mcmillan magnet middle school same 2011 teacher: james … · 2018-08-20 · page | 1 mcmillan...
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McMillan Magnet Middle School
SAME 2011
School security and adequate student attendance has been an issue for many years. We would
like to create a McMillan Access Card, or MAC, that would allow students and staff the ability to enter
and exit the building and classrooms. The MAC will monitor student attendance and complete other
administrative duties. The system will increase the level of security, be a library card, lunch card and
provide students with easier access to information. The system will lock and unlock doors and record
attendance based on the bell schedule of the building. The cards will have information that will give
student access to necessary rooms, computers, athletic events and library services.
Teacher:
James Mayberger, Engineering
Mentors:
Kathleen Englert, USACE
Scott Gatewood, DLR Group
Team Members: Grade: Job:
Trip Carlson 8 Graphics
David Hawkins 8 Graphics
Zach Mathews 8 Oral Presentation
Tyler Miller 8 Oral Presentation
Mia Morton 8 Graphics
Enoch Parker 8 Virtual Model
Elexa Robinson 8 Virtual Model
Vinith Sharma 8 Physical Model
Grace Siy 8 Team Leader, Paper
Richard Stockton-Hoover 8 Physical Model
Katy Stuckey 8 Co-Team Leader, Paper
Nick Tuma 8 Virtual Model
Emilio Vasquez 8 Graphics
Society of American Military Engineers and Student Initiative Mentoring Program
Contest Date:
April 28, 2011
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Table of Contents
Problem Statement …………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Current Situation ……………………………………………………………………………. 3-5
Problem Solution …………………………………………………………………………... 5-14
Radio Frequency Identification ……………………………………………………. 6-7
Attendance ………………………………………………………………………….... 7-8
Exterior Doors ……………………………………………………………………….. 8-9
Library, Lunches, and Sporting Events ………………………………………….. 9-11
Cost ……………………………………………………………………………………. 11
Funding ……………………………………………………………………………….. 12
Alternate Solutions ……………………………………………………………………….. 13-14
Vandalism ……………………………………………………………………….……. 13
Lockers ……………………………………………………………………………........ 14
Computers …………………………………………………………………………….. 14
Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………….…. 15
Journey …………………………………………………………………………………….. 16-18
Team Organizational Chart …………………………………………………………. 18
Lessons Learned …………………………………………………………………………... 19-20
Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………….. 20
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Problem Statement
All throughout the world, school safety is of the utmost importance. School
buildings are vulnerable to offenders with harmful intentions, invoking fear in students,
faculty, and their family members.
On January 5, 2011, Millard South High School was the site of a fatal shooting,
one which may have been prevented with more advanced security. In McMillan’s own
neighborhood, violence and other dangers are a problem as well. In fact, McMillan was
forced to hold a lockdown during the month of February due to gunfire only two blocks
away. McMillan held yet another lockdown on March 8, even though the danger was
over one mile away. Although lockdowns are relatively effective, there is virtually no
way to prevent a disaster once an offender has already entered the building.
Not only must schools handle the issue of safety, but they are also responsible for
numerous administrative duties. Schools need to know exactly where each student is at
all times of the day, as they are held responsible for accidents when attendance is
incorrectly taken. If a student is not present, the staff must notify the office at once.
Lunch lines can be inefficient and slow. The same can be said in libraries, where book
check-out lines take much longer than necessary.
Current Situation
Currently, McMillan has one School Resource Officer (SRO), and two OPS
security aides. Our SRO, Officer Valentine, has an office positioned directly facing the
front door. However, there are instances where he is required to leave the building,
leaving no guard in the entryway. There are also multiple exterior doors that are
accessible. Even though the doors are locked from the outside, any student or faculty
member has the ability to allow outsiders into the building. During the school day, one
security aide, Mr. McGee, sits in the first floor hallway of classrooms, and another, Ms.
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Emery, watches the second floor’s hallway. While simple, it is not the most efficient
way to keep our school safe.
Visitors come and go throughout the building fairly often. During the school
day, it is possible for any person to enter our building. Visitors are required to sign in at
the office, but it is possible to pass the office without signing in. There are forty-four
security cameras recently installed in and outside of our school, which are used to
monitor our hallways and oversee student behavior. Although they may help with
disasters after they have occurred, they are unable to prevent criminals from entering
the building.
Every period, teachers are responsible for submitting the attendance data for
their class to Infinite Campus, an application which holds student information and
other district data. This system separates information into separate tabs, such as
emergency contacts, grades, attendance, and other data. On the attendance page, each
student has their photo ID and name next to which teachers must mark either present,
tardy, or absent. When a student is tardy, there is no distinction whether the student
was five minutes or an entire hour late.
For lunch, students and teachers wait in line for their meal. At the end of the line
is a lunch attendant and computer. The purchaser must type in their student or faculty
ID number on a small keypad, causing their name and lunch account balance to appear
on the screen. Students may type in their ID incorrectly, which holds up the entire line.
This is a concern because students already have a limited amount of time set aside for
lunch. Waiting in line for other students to purchase lunch cuts time out of everyone’s
allotted schedule. Another drawback of our current system is if someone else learns a
student’s ID number, they can steal lunch money and use it to buy their own food.
The same problem occurs when students check out library books. They must
enter their student ID, which can be mistyped. Also, students frequently need a book on
a subject that is not covered by McMillan’s library. Although they may be able to check
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Figure 1: An example of our
proposed MAC.
out books at the public library, many students don’t have an Omaha Public Library
account and are unable to receive transportation to the library. This can cause problems
when a student needs to research and doesn’t have adequate resources. Lacking sources
may ruin a student’s assignment, possibly harming their grade.
Here at McMillan, we regularly host district athletic events. To enter the majority
of these events, such as swim meets or basketball games, parents must pay a fee of one
dollar. Students with their McMillan-issued student ID are allowed in free. However, it
takes time for the staff to check all of the ID’s, and it is possible to sneak into the event.
Problem Solution
Our project, the McMillan Access Cards, will improve the safety of our students
and faculty here at McMillan, as well as complete numerous administrative tasks. Each
student and faculty member in the building will receive their own card, or MAC, which
they will be required to wear at all times. The cards consist of two pieces of 3 ¼ inches
by 2 inches plastic with an RFID chip placed in the center. The MAC will be
personalized with the student’s photo, full name, student ID number, and programmed
to fit their schedule. It is a replica of our present
activity card which allows students to attend
different sporting events and other after school
activities. (See figure 1, page 5). In fact, in order to
add students’ ID and photos, we plan to use the
same printer currently implemented by McMillan to
personalize the activity cards. The cards will be read
using a “MIFARE” reader that will enable us to scan cards quickly and effectively. The
MACs will allow students and staff to enter and exit the buildings and their classrooms,
record student attendance, serve as a library card, and also pay for lunch. The new
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Figure 2: An
example of
an RFID chip.
system will greatly increase the level of security within our school and provide a safer
learning environment for all.
Radio Frequency Identification
The MACs will use RFID technology, otherwise known as Radio Frequency
Identification, to hold each student’s information. Radio Frequency Identification can be
programmed to complete any task. Currently, some stores are equipped with RFID
readers that swipe RFID enabled credit cards, which makes check-
out lines move much faster. In fact, Chase, a well known credit card
company, just recently implemented RFID technology on their new
blink® credit cards. (See figure 1, page 6). These cards speed up
checkout times and are much simpler than the traditional credit
cards, earning them many new users. Also, numerous offices and
school buildings utilize RFID security systems, helping to keep students and faculty
safe.
Each card will contain an RFID chip which will emit a unique radio frequency.
(See figure 2, page 6). Scanners receive these frequencies and connect to
a database, which will have the ability to be updated and adjusted. For
instance, if a student was suspended or expelled, their badge would not
function during their allotted time away. If a student were to lose their
badge or card, the card could simply be cancelled and replaced with a
new one.
RFID has three important parts to making it work: the scanning antenna, the
transceiver, and the transponder. The scanning antenna, or reader, emits radio-
frequency signals to the RFID tag within a specified range. The radio frequency
Figure 1: The new
Chase credit card,
blink®, which uses
RFID technology.
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radiation is the key part to this technology, providing the means of communication for
the transponder as well as the energy to communicate. Once in the range of the reader,
the transponder, or RFID tag, is detected using an activation signal. This signal acts as
the tag’s wake up call, activating the microchip and enabling it to transmit the
information to be picked up by the receiver .Once signals are sent out, the transceiver
uses a decoder to interpret the data from the chip.
There are two types of RFID tags: active and passive. Active RFID tags power
themselves with batteries, enabling them to be read from a distance. However, this
makes it easier for identity thieves to steal whatever information is on the tag. Active
RFIDs last for a limited period of time, generally around ten years. The other major type
of RFID tag is a passive RFID. This type of tag does not require batteries, making them
much smaller, some even around the size of a grain of rice. These tags also have a
virtually unlimited life span. Passive RFID tags are relatively inexpensive to
manufacture and can be used in nearly any application.
We decided to implement passive RFID tags in our project. Since it was
unnecessary for the tags to be read from a distance and inconvenient for them to
contain batteries, we eliminated active tags from our options. Passive tags are a
reasonable size and price, working perfectly for the MACs. These tag cards cost $1.10
each, reaching a total of around $825 for every student and faculty member in our
building.
Attendance
During passing periods, doors will be open to all classrooms, allowing students
to enter their class without the hassle of swiping their cards. As they enter, an RFID
reader placed above the door, the UHF Medium Range Reader-DL930, will scan each
student’s RFID card, reading the student’s ID and acknowledging that the student has
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entered the classroom. (See figure 1, page 8). The reader will then send a
signal to the teacher’s computer, marking the student as present using a
new version of our current attendance program, Infinite Campus. If the
student were to leave the classroom after entering, his or her
card would be scanned again, and the reader would send yet
another signal to Infinite Campus, this time marking the
student as absent. In the instance that a student entered a classroom which is not in
accordance with their schedule, a notification will immediately appear on the teacher’s
computer, alerting the teacher at once.
After passing period ends, teachers will be required to shut their door, locking
them automatically. On each door handle, a separate RFID scanner will
be installed, the Avea RFID Proximity Stand Alone Control System. (See
figure 2, page 8). This reader will be combined with the Rutherford
Heavy Duty All in One Electric Strike, which is a magnetic
lock, and a 12 VDC 1 Amp, the power supply, to open and
close classroom doors. (See figures 3 and 4, page 8). If a
student is tardy to their class, they will simply swipe their card on the door
handle to their classroom, unlocking the door. The door reader
will send a signal to Infinite Campus, marking the student as
late, as well as recording what time they entered the classroom,
greatly improving our current tardy system. However, the cards will deny
access to any classrooms other than the student’s class during that period,
preventing students from interrupting lessons and ensuring students are in
there assigned classrooms.
Exterior Doors
As seen in the Millard South shooting, the moment an intruder enters the
building, the security system has failed, putting students and faculty at an extremely
large risk. Our solution is to install a two-way intercom system from the front door to
Figure 1: The UHF Medium
Range Reader-DL930,
which we plan to use for
attendance-taking
purposes.
Figure 2: The Avea
RFID Proximity Stand
Alone Control
System.
Figure 3 (Above): The
Rutherford heavy Duty All in
One Electric Strike.
Figure 4 (Below): The 12 VDC
1 AMP
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Figure 2: The
ProxPoint Plus 6005
the main office. The intercom we selected for this purpose is the
UWS Wireless 900MHz Doorbell and Intercom system. This
microphone and receiver will be mounted outside the school
building. The kit includes stainless-steel screws or 3M double-
sided tape for mounting on any surface. It normally costs $149.00,
but is currently on sale for $114.00. Our intercom
system will allow our secretaries to speak with
visitors and give them the authorization to enter the front office and sign in.
In addition, McMillan has numerous cameras in place around the front
door, and the office secretaries are able to watch these feeds. Once we have
our intercom in place, the secretaries will be able to both watch and
communicate with visitors. For students and faculty, we selected four
other exterior doors for RFID readers: two doors connecting the staff parking lot and
school, one door connecting the gymnasium and track, and another leading out to our
bussing area. The RFID scanner we plan to install on these doors, the ProxPoint Plus
6005, costs $108 per unit, or $432 total. (See figure 2, page 9).
Library, Lunches, and Sporting Events
Besides providing entrance and exit abilities to our school, the MACs will also
take care of many other administrative duties. The MACs will serve as a library card for
our students, allowing students to simply swipe their cards while checking out books
using the PC USB 125KHz RFID Card Reader, which costs around $40
for a single reader. (See figure 2, page 9). The McMillan library contains
only around 11,000 books in very specific genres, limiting students’
resources. With our project, we plan to combine our McMillan library
with the entire Omaha Public Library system, enabling students
to request books from any branch in the city. One example of
Figure 2: The PC USB
125KHz RFID Card Reader,
which we will use for both
libraries and lunches.
Figure 1: A model of our
current entryway, in which
visitors are able to enter the
front door at will.
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such a combination is Saddlebrook Elementary school, which opened in August, 2009
and serves as a school, library, and community center. Students attending Saddlebrook
have their own OPL cards and can visit the school library, too.
We decided to connect the public facilities through an Online Public Access
Catalog (OPAC) called World Cat. (See figure 1, page 10). World Cat is the largest
OPAC in the world, connecting nearly 72,000 libraries around
the globe. Membership is free, however students must be 13
years or older, preventing some incoming seventh graders from
joining. Through the OPL website, students will also be able to download e-books,
which are electronic books that you can read on a computer or a special device, such as
an iPod Touch.
Transportation of books between branches is already quite efficient, and adding
McMillan would not be a very large detour. McMillan is located between the Charles B.
Washington and Florence Branches, making it quite simple to add our school to OPL’s
transportation system.
As of right now, OPL has 921,330 books from different genres. The amount of
books students will gain access to will substantially increase with this combination and
will greatly enhance student achievement by providing more resources for their work
and entertainment.
Our MACs will function as lunch cards as well. With the McMillan Access Cards,
students will simply swipe or wave their card in front of one of the two PC USB
125KHz RFID Card Readers for the system to acknowledge the student’s ID. (See figure
2, page 9). This eliminates the problem of a student forgetting lunch ID codes and also
makes it much quicker to purchase a meal. The same lunch system will remain,
requiring no new system to be bought.
Figure 1: World Cat, the
world’s largest OPAC.
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Students will have the ability to purchase activity cards to attend sporting events,
just as they do now. If a student has purchased an activity card, it will be programmed
into their MAC and allow them to enter sports games swiftly and efficiently. Presently,
a table is placed outside of the sporting event and is monitored by teacher or parent
volunteers. These volunteers must check every student for an ID badge before allowing
them into the game and collect money from parents or students who do not have an
activity card. With the MACs, volunteers will not have to worry about students with
Activity Cards. Instead, these students will simply have to swipe their cards on a
portable RFID reader and enter the game.
Cost
To implement our MACs, we plan on using only $49,900.31. For our interior
doors, we need 70 units each of the Avea RFID Proximity Stand Alone Access Control
System, Rutherford Heavy Duty All in One Electric Strike, and the 12 VDC 1 Amp to
install in every classroom. Our group must purchase four ProxPoint Plus 6005 readers
and one UWS WireFree Wireless 900MHz Doorbell and Intercom. We also need 750
student and faculty ID cards and three PC USB 125KHz RFID Card Readers for the
cafeteria and library. (See figure 1, page 11).
Figure 1 (Below): A detailed spreadsheet further
explaining the cost of our project.
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Funding
To fund our project, we considered using the COPS Secure Our Schools (SOS)
Grant Program. (See figure 1, page 12). The total
funding available from this organization is $16
million dollars, however, we are only planning on
using about $50,000 of that. This grant provides funding to local governments to help
with the development of resources for school safety. Recipients are able to establish and
improve safety measures taken by their school to promote the development of school
safety efforts within their communities. The grant is used to help cover the cost of
security such as the installation of metal detectors or locks, security training of
personnel, and other measures that could significantly increase a school’s security.
Grantees are required to contribute a local cash match of fifty percent of the total cost of
the approved project. All law enforcement agencies that have primary law enforcement
authority within a partner primary or secondary school are eligible to apply.
Another possible option for funding our project is The Sherwood Foundation’s
Annual Grant. This foundation requires a letter of inquiry to determine the eligibility of
organizations, which must be mailed in by September 15. To be considered, we must
submit a two-page letter on our school’s letterhead providing the details of our project.
The Sherwood Foundation favorably considers requests which contain innovative
solutions to a community need while not duplicating the efforts of others.
We chose not to fund our project with the Sherwood Foundation’s grant because
we believed its focus area was much too broad. Our project would better be funded by a
grant set aside specifically for school safety, the main emphasis of our project. For this
reason, we selected the COPS SOS grant to fund our project. Also, this grant has a
maximum amount of $16 million, which is more than enough to fund our project.
Figure 1: COPS Logo
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Alternate Solutions
Vandalism
Our group was worried our scanners would be subject to vandalism, as it is
nearly unavoidable in any school. We decided to protect our scanners with a cover, and
found numerous solutions to this problem, one of them being a material called Aerogel.
Aerogel is a substance that resembles frozen smoke, primarily consisting of a Silica
compound with no liquid. It is made of about 99.98% air, making it very light and
giving it a texture quite similar to Styrofoam. Aerogel is noted for having excellent
insulation and being able to withstand large amounts of force. However, it is quite
expensive, costing around $50 for one 3” by 3” block. Although Aerogel has many
benefits, we decided to find another option due to its high cost and the fact that, despite
its ability to withstand massive amounts of force, Aerogel is very brittle.
We decided not to use normal glass either because if it were to shatter, it may
harm students. Glass also is somewhat expensive, at about $32 per square foot for ¾’’
thick starphire low iron glass, or about $1 per 2.5mm thick for 1 square foot.
Another obvious material was plastic, which is low in cost, somewhat hard to
break, and non-metallic. However, plastic is not environmentally friendly due to the
fact that plastic takes a very long time to decompose and is made very uncleanly.
We also came up with a very simple cover - Plexiglas. The only thing that can
block RFID tags is metal – so it would definitely work best to use a non-metal material.
It would also work better to use a clear material, so it would be easier identify the
scanner. Plexiglas is nearly shatterproof, so it would be able to take a lot of abuse from
students. Plexiglas is also quite inexpensive, making it a good choice to use, since it is
both clear and a bit strong. Due to its many benefits, we decided to select Plexiglas
because it is a lot less prone to shattering, is lightweight, and is not easily damaged.
However, because we do not know if vandalism will actually become a problem for our
scanners, we chose not to implement protective coverings over the readers.
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Lockers
We considered using the RFID scanners for lockers to lessen time spent in the
hallways. Oftentimes, students forget their combination and waste time
in the hallways. Using their ID badges, students would be able to gain
access to their belongings in one quick and easy swipe. We planned to
install one Dialock® Locker Lock™ model 231.90.010 for every locker,
which cost $238.35 per scanner. (See figure 1, page 14). In our
building, there are 900 lockers, and the cost of installing one scanner
for each locker would be astronomical, around $214,965.
With this in mind, we considered having one scanner control multiple lockers,
around eight to ten at a time. This would significantly decrease the price of RFID
friendly lockers however; assigning numerous people to one scanner might create lines
and congestion in the hallways. After much debate, we decided not to install scanners
on the lockers because there are few security issues with the system we have now, it
would be extremely costly, and it might end up wasting time in the hallways.
Computers
For extra security with the computers, we considered placing scanners on the
computers themselves. These scanners, the PC USB 125KHz RFID Card Readers, would
be able to log in students or faculty members with the simple wave of their ID badge.
(See figure 2, page 9). In one swipe, they can access all of their necessary files and
information. However, there are roughly 800 computers and laptops in our school,
making it shockingly expensive to purchase a scanner for each one. In fact, a single
scanner costs $39.71, and installing one for every computer would cost nearly $32,000.
Not only that, but the current login system is already quite good for security.
Figure 1: Dialock®
Locker Lock™
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Bibliography
Day, David. Omaha Public Library. 2010. OPL. 26 Jan. 2011
<www.omahapubliclibrary.org>.
WorldCat. 2011. OCLC. 2 Feb. 2011 <www.worldcat.com>.
OPS. Saddlebrook Elementary School . 2011. OPS. 28 Feb. 2011
<www.ops.org/elementary/saddlebrook>.
Intercoms Online . 2008. Intercom Systems. 17 Mar. 2011<
www.intercomsonline.com>.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2011. 22 March 2011 < www.eff.org>.
"What Is Blink?" Chase. 2010. JP Morgan Chase & Company. 19 Mar. 2011
<www.chaseblink.com>.
Cummings, Ray. "What is RFID?" Technovelgy. 2011. Technovelgy. 2011. 7 Mar.
<http://www.technovelgy.com/>.
Steiner, Stephen. "About Aerogel" Aerogel.org. 2011. World Press. 17 Feb. 2011
<www.aerogel.org>.
No Key (The Keyless Lock Store). 2011. NoKey. 10 Mar. 2011
<http://www.nokey.com/>.
No Key (The Keyless Lock Store). 2010. NoKey. 17 Feb. 2011
<http://www.roboticsconnection.com/>.
ID Card Group. 2010. ID Card Group. 14 Feb. 2011 <
http://proximity.idcardgroup.com/>.
HID Global (The Trusted source for Secure Identity Solutions). 2011. ID Card
Group. 14 Feb. 2011 < http://proximity.idcardgroup.com/>.
"Wholesale - PC USB 125KHz RFID Card Reader (Read-Only) Other Computer
Components " DHGate.com. 2011. DHGate.com. 13 Mar. 2011
<www.dhgate.com>.
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Journey
Participating in SAME was a long and difficult experience. Every task we undertook
was a challenge, every obstacle as strenuous as the next. On the first day of SAME, we
began by creating a group organization chart, seen on page 16. As our project
progressed, it developed a need for much more detailed research, requiring us to
further divide tasks amongst our group. All areas of our project need to be addressed,
leaving numerous group members unhappy with their positions.
Thankfully, this issue was disregarded in the weeks following our first meeting.
Instead, our group focused on the actual project, actively discussing all possibilities to
solving our proposed problem. During this two week long brainstorm session, we sifted
through ideas, debating the pros and cons of each solution. There were a few small
disagreements during those early days of our project, but eventually we got them
straightened out.
Once we decided on the basic concepts of the MACs, our group began to research,
bringing back some feelings of resentment regarding some members’ positions.
However, after several days of research, every member realized that their position was
just as important as the next. We acknowledged all jobs and discovered that without
each person doing their assigned task, the project would certainly fail. Every single job
assigned contributed to our entire project, with numerous jobs relying on one another
for success. By not completing our work, not only were we disappointing ourselves, but
we were letting down the group as a whole. With this in mind, our group discovered
new drive and determination to finishing their work. Every member felt their
importance and became much more willing to contribute to the project.
Locating reliable resources was extremely time consuming, and students who were
researching faced the daunting task of narrowing down all of our data. Using search
engines as large as Google or Bing, our searches often returned thousands of different
results online and nearly all of the books regarding our project were much more
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informative than necessary consuming quite a bit of our time in our attempts to simply
read and comprehend them.
During our research period, it was also quite simple to be distracted by other things.
Staying on task was certainly a problem for many of our members. However, using
group support and acknowledging the threat of our due date, we managed to persevere
and collect enough information. These factors also contributed to motivating us to work
on and complete our paper.
From the very first day in January until the end of March, our group worked
diligently and persistently on our project. We met every other day in accordance with
our school’s schedule from 10:57 until 12:30, approximately one and a half hours. Our
work continued even into the final few days, as we were still perfecting bits and pieces
of our paper.
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Organizational Chart
TEAM LEADERS
Katy Stuckey
Grace Siy
VIRTUAL MODEL
Nicholas Tuma
Enoch Parker
Tyler Miller
PHYSICAL MODEL
Richard Stockton
Vinith Sharma
GRAPHICS
Mia Morton
PRESENTATION
Elexa Robinson
Zachary Matthews
Grace Siy
RESEARCH
Exterior Doors
Nicholas Tuma
Interior Doors
Emilio Vazquez
Funding
David Hawkins
RFID
Katy Stuckey
Richard Stockton
Vinith Sharma
Libraries
Zachary Matthews
Security
Trip Carlson
PAPER
Katy Stuckey
Grace Siy
Trip Carlson
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Lessons Learned
Our group previously viewed this project as an incredibly challenging
opportunity to create our own idea and bring it to life, and our expectations were
certainly met. However, our group definitely underestimated the difficulty of managing
a project this large.
Every member’s experiences varied greatly over the course of this project,
particularly depending on what section of the project they worked on. Those creating
virtual models became extremely skilled when using programs such as Autodesk
Inventor and Revit, especially after making detailed examples of our school building
and MACs. Group members responsible for the paper discovered how to deliver an
idea clearly and concisely, as well as how to sort through different facts and figures. A
few of our group members worked with Adobe Photoshop, and became fairly proficient
at transforming photos into the exact picture we required. Every member of our group
also became well experienced with in-depth research, which will most definitely
become useful within our high school and college years.
This project greatly impacted each of our group members. We have become
much more appreciative of the work that others have completed, and have learned to
try our hardest to benefit our team. . On future projects, our group members will always
keep the final goal in mind, rather than being distracted by smaller details not
ultimately contributing to the final goal, a problem which we encountered during
SAME. SAME has also given many of us a sense of determination regarding large group
projects. As a group, we discovered that it is difficult to get people to work together,
and even to work at all. At times, it seemed people were seldom working, with only a
few members actually devoting their time to the project. From this, our group learned
that we must be supportive of one another and convince each other to persevere during
the difficult times.
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Of course, after having learned so much about RFIDs, our group will always be
reminded of the research we completed for this project anytime we encounter RFIDs in
the world. We all particularly enjoyed being able to work in groups during class as
opposed to sitting in desks listening to a teacher lecture Our group was able to
participate in hands-on learning, a gift not often experienced in many classrooms.
SAME has given us the amazing opportunity to explore any and all possibilities on our
own, teaching us the challenges of being independent.
Acknowledgements
Our group would not have been successful without the encouragement of our
adult supervisors. Special thanks to Jim Mayberger, Elizabeth Figueroa, Sarah Castanos,
Harvey Siy, Kelly Arbuckle, Sarah English, Mark Suing, Kathleen Englert, and
Scott Gatewood.