LEARN! TOUR! EXPLORE!
The School Equipment Show is your place for training and professional development. These top-quality sessions will help you keep abreast of the latest developments in school construction, design trends, and sales techniques. Master new skills, increase sales, and plan for the future!
Most sessions are eligible for CES credits from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Look for the AIA symbol by each title.
Special Session, Thursday, November 18, 10:30 – 11:45
Economic Forecast for the School Equipment Market
Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research
See the future by attending a keynote presentation by one of the country’s most informed economists with over 96% accuracy. Alan Beaulieu will provide School Equipment Show attendees and exhibitors a domestic and global perspective on how to forecast, plan, and increase their profits based on business cycle trend analysis.
Alan Beaulieu delivers economic information with practical application. The Institute for Trend Research has more than 60 years of predictions throughout every major historic economic turning point. Alan will not only provide an extensive review of business cycles, but can explain the implications to the school furniture equipment suppliers and dealers.
Here is just a sample of what you will learn:
- Short-term and long-term economic forecasts (U.S. and /or abroad).
- How those forecasts impact your company.
- Is the economy going to grow?
- What about inflation?
- How will the U.S. be affected by corporate production facilities being moved overseas?
- Republican or Democrat - what impact does each type of administration have on the economy?
- Does the stock market give us a true reading of the economy?
- What leading economic indicators should we be watching for?
- See the future first before your competition does!
This presentation will include audience-specific, action-oriented forecasts that impact the current and future business plans of all School Equipment Show attendees. You cannot afford to miss this powerful session!
Wednesday, November 17
9:00 – 10:15 AM
Gary Jelin, TMP Architecture, Inc.
With First lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to "raise a healthier generation of kids," the school cafeteria becomes more important than ever. More than 31 million school children participate every day in the national school lunch program, and many children consume at least half of their daily calories at school. For Let's Move! to succeed, our school's cafeterias must offer not only healthier lunch options, but must also provide a real-world connection with life outside of school. Kids are accustomed to eating in places like shopping mall food courts, airports, and sports arenas. In this session, we will explore the design elements used in creating a social, dynamic environment with healthy kids in mind.
Download the handouts for this session.
Peter Brown, Peter Brown Architects
Can the use of color, texture and patterns, floor and wall coverings, lighting and acoustics affect educational outcomes? Does the selection and arrangement of the furniture and furnishing detract from, or support the educational mission? Is the school a place where students want to go? In this session we will review the research behind good interior design. We will also look at a number of projects whose unique interior designs make these schools a special place for teachers and students alike.
9:00 – 11:45 AM (Please Note: This session is now full.)
School Presentation/Tour:
Litchfield Verrado Middle School
Paul Winslow and Caroline Lobo, Orcutt Winslow
Sponsored by Arizona Chapter of CEFPI
Join Paul Winslow and Caroline Lobo, from the architectural firm of Orcutt Winslow, as they lead a discussion and tour of two recently completed school projects. Verrado High School is Agua Fria High School District's fourth high school in the master planned community of Verrado, AZ. Not only is its setting unique, but also the school's curriculum delivery strategy fosters partnerships for a balanced, project-based, real-world learning environment. A major focus of the design is sustainability. Paul and Caroline will explain their design philosophy that intuitively addresses issues of equity, energy-efficiency, and healthy indoor-outdoor learning environments.
The second school is Litchfield Verrado Middle School, a campus built in two phases. The first phase includes the classroom pods, administration, media center, kitchen/dining and play fields. The second phase includes the cafeteria, gymnasium/lockers and six additional classrooms. The site is located in the foothills of the White Tank Mountains and slopes approximately 30' from one end to another. Join this tour and find out how Orcutt Winslow met the design challenges to produce an environment that fosters cooperative learning. Attendees will meet for a short discussion period before boarding a bus that will take them to the two schools. The bus will return to the Convention Center no later than 12:00 noon.
10:30 – 11:45 AM
Bill Orr, Executive Director, Collaborative for High-Performance Schools
A total of $16.4 billion in K-12 school construction was completed in 2009, and many of those buildings were designed as high performance/green schools. Unfortunately, these buildings are the exception, not the rule. There are 98,793 K-12 public schools in the U.S., and most 40+ years old. These existing schools serve the majority of our youth. In this session we will look not only at the current trends in green building design, but at what can be done to green existing buildings so that every school can be a high performance school.
This workshop will cover several resources available through the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) to help existing schools become high performance schools, including:
- The CHPS High Performance Products Database - an online, searchable database open to the public. The Database includes products that help schools meet CHPS and other green building criteria, and deliver environmental and health benefits to their occupants.
- The CHPS Operations Report Card (ORC) - a program that benchmarks the current performance of existing schools, provides a report card of results and makes suggestions for improvement.
- CHPS for Modernizations - learn how CHPS specifically addresses major and minor modernizations, new buildings on existing campuses, and additions. Case studies on how school districts across the country are using the CHPS Criteria to renovate or modernize their schools will be included.
Funding Projects in the Education Market Through Traditional and Non-Traditional Sources
Lisa Regan and Jeffrey Phillips, The National Center for the Learning Environment
School Districts are being plagued by diminishing funds and are coping by cutting their teaching staff and postponing major purchases and projects. This lack of funding does impact the learning environment for our students! In this session you will learn there is funding available. We will examine funding opportunities from public and private sources and discuss how your district or school might benefit. Be prepared to walk away with lots of ideas and resources to begin your funding package!
NSSEA/NSF 380: What You Need To Know about the New School Equipment Safety Standard, Certification Program, and BIFMA Educational Furniture Standard
Jane Wilson and Ashlee Breitner, NSF International, and Dave Panning, BIFMA International
NSF International, an ANSI-accredited standards developer and third party certification organization, is partnering with NSSEA to develop a comprehensive consensus-based standard and certification program to assess school supplies and equipment for safety-related characteristics. To be designated NSF/NSSEA 380, the standard will assess products for criteria including, but not limited to, materials of construction, flammability, electrical safety, emissions, and physical performance. Products to be addressed in the standard include desks, tables, and seating products, visual communication products and audio-visual equipment, flooring products, and laboratory equipment. Upon completion of the standard, NSF will also offer a third-party certification program to organizations interested in documenting independent verification of the compliance of their products to the standard.
This session will provide an overview of the standards development process, details about the requirements of the standard and the primary elements of the certification program. In addition, BIFMA International, an ANSI-accredited standards developer, will be on hand to share the latest developments of their proposed Educational Furniture Standard. NSF/NSSEA 380 participants are working with BIFMA in the development of BSR/BIFMA X6.1-201x for Educational Furniture.
Download handout 1 for this session. | Download handout 2 for this session.
Thursday, November 18
9:00 – 10:15 AM
Sean Vance, Sean Vance ArchitectureThe Americans with Disabilities Act, a law enacted by Congress in 1990 and amended in 2008, made sure that no individual would be discriminated against on the basis of disability with regards to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation—including schools. Schools needed to be barrier-free and accessible. But why design only for the disabled—why not simplify life for everyone by making products and the built environment more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. This is the goal of universal design. In this session we will explore the benefits of taking a holistic approach and making access equal for all.
Improving Operational Efficiency Through Technology
Presenter: Karl Perron, Transactiv
Business Technology Committee Panel: Michael Green, John R. Green Company; Jim Kolettis, Mahar Manufacturing; Nick Schwarz, Jonti-Craft
Today’s businesses face a dizzying pace of IT change. Across nearly all industries, today’s small businesses and midsize companies are concerned with understanding new technologies and improving operational efficiency to support profitable growth. Facing an increasingly competitive marketplace – characterized by globalization, market consolidation, increasing regulation, competition for resources, and the rapid pace of innovation – many companies report that improving operating efficiency is critical to their ability to thrive. The ultimate goal is to have an IT environment that is efficient, flexible, scalable and adaptable in a business that requires quick responses to customer needs and changing market conditions.
To achieve these benefits, it is necessary to develop a strategy and roadmap to help exploit best practices, standards, technology and tools. Transactiv CEO Karl Perron will lead a discussion on how free standards such as the NSSEA Product Template can increase efficiencies and build connections between companies. He will share examples of how to facilitate online transactions between buyers and sellers through social networking platforms. Members of the NSSEA Business Technology Committee will be on hand to share ways they have reduced costs, streamlined operations, and increased revenue though IT investments. Come to this workshop to learn some key strategies that companies can use to improve their business’ profits through efficiency.
Deb Moore, School Planning & Management Magazine, College Planning & Management Magazine
Constant social, economic, technological and educational delivery changes make it harder for administrators and architects to plan for the future. Looking at present-day trends can give us some ideas as to how schools may evolve, but don't tell the whole story. In this session we will look at the current trends in construction and design, the latest research on the learning environment, the role furniture plays in creating an effective learning environment, and other forces that will drive future school design.
10:30 – 11:45 AM
Special Session: Economic Forecast for the School Equipment Market
Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research
Changing Learning Environments by Changing Furniture/Design
Alfred Sena, Rio Rancho Public Schools; Jeff Billings, Paradise Valley School District; and Lee Bauer, MA, The National Center for the Learning Environment
In today's economic climate, it is not always feasible for a school or district to build new or renovate and our children's learning spaces are built to last a minimum of fifty years. With rapidly changing technology and teaching methods, it is imperative that our schools have the ability to be brought into the 21st century. By looking at actual case studies, this session will discuss less drastic measures such as furnishings, equipment, and integration of technology into the classroom that are less expensive but highly effective.
Glenn Meeks, Meeks Educational Technologies
Picture this... student desks in straight rows; a teacher standing at the front of the room lecturing to the class; pencils, papers and blackboards; no conversation or interaction between students. This is the classroom of the past, not of the future. Today's classroom is a space where technology and a digital culture converge. The arrangement of that space can contribute to—or detract from—the task at hand. in this session our panel of experts will discuss new and emerging technologies, the challenges faced with integrating them into today's classroom, and the impact these technologies have on the teaching and learning environment.
Please Note: Workshop information is subject to change.