The Henderson Independent School District has approximately 3,400 students within the district, with 715 of them attending Henderson Middle School. Three years ago, Kevin Bryan joined Henderson ISD as the school’s IT professional. In his new role, Bryan began finding interactive classroom equipment and started to create a five-year plan for a student device initiative.
Five years ago Henderson Middle School didn’t have much to say when it came to technology. The classrooms were outfitted with chalkboards and erasers, which principal Hardy Dotson found uninspiring to the students’ learning process.
“My vision was for teachers and students to use interactive technology together,” says Dotson. “From a student participation standpoint we needed some hands-on applications and lessons that would inspire the kids to participate in class.”
In order to make his vision a reality, the school decided to purchase and install 52 new Hitachi CP-TW3005 interactive projectors into every classroom.
“Now every classroom in Henderson Middle School is equipped with an interactive projector, and Bryan has been able to get iPads for the elementary school and Chromebooks for the middle school as part of the student device initiative.”
The decision to go with Hitachi projectors was based on the technology’s ease and variety of use, reliability and price point.
“We experimented with interactive boards vs. interactive projectors,” says Bryan. “But the benefit of using the Hitachi interactive projectors is that we can project straight onto the white boards in the room and we don’t have to install another piece of equipment that takes up more space. We requested some help with the finger touch modules installation, Hitachi engineers quickly came to the rescue and worked with Jeff Slocum and his team at Master AV to help arrange the projector and to calibrate for the best results.”
The only rooms within the school that are without Hitachi CP-TW3005 interactive projectors are the larger, multi-purpose rooms which house different Hitachi projector models.
The secret to the success of Bryan’s plan is that he used to be a teacher himself, so he understands what a classroom looks like from a faculty member’s perspective. Recently, he was able to walk down the halls of Henderson Middle School and see the difference his technology plan has made in the lives of the students.
“If you walk the hallways at any given time, teachers have their projectors on and are doing something,” says Bryan. “It’s amazing. I watched a 6th grade social studies class pull up a website of a panoramic view from the world’s tallest building and students physically walked up to the board and touched the parts that they wanted to learn more about, and the information just popped up.”
The Hitachi projectors have been instrumental to the technological advancements within Henderson ISD.
Regarding Hitachi, Dotson and Bryan have nothing but great things to say about their experiences.
“I always say that when it comes to technology like this there is only a certain level that can be reached,” says Dotson. “Hitachi is the highest level but at a price that we can afford. Why would we choose any other company when we get the type of service and the quality of product that we get from Hitachi?”
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