Remi Poliquin
Counsel
Transforming the Stage at Mount Pleasant
by Dan Mullins
When students and families gather in the Mount Pleasant Elementary School gymnasium for their next assembly or school play, they will be greeted by a distinctly clearer and more vibrant experience. A newly modernized audio-visual system is transforming the space into an engaging, professional-quality venue for the entire community.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board has recently completed a comprehensive upgrade to the gymnasium’s technology at Mount Pleasant. The new installation features a high-brightness laser projector that delivers crisp images to a new 180-inch screen, which is flanked by two large 86-inch displays mounted beside the stage. Whether children are participating in physical education, watching educational presentations, or the community is gathering for a movie night, the setup ensures content can be easily seen from any vantage point in the room.
Sound quality in large spaces is a notorious challenge, but the new audio system addresses the unique acoustical hurdles of a gymnasium head-on. Impact-resistant line-array speakers were specifically engineered to provide clear, intelligible sound while withstanding the active, daily demands of a school environment. Combined with new stage and wireless microphones, the upgrades mean that every student performer and presenter can be heard with absolute clarity during school plays, concerts, and announcements.
What makes this project particularly notable is the method of its creation. “The design and installation were done 100 percent in-house, including custom impact resistant enclosures for the televisions,” explains Kurt Binnie, Director of Innovation and Technology for the Board. Built in the LBPSB shop, these protective enclosures are constructed from wood and polycarbonate. Binnie notes that relying on an external firm for the design and supply would have cost significantly more. In fact, outside contracting would have made delivering this exact solution virtually impossible, despite generous financial assistance from the school’s Home and School association.
Because the Mount Pleasant project was heavily financed by its Home and School organization, duplicating this exact setup is not presently feasible across every campus. However, the IT department continues to offer simpler solutions at various price points for different schools, striving to maximize the use of NTIC funds. This ensures that as much equipment as possible can be purchased for classroom use via government tenders.
Ultimately, this resourceful, in-house approach demonstrates how dedicated community funding and internal expertise can unite. Designed to adapt to the evolving needs of students and educators, the new technology transforms the gymnasium into a flexible multi-purpose space, allowing the school to create deeply engaging learning experiences that will resonate for years to come.
