Wake County schools receive grant for teacher technology training

September 12, 2002 - EDS, a leading technology company with offices in Cary and Raleigh, today awarded a $50,000 grant to the Wake County Public School System to launch institutes in technology training for Wake County teachers.


Joe Barrow of EDS points to the $50,000 donation from his company for Wake County teacher technology training.

"Training teachers is the most important part of bringing technology into the classroom," said Wake Superintendent Bill McNeal. "This grant will help our teachers use the tools of technology to make instruction individualized, challenging, and exciting for our students."

In ceremonies at Southeast Raleigh High, Joe Barrow of EDS presented a check to Superintendent McNeal and Southeast Raleigh High Principal John Modest. Barrow is manager of infrastructure services for EDS and vice chair of technology for the Wake Education Partnership.

"For many business people, working with teachers and school administrators to advance the use of technology can be both inspiring and humbling," Barrow said. "When those of us in the technology sector seek to support the use of computers and other technologies in the classroom, we quickly learn that teachers must lead the way. Their development will determine whether hardware and software can open new opportunities for students."

The EDS Teacher Technology Institutes, which are a program of the Wake Technology Task Force and Project Lighthouse, will provide intensive training for teachers in areas such as use of the Internet for classroom projects and research, effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning, and use of graphic organizers.

"In 1999, a group of local companies formed the Wake Technology Task Force to launch Project Lighthouse, a multi-year strategy to model best practices in the use of technology in schools with the goal of enhancing achievement and providing teachers with new tools for learning," said Joe Cooper, chair of the Wake Technology Task Force and technology and operations executive for First Citizens Bank. "Today's announcement will enable our schools and our community to take an important step forward."

Southeast Raleigh High, the first Project Lighthouse school, will serve as the focal point for the institutes, to be held in the summer of 2003. Already, 10 Southeast Raleigh High teachers possess mastery in technology integration and are prepared to train other teachers in the institutes, providing hands-on experience with classroom applications of technology. The 200 teachers who participate in the institutes will gain valuable skills that can be taken back to the teachers in their respective schools, ultimately reaching all 125 Wake County schools.

Teachers participating in the institutes will learn how to integrate technology in the classroom, including how to develop curricula that use technology, create rubrics for evaluating student work, and learn to use the Internet for classroom instruction. They will hear presentations from technology futurists who explore innovative ways to use technology to improve work management and instruction. Exposure to best practices and peer learning will foster leadership among teachers to advance the use of classroom technology.

The Wake Technology Task Force was established as a joint venture between the public schools and Wake Education Partnership to ensure that all schools effectively use technology to strengthen student achievement, enhance teacher effectiveness, and improve communications with parents. The underlying goal of the task force is to formalize ties with business and industry, especially those engaged in the technology sector, to ensure that emerging applications and best practices are incorporated into the Wake County schools.

EDS is a leading global services company that provides strategy, implementation, business transformation and operation solutions for clients managing the business and technology complexities of the digital economy.

Wake Education Partnership is a community-based public school advocacy and support organization that links human and material resources to strengthen student achievement. In addition to fostering action-oriented community involvement in Wake County schools, the partnership seeks to leverage the investment of private contributions to ensure the greatest possible impact on every school.

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