During my Freshman and Sophomore years, I realized the need for a lighting system in the auditorium stage area. This school building, currently being renovated, dates back to the 1950's and had become very outdated in its design.

In my Junior year, I hung three new pipes (battens) and wired in 12 porcelain lamp sockets attached along each pipe. I used colored 150 watt reflector type bulbs, 5400 watts worth, and also six 300 watt halogen outdoor floodlight fixtures for a total of 7200 watts. I used my homemade board and the old lighting-dimmer boards from my church to control 12 channels of lights. This work won rave reviews from the faculty and students, but the hassle of tapping into a 208/120 volt 200 amp air conditioning panel to obtain power for the system considerably displeased the head of the Franklin County Schools maintenance department. (But this was soon resolved and he got over it.)

In my Senior year, as a project for electrical class in vocational school, I manufactured the typical "bean can" lights and wired them up on the battens. The pictures on this page are the can lights during the Miss FCHS Pageant and the Bluegrass Theater Guild's production of The King and I.

These lights are still used today.