SOUTHPORT, Ind. — Southport Middle School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for a major makeover of the media center.
Students poured in to check out the new look, new furniture and plenty of low-tech and high-tech gadgets to promote creative learning.
"I've already seen it just a little bit today, that growth mindset of like, 'Oh! I screwed that up. I didn't do it right.' Being able to grow beyond that and having a safe place to fail,” said Lori Farnworth, Southport Middle School library media specialist.
This is the first of four media center makeovers at public schools courtesy of the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation and the Indianapolis Host Committee for next year's College Football Playoff Championship. Media center makeovers will be unveiled later this year at Garden City Elementary, James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy and Victory College Prep.
The schools were identified based upon the percentage of students from low-income households served and the verified need for a media center makeover within the building. Southport Middle School has about 1,200 students. 17 percent are English language learners. In the Southport school district of Perry Township, 62 languages are spoken by immigrants from 80 countries.
“This media center is going to make a significant impact for our students,” said Perry Township Schools Superintendent Pat Mapes. “Here in Perry Township we’re proud to educate probably the most diverse population in Marion County.”
"One of the most important parts of hosting these events is these legacy impacts that they can have on the city, and we saw it with reading with the NCAA (March Madness),” said Mark Howell, 2022 CFP Indianapolis Host Committee board chair. Now, as we look to College Football Championship, our focus is going to be celebrating teachers."
The Southport renovation took about eight weeks, including new tables and chairs and comfortable seating areas for reading and studying. Low-tech features include a sewing machine, button maker and LEGO wall. High-tech additions include Android tablets, 3D printers and app-enabled robot balls.
"It is now a place where we can use technology to create and build,” said Southport eighth grader Sophia Bane. “The thing I'm most excited about is 3-D printing. I can't wait to see what can be created with it."
"It's good for the College Football Playoff Foundation to help other kids,” said Southport seventh grader William Webb.
The Indianapolis Host Committee is committed to investing $1million in legacy programs supporting education in partnership with The Mind Trust. These programs include the Indiana eLearning Lab, Teach Indy and the Extra Yard Makeovers.