Summary

Team Moderna Elit Uppfinnarna
During passing period, break, and lunch the hallway becomes over crowded blocking all main entrances to the main library. During the morning, before school, students tend to linger in front of the entry since its their only safe haven from the elements. Over all it's a nuisance for all those in the area, or trying to access the library. The only ideal time to visit is during class time, after school, or during lunch, when the crowd dies down.

We've all spent time in the library throughout our four years at Mira Loma High School, but we needed a bit more than our personal impressions. So we took time out of our English class to stop by the library and talk to our librarian, Ms. Gibson. She has been the librarian at our school for years and knows it better than anyone. We sat down with her and asked her how she felt the library could be improved, and utilized into the most efficient, comfortable, and useful library it can be.

Our poor librarian was overworked to the bone she has had no assistance (even with the TA’s) until when she was forced to hire an assistant librarian, which only diminished the workload a little bit. After speaking to her, we found she needs more money to buy books and computers and more assistants, both tech-wise and book-wise.

For years, Mira Loma has had issues with proper spacing and useful design. For example, our quad has never had good places to sit and relax. The old oak trees used to provide shade there and between many of the buildings here, but have since been pulled up and replaced with concrete. This also causes the sun to reflect off of the concrete and heat up the surrounding classrooms to an uncomfortable degree, including the library. The library is often cramped, too hot, and has grungy windows and never enough computers. The old torn books and dull brick walls do not exactly reinforce the excitement of learning.
In 2010 Mira Loma High School celebrated its 50th anniversary. Built in 1960, Mira Loma High School is one of nine comprehensive high schools in the San Juan Unified School District, located in Sacramento County. With one primary feeder school and strong
academic and extracurricular programs, Mira Loma is a school of choice for many of San Juan as well as out of district students.

Here are some facts about our school:
The school is located in a suburban community, with students from a wide spectrum of socio-economic back grounds. This diversity is a valuable asset that strengthens and enriches our community. Mira Loma High School is a comprehensive high school with roughly 1800 students. This represents an increase in enrollment of about a
hundred students over the previous year. Enrollment is favorably affected by students from outside Mira Loma’s attendance area. These students choose to attend Mira Loma for its outstanding IB, MYP, IS, and Passport programs. From this pool, Mira Loma
attracts 353 inter-district students and 80 intra-district students. Mira Loma currently has 451 freshmen, 435 sophomores, 423 juniors, and 356 seniors.

The Mira Loma community exhibits a genuine dedication to all students, fosters a collaborative culture that is empathetic to students, and feels a pride in being part of the Mira Loma Matador Culture and its history of academic excellence. Mira Loma prides itself on its diversity, and a dedication for all student's success and high education. From a student's stand point, our school works hard with us, and we all know each other. This school is also our family.

Our team’s name is Moderna Elit Uppfinnarna, or for short M.E.U.. It was created to include our friend, Fredrik Harmen, who is a foreign exchange student from Sweden. Our logo is a white silhouette of a stag. Our firm focuses mainly on eco friendly housing, and/or building solutions that compromise building's and nature's conflicts in our designs for our clients. We work to bring nature inside our buildings, and create the ultimate work space.

Our challenges: Currently, our school library has three rooms. The main room is the library room, then there is the reference room and followed by that is the computer room. Some of the problems that we currently face are the small doorways to each room. For years, Mira Loma has had many issues with the way our buildings were designed. After decades with dealing with the queer layout, the student and faculty began changing our school to what we know today; to the lack of funding, Mira Loma has always been a step behind. Our librarian has done the best of her ability to make do, what little she has to work with. Because of budget cuts, and debts, the district is unable to fund our library for newer equipment because it already has its basic necessities, despite that it's all falling apart.

Team Assignments:
Director of Exterior Building Design: Lwassa Perlee
Director of Interior Building Design: Cesar Dominguez
Director of Interior Decor Design: Jayde Garcia
Director Landscape Design: Isabella Spradling
Director of Community Relations: Fredrik Harmen
Director of Sustainability and Energy: Isabella Spradling