As we all know by now, our designated lab space was the large area that we set up shop on our first trip to East St. Louis.  Originally, the plan was to use the outer perimeter of the room as a labspace for 15 computers.  We took alot of measurements while we were there because our site had several specific desires:

• Keep the middle of the floor open
• Give space for a large dry erase board
• Be able to see all the computers from an Administrator’s table

In addition to their constraints, we were also limited by the room itself.  Because there were fewer outlets than required along the wall, we were going to have to use those frequently trip-inducing humps in the middle of the floor.  After coming to a decision to move the large dry erase board from where the site desired we come up with the following floorplan and emailed them for approval:

Legend:  Pink=Computers, Red = Cables, Black = Outline and Outlet boxes, Light Blue = Switches, Dark Blue = Student Tables, Green = Admin Table

Seems like we had it all figured out.  We’re awesome.

…or are we?…

Yes, but that’s beside the point.  In point of fact, our site replied to our email with a very confusing message implying they may, or may not, only want 10 computers and we may, or may not, only be able to use half of the space.  The message in its inconclusiveness and late arrivedness (4 days before leaving) prevented us from drawing up a completed layout prior to departure for East St. Louis.

Luckily, it was not as bad as it could have been.  We ended up being able to leave behind 3 computers that were giving us problems and set them up a quaint, cozy 12 computer lab.  Complete with Administrator’s table and space for a dry erase board as can be seen below:

The L shape is due to our reliance on those outlet boxes for power and their desire too have a divider from, the other half of the room which is, we presume, for the Teen Techs.  The layout and presentation of power cords and cables was our last great problem, as we had to find a way to make them look good now that some of the tables are not against the wall.  Though they did not yet have their router in place, we left a spot for both it and a printer on the Administrator’s table.  Whenever the router is set up, they just need to plug a single cable into it to have the entire lab wired to the internet cloud