teacher advocated for adding projection technology to gymnasiums to help revamp the district’s elementary school physical education program.
Updating the Gymnasiums
Although the pandemic created several challenges, one of the upsides the district found was taking advantage of the empty school buildings to efficiently complete routine maintenance work. This included a massive clean-up of all devices and updating systems, as well as updating classroom technologies. Additionally, the district took that time to add large venue projectors to four elementary school gymnasiums.
The district installed the Epson Pro L1490 laser projector and added a 20-foot screen in the gymnasiums. One of the physical education teachers was inspired to use projection in class after seeing videos of interactive games. “I brought the idea up to my school leaders because I wanted to create more engaging activities for my students,” said Zack Cole, a physical education teacher at Willard Elementary School. “The projector has been great. It’s bright and easy for my students to see even with open windows and LED lights.”
The district chose Epson projectors because of the district’s, “ongoing and successful relationship with Epson in supporting K-12 education,” according to Lisa Irey, director of technology for Des Moines Public Schools. The Epson Pro L1490 laser projector is a state-of-the-art, large-venue laser projector that displays crisp, luminous images at 9,000 lumens of color and white brightness1 .
Designed with ease in mind, the Pro L1490U’s virtually maintenance-free laser light engine and electrostatic air filter are rated for up to 20,000 hours2 . It also features a full range of inputs making it an ideal solution for gymnasiums, auditoriums and live events. Since installing Epson projectors, the district has seen more immersive and interactive learning in classrooms and other learning spaces, like gymnasiums.
Creating Engaging Activities
During remote learning, Cole would play videos for students that got them moving at home and found they really enjoyed those activities.
Now, at school, he is able to continue to project the same videos to use as warm up activities. After warmups, he reviews the curriculum standards with students and projects them on the screen so they can see and fully understand the goals they are aiming to meet during that class.
Students play various games and activities throughout class, and the projector is utilized to provide different engaging games. “One of the games students play is a duck hunting game, where they throw a dodgeball at the screen to practice their throw and aim,” said Cole. “This was one of my favorite games growing up, and it’s bee n great bringing it back to class and seeing students enjoy playing it.”
Cole continues to find ways to utilize the projector to teach different lessons such as throwing, catching, kicking, and dribbling. He also uses the projector on assessment days so students can see the standards and grading scale as they go through the different stations.
Other activities include projecting a soccer goal so students can practice kicking, as well as projecting a GIF on the screen for students to see demonstrations repeated. “GIFs are really helpful for visual learners,” said Cole. “For example, explaining opposite foot to kindergartners can be tricky, but having the visual aid really helps every student understand what I’m teaching.”
Looking Ahead
In addition to engaging physical education classes, the school has been able to utilize the gymnasium for various after school activities and events.
This includes movie nights and video game tournaments where students play Twitch and Super Smash Bros.
With the success at Willard Elementary School and the other three elementary schools, the district is working on adding large venue projectors to all of their elementary school gymnasiums.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
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Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
