Infamy at CHS...09/06/07

I mentioned this in a previous post, but I wanted to share what is going on in CISD these days! Things are pretty exciting for me at work and I am loving almost every minute of it. I am busy, busy but I am finding that keeps me pretty happy, albeit very tired. Anyway, if you don't remember, the small 2A school district I teach in has begun what is called a one-to-one initiative in conjunction with Apple computers. This means each student 6-12, and every teacher K-12 have laptop computers of "their own." They are really leased to each person through the district and belong to the district, not us. However, each student will probably have the option of buying their laptop from the district at a significantly lower price when they graduate. I digress. When we first moved here, I didn't have high expectations for this small, unknown, rural, agricultural community, at least not academically. I am pleased to say that even last year, before this technology influx, I was surprised at what good schools, great teachers and great kids we have in C. This year, however, I anticipate being the best so far in my going on six years of teaching. With the support of first our school board, superintendent and a wonderful high school principal, my fellow teachers and myself have been abundantly blessed with technology capabilites that would astound the richest 5A school in the state! We have Elmos, projectors, Starboards, Student Response systems, access to subscriptions via the Internet, our school is completely wireless now and the list goes on and on. Students are already, in the 3rd week of school, creating amazing projects...I am just so excited to see where this is going. We have community members visiting classrooms to see what all the BUZZ is about and that is awesome! A major goal of any school district is to bring parents and the community back into the school system as a major player in the education of their children. This technology is doing just that!

This intiative is putting C on the NATIONAL map of "schools-to-watch" as far as technology is concerned. What an honor and privelege to be a part of such a fabulous movement, in such an unexpected place.

I encourage you to go to this link and watch the short video. This is CHS's freshmen and sophomores that I had the privelege of training on "roll-out" day, September 6, 2007! This is a day that CHS and the entire community will remember forever!

http://www.childressisd.net/pages/videos/Mac%20Movie%20CHSvb.mov