Why do we like this site?

The Wayne Community Schools enjoy a website unlike any other I've seen to date. They have the look and feel of a supremely well-designed commercial site, but it's done in-house. Navigating their site is made extraordinarily simple by the side-bar listings of sites (including Wayne High School, Midle School, the elementary schools, district information, student homepages, and more). Also, the information included within their pages isn't just useful, it's enjoyable and engaging. There are several points we look for when awarding the School of the Month. They range anywhere from tasteful design to a focus on showcasing students and their work, and that the website is designed by someone in-house, a part of the school or school system. Wayne's schools meet those criteria, and more.

We were especially impressed with the focus on students and their work. Right there, on the main page, is a link to look at student homepages. Also on the main page are links to the high school marching band's page, which includes video of their field shows in RealVideo. There are also links to streaming-video broadcasts of the high school's daily televised news program. Wayne High School isn't just putting pictures of its students' artwork up on the web, it's letting the world get a real taste of what Wayne Community Schools are like, just a touch of what it must be like to be there on a daily basis.

The purpose of a school's website should be to reflect something of school life, offer useful information to parents, students, teachers and the world at large, do so in a tasteful style that brings people back for more, and offer a sampling of the flavor of life at that school. With video of the band, the in-house news program, links to a myriad of national news sources, in-depth information on internet & computer training made available by the Wayne Community Schools, an internet library with thousands of links and even information on the system's network itself, including upgrades and expansions, the Wayne Community Schools' website becomes more than just a few tasteful pages. It becomes the school's thriving presence on the Internet. Something so closely tied to the day-to-day life of the school, its faculty and its students, cannot go unnoticed, have no impact on that which it represents. The students involved in the news broadcasts, marching band, art classes, even basic hands-on training in how to use the Internet (and thus making homepages on the school server) know that their work is being made available to the world. We imagine that improves their performance, bolsters their desire to do their absolute best, and, ultimately, has a drastic, if well-adjusted-to, effect on everyone involved. This is the Internet in your school, some of its potential; and think, opportunities can only grow from now on.

The Wayne Community Schools are already preparing for those expanded opportunities, as well. The system's high school has begun a student intern program, teaching students all the networking concepts necessary to design, build and manage networks of their own. Hopefully, in the future, such student interns will be out in the field, working to install similar networks in partnering schools near Wayne, expanding the opportunities currently enjoyed by its students and faculty to surrounding areas.

Who are the people behind this site?

The Wayne Community Schools' website is maintained by Seth Northrop, a college student living in Wayne, Nebraska, USA. His co-technology coordinator for the district schools is Mike Eckhoff, an alum of Wayne High School and, like Northrop, a student at Wayne State College.