I would like to take just a moment to tell all my friends and loved ones who are teachers that summer is indeed upon us. To Kristin McFadden and my daughter Kristen Whaley Rigano the two of you form a metaphorical pair of bookends as it were. With Kristin sending here class on to the big times of 1st grade, and my Kristen sending her class on to the REALLY BIG times of High School you two exemplify in my opinion the true qualities of an educator. And then of course there is my Alpha teacher, Liz Whaley, who attended the 8th grade graduation last night in her district where she is the One To One Laptop Program Project Manager. Although they do not have a valedictorian per se, they do select one student to address the audience. Now this graduating class is the the inaugural class that began in 5th grade having their own personal Macbook to take to all their classes and to take home at night. There are not many school districts out there with the vision and the resources to deploy some 900 or so laptops among 4 grade levels in 5 different locations in the small community in which she works. So it comes as no great surprise to me that the student who spoke to the 8th grade graduates, their parents, faculty and board members and the community at large chose to speak first about the impact the "Laptops For Learning" initiative that my wife manages had on their graduates and cited it as one of the most important parts of their learning experience. Congratulations Liz on having the vision and drive to see this program deliver its first class of students who have had laptops daily for the last 4 years to the next phase of their young lives. I am so incredibly proud of my wife and her passion for and commitment to educational excellence. And to all of you out there, if you are reading this, THANK A TEACHER!!! And, if you are reading this on a computer, thank a technology specialist as well. I love you Liz, and I love you Kristen Whaley too! NOW, go have a great summer, dig in the dirt, do what you love, sleep in etc etc etc, you have all earned it.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:31:09 +0000
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