School upgrades weight room, projection systems

December 5, 2008 — by Kelly Lamble and Alex Sclavos

The school has undergone some significant aesthetic changes, including renovation of the gym and football field, in the past few years.

Now those changes are continuing with more high-tech projection systems being installed in classrooms throughout campus and $75,000 worth of equipment being donated to the weight room.

The school acquired the new weight room equipment after new management of the Quito Shopping Center tripled 24 Hour Fitness’ lease, effectively forcing them out because they were looking for businesses that would attract customers to shop at multiple venues in one outing.

The school has undergone some significant aesthetic changes, including renovation of the gym and football field, in the past few years.

Now those changes are continuing with more high-tech projection systems being installed in classrooms throughout campus and $75,000 worth of equipment being donated to the weight room.

The school acquired the new weight room equipment after new management of the Quito Shopping Center tripled 24 Hour Fitness’ lease, effectively forcing them out because they were looking for businesses that would attract customers to shop at multiple venues in one outing.

Assistant football coach Adam Weiskal asked the 24 Hour Fitness owner if any of the equipment could be donated to Saratoga. The new machines were moved into the weight room last month and are being used by many of the school’s athletic teams.

“It’s nice to finally be getting new equipment,” said senior football captain Scott Thoren. “The old equipment is run down and doesn’t feel very sturdy, while the new stuff is much more high-tech and safe.”

The athletic department has decided to replace the old machines with the new ones and create more floor space to accommodate all the new equipment.

“We are looking to use a room that has been used for storage and open it up to become part of the weight room,” said athletic director Peter Jordan.

Another change, maybe more obvious to the average student, is the projection systems being installed in 12 rooms all over campus. Each system costs from $8,000 to $10,000 paid for with money provided by the School Site Council. The PTSO also contributed.

“For my algebra classes, I can get all the notes up on the board and they can see how things are supposed to look. All the graphs are already there,” said statistics and algebra teacher Seem Patel, who is slated to get a SmartBoard later this year, but is already making good use of her recently installed projection system.

Patel also thinks the projection system will help with student presentations.

“[Students] can plug in their own laptop and the PowerPoint will show up on the board. There are also videos with the stats book that I can show,” said Patel.

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