LAUREL HILL — Technology or web design students at Laurel Hill School or Northwest Florida State College may get the opportunity to design the city's official website.
Councilman Travis Dewrell suggested letting a student gain practical experience and earn community service hours by designing by designing Laurel Hill's web presence.
At Thursday evening's council meeting, Dewrell received unanimous approval from his fellow council members to approach school officials for their suggestions.
"Maybe we'd get an idea and bring it back to the council and say, 'Hey, this is what the IT instructor at the school has to say,'" Dewrell said.
Councilwoman Debra Adams, a teacher at Laurel Hill School, said the proposal may have some flaws, most notably the fact that the school currently has no information technology teacher.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Undeterred, Dewrell said another idea could be to open the project up to anyone in the community, but he'd like to see a student receive the project.
"Students have to have a certain number of community service hours on projects," he said. "Maybe somebody would like to earn community service hours doing this."
Councilman Scott Moneypenny, who first broached the idea of establishing an official city website, said Ray Howell, the owner of www.LaurelHillNow.com, has offered the site to the city provided its archives of cemetery records, history and area family genealogy remain part of it.
Moneypenny said Howell has used NWFSC student interns to build and maintain the site, and might be open to doing so again to convert it into the city's official site.
NO PERSONAL DATA
Former mayor Joan Smith asked if the site would be secure, given Dewrell's suggestion that photos of community events could be uploaded in a gallery section.
Dewrell said that as he envisions the city's site, while it should include a link to a private vendor's site from which city water customers can pay their bills, it would not collect personal data.
"What I am proposing is something that we wouldn't have to take secure information," Dewrell said. "It would be as secure as any other website. But I don't want to be responsible for accepting anyone's private information."
Upon the council's unanimous approval of Dewrell's request to approach Laurel Hill School officials, Council Chairman Larry Hendren turned to him and said, "Go to school, Travis."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill council seeks students' help to design city's official website