EAST Projects

The Buffalo Island Museum has been closed to the public since March 2020. After collaborating with the museum committee, they expressed a desire for a resource that the public as well as local educators could use to teach younger generations about Buffalo Island. Over the past years our EAST students have created videos where citizens tell their personal stories of various artifacts. These videos created interactive exhibits allowing visitors to scan the QR code and learn about the artifact. The public has not had access to all of this great information. Chasney used Kuula to create a 360 virtual tour of the museum that links to the fifty-five videos created by EAST students so now our community as well as teachers and students can take advantage of the information available even if the museum is closed. Brittni designed an app using Thunkable that allows users to access all of the interactive exhibits that EAST students have produced and will eventually link the 360 virtual tour.  The app is currently published as a web app and is ready for public use. Gavin has put together a scavenger hunt that teachers can use to encourage learning about our cultural heritage. 

CRITICAL THINKING - In our project we use critical thinking by planning ahead of time like planning out weather conditions, time schedules, and drone issues.  We have had to problem solve with several issues. Getting the AgroCam to work on our drone took a lot of patience and perseverance.  Once we learned out to successfully use the AgroCam, we had to learn how to use the AgroCam software as well as the GIS Drone2Map.  

ADVANCE - The advanced part of our project is mapping a field with drone deploy and making sure all the settings are right so the drone and agro cam function correctly during the flight and mapping.  After we get the drone and agro cam back to the EAST room we can take the SD card and put the picture on drone2map which processes all of the pictures and puts them together to make one picture of the field while showing how healthy the field is using NDVI mapping. This project has been student led, and all of the project team members have learned a great deal.  We have not only improved our technical skills such as using the drone and the accompanying software, but we have learned about project management and skills that can apply to other aspects in our lives. 

REAL - Our project is real because it is helping to solve a real world problem. Our NDVI maps help farmers make real decisions that will benefit that farm. 

TEAMWORK - Each student on the team brings a different strength, but we all come together to help each other in helping with flying the drone, mapping, and processing.  We have also collaborated with local farmers to determine the best fields to map that will make them make informed decisions.

Monette Manor has a resident that is blind and partially deaf, Mr. Larry Wilson.  He faces barriers in his everyday life;  one of these being using his remote for his smart TV.  Cason was working at Monette Manor and getting frequent pages to Mr. Wilson’s room.  He needed help accessing his different TV apps.  This project team had the idea of 3D printing a cover that labeled the various apps using Braille to help Mr. Wilson gain a higher sense of independence when using his remote.  Blender was used to design a remote case that had Braille translations above each button. The case needs to be printed with flexible filament. We’re having lots of struggles with the printing process, but we are currently troubleshooting and plan to continue working until this project is complete.   Two other EAST students have been recruited to help research how to successfully print with flexible filament. We are starting prints daily, documenting all Cura settings, and having a little more success each time. We are also collaborating with Mr. Drew Wallis from MakerMade and engineering students from Arkansas State University.

Collaborated with the American Legion Post 136 to host our annual Veterans Day Program.  Inducted two hometown heroes into our Buffalo Island Veterans Hall of Fame.  Livestreamed the program. 

Partnered with Mrs. Arkansas Wheelchair to create an ADA Accessibility Survey using GIS Survey123 that would enable citizens to determine the accessibility of a place before actually going there.  

Used Thunkable to create a Peanut Receipts App to help farmers in our community efficiently keep track of receipts. This year Brittni has added Air Table to store the data that the farmers need to access. She is currently trying to figure out the best way to store a picture of the receipt. 

Designed a brochure for students who enroll in our school who speak little to no English.  Created QR codes that lead to videos in English and Spanish where key school personnel welcome students to our school.  

Collaborated with the local librarian to design book trailer videos to encourage reading. She was concerned about young people not being interested in reading after they get a cell phone.  We have created bookmarks with QR codes linking to the book trailers.  We've also created audiobooks to add to our audio book website. 

Used Thunkable to develop an app to facilitate connections with our Grandfriends who lived at Monette Manor before the tornado. The app will include originally designed games as well as a remote meeting feature. 

Worked with the Black Oak Mayor to design a walking track using SketchUp.  This will help him with his presentation to the park grant committee in Little Rock. 

Collaborated with Coach Broadway to create a baseball logo in Illustrator. 

Created 3D printed face mask extenders for the Lakeside Nursing Home to make wearing the masks for long periods of time more comfortable. 

Collaborated with a BIC bus driver to create bus safety videos for our students to improve overall safety and emergency preparedness.

Wrote reviews, shared photos, and edited information for local businesses on Google to promote businesses on Buffalo Island. 

Worked with the Mayor of Black Oak to design the Black Oak Museum using SketchUp so citizens and potential donors can visualize what the museum will eventually look like. 

Designed senior banners for all senior athletes using Photoshop. 

Created a logo in Canva for Black Ridge Waterfowl, which is a hunting guide service in our area. 

Worked with the Monette City Recorder to keep the city of Monette's website up to date with current information and events.