Palo Alto High School will apply for a $3 million grant to finance equipment costs for the planned media arts building, according to Principal Jacqueline McEvoy.
The Facilities Steering Committee met on Aug. 31 to discuss design and construction projects for the school, including the media arts building and potential grant money — both for media arts and another $3 million for the performing arts.
The grant was again reviewed at the media arts meeting on Sept. 2, where McEvoy received support from staff and committee members. The new members include Chris O’Brien, a project manager and business reporter at the San Jose Murcury News and creator of the Next Newsroom Web page, and former Paly parents Bill Johnson, publisher of the Palo Alto Weekly, and Stephen Pond, a project manager at Stanford. Also attending was Sarah Lewis, a Stanford doctoral student specializing in social media.
If given, the grant will add to the existing $8.55 million media arts building project funded by the bond that Palo Alto voters passed in 2008 and will be used to bolster funds for the state-of-the-art equipment that will accompany the innovative building.
The budget for the media arts building is enough to finance the building itself, but because equipment bond money is scarce, the grant is needed to alleviate the costs of equipping the building with the necessary materials, according to McEvoy.
“It will give us more flexibility with how to purchase the equipment,” McEvoy said.
Three years ago, the state passed a bond that allocated money to schools with Career Technical Education programs that were building or renovating facilities and widened the definition of CTE courses to include media and the performing arts. By publicly declaring courses such as journalism and photography as a Media and Design Arts Pathway, Paly becomes eligible for the grant money, which totals over $80 million.
McEvoy believes that designing this new pathway will give recognition to students for their achievements by creating an environment in which they can fully explore careers in media and the arts.
The proposed media arts building’s design works to achieve the goals of community, innovation, transparency, collaboration and a multi-platform environment. McEvoy believes that the equipment will improve both the atmosphere and the functionality of the space.
“You are always limited by your classroom space,” McEvoy said. “The classes themselves will not change but there will be many more possibilities [because of the new building and equipment]. Having the technological capacity for when the publications go to production is very important.”
The 19,230-square-foot media arts building, on which construction could begin as early as 2011, will also house regular English classes and will have an atrium that can be used for both student and faculty meetings. McEvoy believes the building will serve a purpose for every student on campus, not just those pursuing media arts careers.
“Just having the building here raises the consciousness of every student about the importance of the media and our global connections,” McEvoy said.
Applications for both the media arts and peforming arts grants are due Sept. 18, but Paly will not find out if the funding has been awarded until late spring, according to McEvoy. She added that she thinks there is a 50-50 chance that Paly will receive the funds, but is optimistic about the prospects that this grant offers.
“With $3 million [at stake],” McEvoy said, “it would be crazy for us not to go after this grant.”