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Qwest
Foundation in Education/AzTEA Grant Recipients |
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2006
Qwest/AzTEA Digital Classroom Leaders
Mark
Greenberg
I've
been teaching for 17 years. My experiences range from coaching
wrestling to serving as department chair of the English Department
at Camelback High, from organizing a Montana bus trip for
my Academic Decathlon team to running the school's Writing
Lab. I've worked at four different high schools, most recently
the brand new Phoenix Union Cyber High at 37th Ave. &
Thomas. I'm married and have a son attending ASU.
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Caryl
Jones
School:
Ventana Vista School
District: Catalina Foothills Unified
Project: Ignition, 3-2-1, Using Scientific
Probes and SchoolPads
Awarded: $10,000.00
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Darla
Rodriguez
School:
Alfred F. Garcia School
District: Murphy Elementary
Project: Tech-Powered Primary Literacy Laboratory
Awarded: $7,500.00
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Robert
Morse
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School:
Madison Camelview Elementary School
District: Madison Elementary
Project: Data Collection in the Post-Butcher
Paper Era
Awarded: $6,965.00 |
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Bonnie
Feather
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School:
Manuel DeMiguel Elementary School
District: Flagstaff Unified
Project: I know What You Know!
Awarded: $6,500.00 |
Bonnie
Feather lives in Flagstaff, where she is currently a first
grade teacher at DeMiguel Elementary School. Returning to
the classroom this year after four years as a technology trainer
for the Arizona Department of Education, she brings technology
expertise and passion to the classroom
In addition to working in the classroom, she has been facilitating
online courses for four years, facilitating for Connected
University, the Arizona ASSET program and PBS/TeacherLine
on the National Level. She has been a trainer of new facilitators
for PBS/TeacherLine for the past three years. She enjoys the
opportunities afforded teachers through online coursework.
Ms.
Feather never wavered in her goal to teach first grade since
she was a first grader herself. She began her teaching career
in 1975 as a music teacher at the junior high and high school
levels in Melbourne, Australia. Since then she has taught
college, fourth grade, preschool, and 18 years of first grade!
Since
1975, she has taught college, high school, junior high, preschool
and 18 years of first grade! Several of those years were in
Melbourne, Australia.
Outside
school, she is a member of several professional organizations.
In addition to playing with geek equipment, she enjoys traveling,
gardening, hiking, camping, yoga, making jewelry, and creating
unique objects d’art for her home.
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James
Lewis
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School:
Sonoran Sky Elementary School
District: Pendergast Elementary
Project: Books on Podcast
Awarded: $4,967.00 |
Jim
Lewis is currently a Curriculum Integration Specialist (technology
coach) for the Pendergast Elementary School District. He is
assigned two schools Villa de Paz and Sonoran Sky Elementary
schools. Jim has been involved in education for 25 years teaching
K-12. Jim has as created an award winning web site "The
CIS Files". http://www.pendergast.k12.az.us/edservices/cis/
Jim has served on many curriculum committees including school
to work, technology, computers for Pendergast where he works
and Deer Valley where he lives. Jim has also served on a state
committee.
Jim
has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts Education. He
has a Master of Arts in Vocational Education and has completed
an Educational Leadership program and holds a Principal and
Supervision certificate. Jim has completed the course work
for specialization in Educational Technology for classroom
teachers and computer specialists at ASU West.
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Emily
Mann
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School:
Tanque Verde Elementary School
District: Tanque Verde Unified
Project: La Clase Viva!
Awarded: $4,379.00 |
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Lynne
Cote
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School:
Mountain View High School
District: Marana Unified
Project: Exploring the Universe in You
Awarded: $4,993.80 |
Lynne Coté is a Biology teacher with
17 years of experience. She teaches at Mountain View High
School in the Marana Unified School District. In addition
to teaching biology and Advanced Placement Biology, she also
coaches the Girls’ Golf Team and sponsors several clubs
(Biotech Club, National Honor Society, and Class of 2007).
She also consults as a navigator for PBS/TeacherLine National
online courses and is a Senior Trainer for the Intel Teach
for the Future Program.
Her winning Qwest Grant will help to provide
funding to purchase gel electrophoresis equipment to conduct
DNA and protein analysis studies. Her students solve simulated
crime labs and have conducted paternity tests with whale DNA.
The “Who’s the Daddy Lab” is a favorite
of her students.
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Cynthia
Hester & Susanne Pyle
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School:
Flagstaff High School
District: Flagstaff Unified
Project: technological Infrastructure
fo Analytical Decision Making
Awarded: $10,000.00 |
In
2002, Cindy Hester
relocated to Flagstaff from the South to accept a mathematics
teaching position at Flagstaff High. Her teaching career began
in 1976 in Birmingham, Alabama, and she has taught additionally
in the states of Virginia and Tennessee where student and
teacher exposure to technology were a focus in the systems
where she was employed. For Cindy, advances in technology
continue to be a source of motivation for fresh ideas in the
classroom and for meeting the educational demands in a world
of tech-savvy students.
Susanne
Pyle is a native of Arizona. Her teaching
career started in Glendale where she taught for 10 years.
Currently, Susanne is living in Flagstaff and has been teaching
mathematics at Flagstaff High School for 6 years. During the
last 16 years of teaching she has been a sponsor for the Renaissance
club, the Key club, North Central Accreditation chairperson,
served on site council, site council co-chair, and is currently
the math department liaison.
Susanne Pyle graduated from ASU with a BAE
and NAU with a MA degree. She is a member of ASCD (Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development) and NCTM (National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics) and AzTEA.
Over the past few years, Susanne has been
trying to increase her use of technology in the classroom
as a way to help students understand math. Although this is
time consuming, her goal is to find a way using technology
that will help engage students and help them become successful
math learners.
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Don
Hotz & Teresa Kelleher
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School:
Blue Ridge Elementary School & Snowflake High School
District: Blue Ridge School District
Project: iPods as a Language Acquisition
Tool
Awarded: $9,952.00 |
Don
Hotz
has been teaching for 27 years. His experiences range from
teaching first, second, and third grade students in the White
Mountains. Currently he is teaching ELL students in grades
K through 6 and is the ELL Coordinator for the Blue Ridge
Unified School District. Don incorporates technology into
his teaching of ELL students to help build their background
knowledge.
Teresa
Kelleher is married, and she and her husband
Roger have 3 children, one in college, one in high school,
and one in fifth grade. They live in Snowflake/Taylor, AZ,
where Teresa has taught ELL and Spanish for 16 years. Before
Taylor, they lived and taught 6 years on the White Mountain
Apache Reservation. After completing her MA in Teaching ESL
at the University of Arizona in 1981, Teresa was the recipient
of a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to study in Lima, Peru for
a year. The study and teaching of language have been Teresa’s
passion for many years. In 1999, after learning Russian to
be able to speak with her son (adopted from St. Petersburg),
she began a language CD business. She has produced language
sets in Russian, Spanish, and Mandarin to help adoptive parents
speak with their children. Teresa has no plans for retirement.
She loves teaching ELL and being involved in helping students
learn English and adapt to their new environment and culture.
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Karl
Ochsner
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School:
Pope John XXIII Catholic School
District: Diocese of Phoenix
Project: Kids Building Character
Awarded: $7,739.98 |
•
Student Work from project: http://www.mrochsner.com/popejohn/pjn/PJNcharacterepisodes/Charactervide
• Qwest/AzTEA grant project nominated for "Most
Innovative Classroom Technology Program" at a K-12 Catholic
School from a National Catholic Educator Magazine: http://mrochsner.com/popejohn/pjn/award/innovationaward.pdf
• Awarded at the Catholic Educator Conference in Baltimore:
http://www.spmmag.com/tct/contests/iietct.shtm
Karl
Ochsner is a 6th grade teacher at Pope John XXIII Catholic
School in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has a Masters in Elementary
Education with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Karl
has taught in the classroom for the past 5 years, spent 8
years as a stay at home dad for his two daughters and was
an animation director/animation cameraman for national broadcast
commercials, feature films, documentaries, and children's
educational videos in Chicago, Atlanta and St. Louis .
Technology is integrated in various ways in the classroom
and Karl enjoys working with his students to create video
content weaved into required curricula. He has won a Copperwing
Award for "Best Educational Short" at the 2005 Phoenix
Film Festival and is producer of the school's weekly morning
video announcements written and directed by the 6th grade.
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Jeri
Spears
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School:
Rogers Elementary School
District: Tucson Unified
Project: Life Science Integrated Unit
Awarded: $7,047.00 |
Jeri graduated from the University of Arizona
with a B.S. in Psychology, minoring in Chemistry and Ecology,
so you know she love Science! Jeri worked in the computer
operations field for over 20 years, and came to love technology,
too. She had worked with children extensively through her
two son’s scout and sports involvement and realized
that’s where she wanted to be. Jeri went back to school
and received her Masters of Education from the University
of Phoenix and was selected by her instructors as the Outstanding
Graduate in Education. She has been teaching 4th grade at
Rogers Elementary School for the past two years. Her sons
are now in college and realize the importance of a good education.
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Jeannie
Wager
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School:
Amphitheater Middle School
District: Amphitheater Unified
Project: MathSmarts
Awarded: $4,956.22 |
Jeannie Wager is an instructional coach in
Amphitheater School District. She has worked in Amphi as a
classroom teacher, reading facilitator and technology coach
before moving to her current position. One of her primary
roles as an Instructional Coach is to positively impact student
achievement through the integration of technology. She provides
individual and team coaching, training, and support to teachers
to enable them to provide targeted interventions to students.
Building capacity in schools by creating systems that encourage
teachers to meet diverse needs is one of the main goals of
this grant.
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