Above: A video report about the grand opening of the Numann Technology Center, produced by Vecc Videography.
Roxbury Central School has a new technology center filled with banks of new desktops, laptops, and tablets, and decorated with the whimsical interior design style of a Sillicon Valley start-up.
The Numann Technology Center, funds for which were donated by philanthropist and Roxbury local Guy Numann, held its grand opening ceremony on Friday, Nov. 14 after two years of development. A large crowd of elected officials filled RCS's auditorium to celebrate.
Numann, who graduated from the small rural school in Delaware County in 1949 and went on to have a career in technology, hopes that state-of-the-art software and equipment will inspire students to start their own tech and science businesses at home instead of leaving the rural Catskills for jobs elsewhere.
"My real hope is that they all get the technology and entrepreneurial bug, and come back here and start businesses," Numann said to Jessica Vecchione, who produced a short video about the event, which you can see above.
The project was coordinated by the Greater Roxbury Learning Initiative Corporation, which released this press release:
In a unique partnership between The Greater Roxbury Learning Initiative Corporation (GRLIC) and Roxbury Central School, please join us in celebrating the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the Numann Technology Center on November 14 at 1 p.m. on the front lawn of Roxbury Central School. The Numann Center is the result of a unique school and community partnership that will be available to students during the school day and to the community during non-school hours.
In April 2012, the Roxbury Board of Education accepted a generous donation from GRLIC, in honor of Guy Numann, a member of the Roxbury Central School Class of 1949. Mr. Numann entrusted these funds to GRLIC with the desire to give back to his alma mater and larger community. His vision was to have GRLIC and the district build a state-of -the-art technology center at the school. Additional funding was provided by a legislative grant secured by New York State Senator James L. Seward, A. Lindsey and Olive B. O’Connor Foundation and Mr. Numann also donating supplementary funds. Additional funds were obtained from a grant secured from the Appalachian Regional Commission to provide the computers, laptops, tablets, smart board, furniture and the software required to run this state of the art facility.
The mission of the Numann Center is to enrich lives through exposure to and use of cutting-edge technology that is focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education) and the development of “College and Career Readiness” skills.
Jenn Schuman, “The Numann Center will be a place where young and old can come together to learn about the newest advances in technology, science, engineering and math through classes, workshops and seminars. We are very excited to be in partnership with the Roxbury Central School on this project.” The Greater Roxbury Learning Initiative Corp. will also work with SUNY Delhi, SUNY Oneonta Computer Science Department and Hartwick College Professors to provide classes and workshops for our community.
The Numann Technology Center has classes scheduled in Introduction to computers, Software applications such as word processing and spreadsheets, computer programming and robotics, as well as events like An Hour of Code, Lego wars and My Science project. For more information on how to get involved or classes, please visit www.grlic.org/numann.
