Foundation Announces Summit Media Center Collaborative-Learning Project and Open House

(submitted by Joshua Willis, Johnston Community School Foundation)

Johnston, Iowa (December, 2016) – The Johnston Community School Foundation announced today that it has partnered with Moss Educational and Industrial Training Solutions and the Johnston Community School District to create a “collaborative-learning environment” in the Summit Middle School Media Center.  The lead gift for the project was given by the Coaldrake Family in memoriam of Karen Coaldrake, a former Johnston School Board Member. Summit Middle School will be hosting an open house on Thursday, January 19 from 4:30 – 6:00 in the Media Center at 9500 Windsor Pkwy. in Johnston to showcase the new environment.  The public is invited to attend.

Students are engaged in collaborative learning when working in small groups of 3-6 to solve a problem or answer a question. Together they develop theories, test their ideas, and create evidence of their learning. Since no learner is working alone, they can benefit from the varying creative and skill-based strengths of the collective group in order to develop their own individual understandings. The furniture now installed in the Summit Media Center facilitates this type of learning environment.

Josh Willis, Executive Director for the Foundation, said “The Foundation is excited to be involved in this project and to work with an outstanding partner like Moss. This project directly supports the Foundation’s mission to raise funds to provide grants to Johnston’s educators to promote educational excellence. We are honored to be working with the Coaldrake family and we feel the students at Summit will benefit from the Media Center learning environment for many years to come.”

Grant Thies, President of Moss, said “There is no one way to design a classroom or its furniture. Students, teachers, schools and communities do better when the solution to school furniture fits the needs of the individuals in those schools. The Summit Media Center is now uniquely designed to fit the needs of its students and we are thrilled to be involved with this unique project”.

About Moss Educational and Industrial Training Solutions

Our mission is to improve student achievement in preparation for rewarding careers. We represent the best curriculum providers from the US and around the world. We work with educators in an eight-state region to supply technical education equipment, curriculum materials, technical support, and staff development services. We partner with some of the best curriculum providers in the world to supply solutions that drive results, and are cost effective at the same time.

For more information on Moss Educational and Industrial Training Solutions, visit their website at http://www.mossent.com or call (800) 822-4048.

About the Johnston Community School Foundation

The Johnston Community School Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise funds to provide grants for our educators in support of our students and schools to promote educational excellence. The Foundation Board of Directors is made up of local community leaders, parents and educators. The Johnston Community School Foundation was founded in 1998 and supports academics, special needs and the arts in all of our schools, across all grade levels

For more information on the Johnston Community School Foundation, visit their website at www.jcsfoundation.org or call (515) 979-1333.