CSDR has a mixture of old and new buildings as well as old and new technology on campus. If you have not been to campus for 20 years, you will be surprised how much the campus look has changed.
For this column, I want to show you something about the new technology on campus: a new automatic alert signal for the crosswalk. The crosswalks with flashing alerts are found at the main gym and CTE to let drivers know that students are crossing the campus road. The students don't have to push a button to enable the flashing devices. They just detect their body movement and activate the devices automatically.
The drivers can’t miss the alert because strobe lights are flashing on the road, white posts, and tall yellow signs with strong strobe lights on the roadsides.
For old-timers, CTE is a new name for the old department name (Vocational), which started around 2005. CTE stands for Career and Technology Education. The department name change took effect at CSDR and other public schools statewide, per the state Department of Education, to remove the stigma associated with the old department name.
The building on the left is the CSDR museum. The corner classroom used to be the old homemaking room and the FEAST room. The red building in the center is the main gym, which opened in 2018 at a cost of $10 million and has two full-sized basketball courts inside. Wow. On the right is the CTE Department, which has two new state-of-the-art buildings. Champion.
For old-timers, the Superintendent’s house used to be on the right side. The house was razed to make room for the new CTE building.
Click the 20-second video clip above to see how the alert devices respond to motion detection. The three-foot white posts have flashing motion devices set off once pedestrian movement is detected. The yellow lights flash on the pavement and the tall post. They operate 24/7 for safe pedestrian crossings during the day and at night. The light is strong and noticeable.
There is another crosswalk with flashing alert signals in front of the main entrance outside the new gym.
From 1955 to 2010, the gym and vocational building had no flash signals for 55 years. I hope pedestrians have not been hit during all those years. It is good that we have the alert signs in place for better student safety.
Dr Ken Randall remarked to me in the 1990s that most public schools don't have roads built where student foot traffic occurs. The roads tend to be on the school perimeters for student safety. At CSDR in 1951, Dr Brill, however, allowed the roads to be closer to students. So far, I have not heard any problems with the mixture of students and vehicles in close proximity over the past 72 years.
Still, student safety is the top priority at CSDR.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
29 January 2025
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