DC 20 year anniversary :::
LTHS Discovery Centers celebrate 20 years
The Lyons Township High School Discovery Centers (DC) are celebrating their 20-year anniversary on Wednesday, May 25 during student lunches (10:30am-1pm) with birthday cake and drawings for prizes.
Over the past two decades, the DCs have undergone several changes, evolving alongside technology and in conjunction with student needs. There is one Discover Center located at each campus, each with two rooms containing a total of about 60 computers.
Originally designed for reading, writing and learning across the curriculum, there were teacher tutors assigned throughout the day and computer stations were outfitted with basic software. Even the layout - pods with four computers - was set up to encourage students to work in their own space.
The original DC’s were staffed with three coordinators, who each covered one-third of the school day, as well as one technician and one paraprofessional assigned to each DC. Since 2001, LT has had one coordinator per DC, who covers the entire day from 7am-4pm, and one paraprofessional per DC.
Today, there are approximately 90,000-100,000 student contacts per DC per year! As time has gone on, the DC’s have become more of a production lab, with the majority of assignments requiring a computer and the Internet. The new layout allows teachers to instruct their students more easily; students’ screens can be seen at a glance so teachers can tell immediately if a student has fallen behind.
Today, many students use the DC’s individually before and after school or during lunch to complete their assignments. Teachers reserve the DC for classroom work that requires use of the internet or a special technology application. LT no longer has teacher tutors assigned to the DC; rather Peer Tutors help their fellow students.
The DC staff hosts an annual Holiday Write Night, when LT establishes a direct link to the North
Pole via the computer. Hundreds of children, aged kindergarten through third grade, compose letters
to Santa on Discovery Center computers and receive an immediate response from the North Pole.