GLENWOOD High School MJP Maher Media Centre officially opened its doors on 1 June, after an extensive renovation, renewal and upgrade.
In 1979 the old school hall was transformed into a resource centre and this lofty double-volume room provided grand accommodation for the library. It was then renamed the MJP Maher Information and Technology Centre in 1995, after receiving some much needed attention.
Mr Mike Maher (retired headmaster 1982 – 1997) was a pioneer back in the day. In his time he ensured visible and tangible improvements such as the provision of audio-visual facilities, a team teaching room and lecture theatre and the installation of first class computer facilities.
Friday 18 February 1983 saw the official opening of the computer centre by the then Director of Education of Natal, Mr S Levinsohn; this was the first computer centre in a government school in KwaZulu-Natal.
Now, 30 years later, Mr Maher’s vision of an Information and Technology Centre is reimagined. The media centre now truly reflects the future that is technology, with multi-nodal areas that include a Skype room, video and editing room, 3D printing and a gaming centre, as well as over 30 computers with educational software, and the ability to research any topic that comes to mind, using the internet.
Old editions of books that had not been taken out of the library for over 10 years have been replaced with best-sellers and newly written books that have kept up with the modern day movements.
The school foyer and entrance hall were also upgraded, and the old world feel showing the schools heritage and tradition was kept. Moving from the foyer to the museum into the media centre, one walks from the old into the new, focussing on the future of academics.
Mr Tony Pinheiro, acting headmaster, is another visionary who sees the library as the heart of the school and accepts that education is constantly changing. He understands that teaching and education has to move with the times to keep exciting the learners. It is for this reason that Mr Pinheiro worked endlessly to get a donor, Mr Muller and sponsors such as Photonote, Samsung and Ster Kinekor to assist with the refurbishing and upgrade of the library to a modern media centre.
