By Marva J. Sneed
Columnist
St. Philip’s School & Community Center has implemented a Contactless Thermal Scanning Temperature Measurement Systems which they unveiled during their sixth-grade graduation ceremony on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. With COVID-19 and rising concerns regarding health precautions and safety measures that need to be in place for the “new norm,” school officials say there was a need to incorporate advanced technology to help students, parents, and staff to feel safer and to help assist with returning students and teachers back to the classrooms. According to Dr. Terry Flowers, Headmaster of St. Philip’s, ”The scanners are there to help provide a safe environment for the children and their families, because we believe in safety first.”
Collaborating with the Black Business Directory (BBD) and Dolphin-Digital, St. Philip’s decided to use the Contactless Scanner with everyone completing a medical sheet and getting checked by Nurse Fatina Ekwenugo. The next step involved getting your temperature read by the scanner. Students and guests, all with their masks on went through the process which included a few squirts of hand sanitizer before heading to the gym where the ceremony was held. Josey George, owner of Dolphin-Digital stressed the need for the contactless system especially as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic. “The temperature scanner is touchless and it will read your temperature as you’re standing in front of it,” he explained, adding that the machine detects whether or not you’re wearing a mask. “The scanner can be used anywhere; schools, offices, any business that serves the public. The Dolphin Scanners can help America open up again.”
Shane Hefner of BBD said more businesses are utilizing the scanners because not only do they provide a much-needed service they also are a great advertising tool especially in this new age of digital advertising; an area where BBD has grown exponentially since its inception in 2007. Founded in 1959 and located in “Sunny” South Dallas, St. Philip’s, a popular private nondenominational school for Pre-K to 6th grade, has gained a reputation for promoting academic excellence and preparing its students to pursue a college education. Equipped with a multi-faceted Community Center that in addition to fostering a spirit of financial literacy and entrepreneurship, also stresses parental and community engagement and cultural growth and development.
