Education Law

A trailblazer amongst technology leaders

As one of the three TLN Salute Districts named in 2000, Township High School District 214 in suburban Chicago, had already proven its committment to integrating technology throughout its schools and through its staff.

In the decade since, amidst new federal and state policies, new administrations and economic upheaval, District 214 has kept its focus on technology, even expanding its role in their system.

Technology, for instance, is infused in three of the district’s strategic goals, ensuring that technology integration is a visible and active part of what the district provides and provides for its students.

In more practical terms, it’s meant a continued presence in the curriuclum and classroom — from a revolutionary robotics program featuring no less than Motoral as a partner to a digital learning lab that enables students to learn new languages — as well as forays into the foundations and infrastructure of teaching and learning whether it be the standardized Learning Management System, instructional technology staff dedicated to each building or an accessible and forward-thinking technology department which developed an automated system to let parents know if their child is falling behind that week.

It’s for these reasons and more that NSBA’s Educational Technology Programs bestowed District 214 with this year’s Trailblazer Award, a distinction that can only be earned by former TLN Salute Districts, a distinction that hasn’t been conferred since 2006, when Calcasieu Parish Public Schools’s impressive technology planning in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita caught the attention of NSBA staff.

So a sincere congratulations to District 214 who will receive much deserved recognition at this year’s T+L Conference, which will be held from October 19-21 in Phoenix.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on September 09, 2010 (boomark / email).