Deskin Elementary calls used computer monitors much-needed gift

Thanks to the connections of a student's parent, Deskin Elementary School is on the receiving end of a generous gift: 40 computer monitors to help update its computer lab and in-class computers.

The school at 4550 N. Pioneer Way has three computer labs with about 90 computers. The school was built in 1989, and the computer monitors being replaced reflect the technology of that era: They are huge and bulky and reminiscent of old-fashioned TV sets with their framed fronts and protruding back ends.

The monitors were on the list to be phased out.

"It's funny when you turn these on," said Angela Shepard, assistant principal. "They sound like an airplane taking off."

The monitors are being donated by Roseman University of Health Sciences, which purchased the former flagship building of the now-defunct Nevada Cancer Institute in Summerlin at 1 Breakthrough Way. Roseman is donating 40 like-new Dell computer monitors that were acquired with the purchase of the building.

The idea cropped up in August 2014 when Deskin held a meet-and-greet for parents. Nash Haymond, facilities technician at Roseman, whose son, Zachary, 8, attends Deskin, was there.

"Mr. Haymond — his son is going to be in third grade here — was teasing me about our monitors, and he was like, 'I worked at the Nevada Cancer Institute, and I believe they're getting rid of all these monitors. I'm going to see if I can get any for you,' " Shepard said. "And I was, like, 'Wow, that would be awesome.' So he worked with his boss, and he called me this summer and said, 'It's going to happen. You're going to get these monitors.' Our classrooms really need them."

She said the old monitors required so much energy to run that they would overload the school's electrical capacity.

"They take up so much room," Shepard said. "... Any time (a lot of them were) turned on, it would blow the circuit. So, any classroom out in our new addition that would turn on a computer during (a computer lab session) would shut down, so that wasn't nice. It happened any time more than 20 (monitors) were turned on."

To add to the problem, the school's Wi-Fi has yet to be upgraded, meaning that even with the donation, the computer lab program will not be expanded or used more often.

"So, even if we had iPads or laptops, the school couldn't support it just because our Wi-Fi isn't up-to-date," Shepard said. "But our teachers do use the computers just due to the fact that they have to teach students how to maneuver a lot of different ways on the computer. It's not just saving files anymore; they have to be able to manipulate text and type, those kinds of things."

Haymond said, "Because I work over in Summerlin, I knew when we acquired that building, all the computers were left behind. I kind of left it alone for a while, then I was talking to (a colleague) about it, and he brought it up at a board meeting, and the board agreed to let some of these (units) go. I was just looking to replace some in the classroom, but they ended up donating 40 to Deskin. I was hoping they could replace every one of them in the computer lab."

If the former Nevada Cancer Institute monitors hadn't been donated, Haymond said they possibly would have been sold for rock-bottom prices.

"But, more than likely, they would have been thrown away," he said. "I thought, 'Why waste these things when my child's school could use them?' I wanted them to go to a good cause."

Haymond said the monitors were perhaps 5 years old. They have a small speaker bar at the bottom.

Shepard estimated the flat-screen monitors were worth at least $100 each.

"You know how technology is, as soon as you buy it, it's already old," Shepard said. "Remember the old microwave when they first came out? So we have quite a few computers, but they're on the (replace) list.

"Parents see a need, and then they help us," Shepard said. "That's where we're lucky."

— To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.