Richland School District One

Instructional Technology Services Richland County School District One

Volume 7, Issue 3 Spring 2015

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE:

From the Director ......... 2

Together We Can Read 2

Distance Learning ......... 2

News and Notes ............. 3

Media Assistants............ 3

Instructional Technology Services was

pleased to recognize the second group of

“Technology Savvy Teachers” during the

Annual Technology Showcase Event on

March 23. One teacher from each school

and special program were showcased for

their outstanding efforts in integrating

technology into daily classroom activi-

ties.

Adam Garry, Manager of Global Profes-

sional Learning for Dell was the keynote

speaker. Other program guests included

Beth Tuten, State Honor Roll Teacher,

Jamesetta James, IT-oLogy, Dr. Heather

Moorefield-Lang, USC’s School of Li-

brary and Information Science, Michael

Mann, Nexsen Pruitt

and Cheryl Harris,

Chairwoman of the

Richland One Board

of School Commis-

sioners.

Winners of the 2015 Visual Literacy Fes-

tival Computer Technology/Video Com-

petition were also honored.

SPECIAL POINTS

OF INTEREST:

29th Annual Augusta

Baker’s Dozen

Storytelling

Celebration April 17-18

Grace Lin

Featured Author

May 15-17, 2015

Kid President Visits Richland One Are you awesome? The hundreds of elemen-

tary students and teachers who attended the

February 10th presentation of Kid President,

certainly felt that they were! Robbie Novak,

aka Kid President, along with his brother-in-

law Brad Montague, brought their inspiration-

al message to Richland One in a special pro-

gram held at the C. A. Johnson Auditorium.

The students enjoyed hearing Kid President’s

message of how they can make

the world more awesome each

day by how they treat others.

They engaged in a fun iPad group activity and learned that Kid President

does not let anything stop him from enjoying each day and making new

friends. Students in attendance received a copy of his new book Kid

President’s Guide to Being Awesome.

Instructional Technology Services is deeply appreciative to Ms. Jacqueline Lee, Manag-

er of the local Books-A-Million, for facilitating Kid President’s visit to our school dis-

trict. You can enjoy his many online videos by visiting www.kidpresident.com

Technology Showcase Honors Teachers and

Special Guests

Richland School District One

Page 2 Instructional Technology Services

From the Director

April is School Library Month

Little did I know that my selection as one of the first library helpers at Fairwold Elementary

School (now Pendergrass-Fairwold) would eventually translate into a professional career. At the

time, the school library had just been established and five students were selected to assist the

newly appointed librarian. There was something very powerful in that experience that solidified

in my young mind the importance of reading and the difference a library can make.

We are very fortunate to have quality school library media personnel in all schools to support the

teaching and learning process. During April, celebrate your school library and discover all of the

great opportunities available to you.

Take a few minutes to celebrate your staff (special announcements, flowers, certifi-

cates, treats, thank you notes, etc.) for the work they do. Or better yet, manage the

school media center for an hour, giving the staff an opportunity to visit classes or

participate in other school activities. More ideas can be found at http://

www.ala.org/aasl/slm.

First You Explore, the Story of the

Young Charles Townes, by Rachel

Haynie was the featured title for this

year’s Together We Can Read Initia-

tive with the City of Columbia.

On February 12, third grade students

in each school welcomed a special

community guest who read this en-

gaging story about South Carolina’s

own Nobel Prize winner,

Dr. Charles Townes.

Author Haynie is a former Journal-

ism and English teacher at Eau

Claire High School. The book’s il-

lustrator, Trahern Cook, lives in the

Eau Claire community.

Special thanks to City Council-

woman Tameika Isaac Devine,

USC’s Young Palmetto Books,

Richland Library’s Children’s

Room staff and all of the reading

volunteers for making this another

successful year of Together We

Can Read.

Together We Can Read

Students learned about fractions

through video conferencing with

Michigan’s Ann Arbor Hands-on

Museum dur-

ing a recent

event at San-

del Elemen-

tary School’s

Math and Sci-

ence Day.

In addition to learning math con-

cepts, students also tuned into

NASA’s Digital Learning Network

for interactive lessons learning about

Humans in Space and other science

lessons.

Distance Learning with Math and Science Day

Richland School District One

Page 3 Instructional Technology Services

SCASL News In late 2013, the South Carolina Association of School

Librarians (SCASL) commissioned a study to assess the

extent to which school libraries transform schools by con-

tributing to student success. The study was released at the

annual SCASL Conference March 11 - 13, 2015 and it

confirmed the fact that certified school librarians and well

-funded school libraries:

EMPOWER students,

INCREASE reading scores,

IMPROVE standardized test results

LEAD students to develop 21st

Century Learning skills.

A press conference with the SC State De-

partment of Education during School Li-

brary Month in April is being planned to

share this with stakeholders. Go to

scasl.net for the complete results and to

view a promotional video.

Statewide READ-IN Reminder Over 2500 students have registered for the 2015

Statewide READ-IN which will be held on Tuesday,

April 14 at 10:00am. Participants will meet at the S. C.

State Library and march to the State House. This year's

theme is "Books on Pa-

rade." The program emcee is Darci

Strickland with many community leaders par-

ticipating. More details are available online at read-in-

sc.org. Plan to attend!

Media Assistants Tour School library media center assistants toured the Satchel

Ford Elementary and Crayton Middle Media Centers on

March 2.

The group enjoyed seeing these two media centers and

learning about special programming and literacy initia-

tives. Idea sharing was the order of the day as the camer-

as and iPads took pictures and recorded special displays,

furniture arrangements and technology use.

News and Notes

Dr. Julie Moreillon, author of CoTeaching Reading

Comprehension Strategies in Elementary and Secondary

School Libraries was the special presenter for Richland

One’s information technology specialists

on February 16th . Her professional texts

provide a wealth of collaborative activi-

ties and resources to engage

students of all ages in authentic

reading and literacy activities.

Authors Visit Richland One

Nationally acclaimed author Sharon

Flake visited Columbia High School on March 12. Her

presentation was extended to students at both C. A. John-

son and Keenan High School via video conferencing.

Mrs. Flake’s books have received numerous awards in-

cluding the Coretta Scott King Award.

Lincoln Pierce, author of the popular Big Nate series,

visited A. C. Moore and Satchel Ford on March 11.

Congratulations to Darlene Montgomery for being

elected to the South Carolina Education Office Profes-

sional (SCAEOP) Newsletter Committee for 2015-2016

and serving on the Richland County Education Office

Professionals (RCAEOP) Recruitment Committee with

Rachel Phelps.

Congratulations to Mary Williams, retired Media Clerk,

for being selected as the Volunteer of the Year at Rich-

land Library.

Retirement News

The entire Instructional Technology Services staff extends

its thanks to Cathy Ratliff for her 31 years of service to

the district and department. The department hosted a re-

tirement reception for Cathy on March 20.

Special Thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Michael Mann for their

continued support of the Award for Creative Excellence -

a special recognition during each Visual Literacy Festival.

April Is National Poetry Month! Visit your media cen-

ter for poetry selections, write your own or engage your

students in a poetry slam!

People and Places

Richland School District One

Calendar of Events DATE EVENT

April 1 - 30 School Library Month

April 14 School Board Meeting, Stevenson Administration Building, 7:00 p.m.

April 14 Statewide READ-IN, SC State House

April 16 Teen Literature Day

April 17 Augusta Baker Storytelling Festival

April 21 Retiree’s Open House, ITS Waverley, 10:00 a.m.

April 27 VLF Book Awards, Richland Mall, 4:00 p.m.

April 28 School Board Meeting, Heyward Career Center, 7:00 p.m.

April 29 ITS End of Year Meeting, Heyward Conference Center, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

April 30 Spring Technology Education Classes End

May 11 - 17 Children’s Book Week

May 12 School Board Meeting, Eau Claire High School, 7:00 p.m.

May 15 Summer Technology Education Classes Registration

May 15 - 17 South Carolina Book Festival

May 26 School Board Meeting, Stevenson Administration Building, 7:00 p.m.

May 29 Last Day of School

June 15 - 18 Middle School Technology Camp

Instructional Technology Services 1225 Oak Street

Waverley Annex

Columbia SC 29204

Cheryl Harris, Chairwoman Board of School Commissioners Dr. Craig Witherspoon, Superintendent

Visit the ITS

Website!

ITS Directory

Leadership Team:

Ida Thompson

Director, 231-6803

Elizabeth Kohut

Technology Education

Coordinator, 400-1681

Diana Carr

Library Media

Consultant, 231-6799

Dr. Dale Bosworth

Distance Learning

Consultant, 231-6798

Technology Educators:

Irene Bal, 231-6810

Debra Barber, 400-1679

Wanda Coclough, 400-1709

Susan Davis, 231-6808

Zebulun Dinkins, 231-6801

Dawn Gardner, 400–1710

Lisa Faris, 400-1682

Arischa Frierson, 400-1684

Nancy Swanson , 400-1682

Jennifer Thornsberry

400-1678

Support Staff:

Darlene Montgomery

Secretary, 231-6803

Vacant

Accounting Clerk, 231-6804

Dawn Brown

Secretary, 400-1680

Brittany Elam

Secretary, 231-6802

Larry Richardson

DES Technician

231-6805

Vacant

Media Clerk, 231-7159

Register in Avatar for Summer

Technology Classes

Save the dates!

June 15 - 18 Middle School

Summer Technology Camp