Latest Stories – Page 3

Button Wall Complete

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Rory Peacock Work Projects

So with two years of the STEAM Carnival in the books, a co-worker and I decided to go out on a limb and try to build one of the local favorite games for the students. We put out a GoFundMe project to help with the costs and raised $1,000 to begin our wicked cool “Button Wall” competition game.

The shopping list included buttons, wires, speakers, and lots of wood and screws (plus a few more things that are irrelevant). The effort included several evenings and weekend hours to design, cut, paint, and wire up all the pieces to make it just right.

In the end, we have a working button wall that we hope will get a solid test when nearly 5,000 students come experience the 3rd Annual STEAM Carnival next week!

McMurry Hall of Honor

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Rory Peacock Personal Stories

Yesterday was an amazing day and such an honor to be inducted into the McMurry Hall of Honor for my time there on the football field. Former teammates, former coaches, and most importantly my family was there to share this day with me.

The day started out with a luncheon and the presentation of inductees. Each of us got the opportunity to say our Thank You’s to those that helped us along this road. They asked us to keep it to 5 minutes, and I obviously took that as a “recommendation” versus a “requirement.” I mean really…this isn’t going to happen again so why not!?!?

It truly is an honor to now share the Hall of Honor with my mother who was inducted during the 90s for her achievements in basketball. Not only did she play and dominate on the court and set records that still exist today (most points in a game & most rebounds in a game), she did it while raising me the first four years of my life! And YES…I gave her a VERY big thank you during my speech!

Maybe in the next handful of years some more of my family will be able to join the list.

FCC Success Story

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Rory Peacock Speaking Opportunities Work Projects

It seems like just a few months ago, my team and I were visiting Washington D.C. to accept the CoSN Texas Team of the Year award for our work on FIBER11. I guess that is because we were doing that back in March just 6 months prior. Now I here reporting on another trip to the nation’s capital on an invitation to present the FIBER11 project, deemed “The Model of What E-rate Can Do”, to members of the FCC!

Needless to say, I was speechless when I was invited up to visit and speak on behalf of the work that our team accomplished through this project. Not only did we garner some local and state attention during the process, we also turned an eye at the national level for the innovative work to bring high-speed connectivity to our furthest rural schools in a way that was cost-effective and provided the necessary connectivity for all students in locations that were underserved.

The day was full of meetings with various FCC commissioners, staff, and even USAC (department who runs the E-rate program). It was long, tiresome, and extremely rewarding to share my team’s work. I thought originally that receiving the award in D.C. six months ago might be the highlight of 2018. I’m pretty sure that this one just took over that spot. What a cool experience! It only left me thinking one thing…how do we top this one now? 🙂