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Sheryl Abshire
District Administrative Coordinator of Technology, Calcasieu Parish Public Schools, LA
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Sheryl Abshire is the District Administrative Coordinator of Technology in the Calcasieu Parish School System in Lake Charles, Louisiana. As a
leader in technology integration, she has served as the catalyst to initiate the integration of technology into all curriculum areas throughout
her school district, the state, and internationally. Ms. Abshire has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education, a M.Ed. in Elementary Education, and an
Educational Specialist in School Administration and Supervision and is a PhD candidate at the University of New Orleans. She is an accomplished
grant writer and regularly conducts institutes to fund innovative technology programs throughout the nation. A thirty year veteran educator, she
has worked as a school principal, K-5 teacher, a library/media specialist, a classroom teacher, and as an adjunct professor at McNeese State
University and Louisiana Tech University.
She has been involved in diverse staff development programs throughout the nation and in Great Britain involving restructuring schools through
the infusion of technology and curriculum enhancements. She serves on numerous national, state, and district committees focusing on the role of
technology and curriculum integration in changing educational practice.
Mrs. Abshire is the Chair of the Teacher’s Retirement System of Louisiana Board of Trustees which oversees the placement of over 12 billion dollars in
retirement funds. She is the President of the Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators and Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee for
the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) in Washington, D.C. and chairs their Public Policy Committee. In 2003 she was named a national
semi-finalist for Ed Tech Leader of the Year by Technology and Learning magazine.
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Frank V. Auriemma, PhD
Superintendent, Pearl River School District, NY
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Dr. Frank Auriemma joined the Pearl River School District in 1987 as middle school principal when the district began the initial steps toward
school improvement and quality. In 1997, he was appointed assistant superintendent, where he oversaw human resources, instruction and assessment,
and the data management process, including the district's data warehouse. As superintendent, he is committed to continuous improvement and the
use of Baldrige principles in the classroom. He has published a book and two articles on school management and regularly presents workshops on
the use and management of data to improve instruction and student performance.
Dr. Auriemma holds B.S. in chemistry from Pace University and an M.A. in education and chemistry from Lehman College. Fordham University awarded
him a Ph.D. in school administration and supervision in 1990.
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The Honorable Phillip J. Bond
Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology
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Phillip J. Bond was sworn in as Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology on October 30, 2001. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on
September 4, and confirmed by the United States Senate on October 23, 2001. From January 2002 through January 2003, Bond served concurrently as
Chief of Staff to Commerce Secretary Don Evans. In his dual role, Bond worked closely with the Secretary to increase market access for US goods
and services and further advance America's technological leadership at home and around the world.
Under Secretary Bond serves as the principal advisor to Secretary Evans on science and technology policy to maximize technology's contribution to
America's economic growth. In this context, Mr. Bond’s primary responsibilities are to supervise policy development and direction among the Office
of Technology Policy (OTP), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). He
also serves on four committees of the President’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), a Cabinet-level council established by the
President to coordinate science, space, and technology policy within the Federal research and development enterprise.
One of Mr. Bond’s top priorities has been to transform the Technology Administration into the pre-eminent portal between the federal government
and the U.S. technology industry. In that regard, he directs TA efforts to advocate on behalf of U.S. technology in the federal policy-making
process. Some of the high priority issues that he is involved in include support for American innovation and entrepreneurship; the converging
fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and the cognitive sciences; strengthening U.S. technology cooperation with other
countries, especially in areas such as standards development; education and training of a high tech U.S. workforce; and an array of issues of
concern to the telecommunications and information technology industries.
Mr. Bond was recognized in Scientific American Tech Leaders of 2003 (December 2003) for promoting nanotechnology effectively within the executive
branch. His experience in the private sector includes serving as Director of Federal Public Policy for the Hewlett-Packard Company, a position he
held immediately before joining Commerce, and previously serving as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and Treasurer of the Information
Technology Industry Council.
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Richard DeLorenzo
Superintendent, Chugach School District, AK
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Richard DeLorenzo, an internationally known leader in education reform and organization restructuring, is best known for his uniquely comprehensive
“grass roots” approach to the advancement of educational systems. This is successfully demonstrated within his Alaskan Chugach School District,
where he serves as superintendent. This historically challenged system made phenomenal strides and was one of the first ever education recipients
of the prestigious National Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award in 2001. Mr. DeLorenzo is also founder and president of the Re-inventing Schools
Coalition (RISC). This organization is dedicated to working with stakeholders in challenged educational systems to guide them in the areas of
leadership, shared vision, standards-based systems and continuous improvement that will transform their organization. Their mission involves
producing innovative schools that offer every child the opportunity to fulfill his or her life dreams. Mr. DeLorenzo has been invited to speak
in many countries around the world, including; India, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and England. His life
experience includes more than 26 years of work with youth and students in a variety of age groups, risk scenarios and environmental settings.
Mr. DeLorenzo has made dramatic changes in common education organizations, including breaking the traditional barriers of antiquated systems.
Examples include a waiver from the Alaska Department of Education to transition from a high school credit system to a performance-based system
for the Chugach School District, performance pay for classified and certified staff, 30 plus days of in-service training, and moving into year
round schools where student attendance can exceed 245 days. This district is the only K-12 school district to receive the New American High
School Award and the National American Native Exemplar Award.
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Michael Furdyk
Co-Founder and Director of Technology, TakingITGlobal.org
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Michael Furdyk is the Co-founder and Director of Technology for TakingITGlobal.org, a global online community for young people, engaging hundreds
of thousands of youth in over 200 countries and territories. In the past, he has turned his interest in technology into a series of successful
online companies, co-founding MyDesktop.com in 1997 (later sold to Internet.com in 1999) and BuyBuddy.com in 1999 (which closed a $4.5-million
round of funding in late 2000). Over the last few years, Mr. Furdyk has consulted for many Fortune 500 companies, including a 6-month engagement
with Microsoft in Seattle, Washington.
As one of Teen People's "20 teens that will change the world", Mr. Furdyk has shared his opinions about Youth Engagement and experiences as a member
of the Net Generation by speaking at dozens of events, including the US Government's National Youth Summit, two of Microsoft's Anytime, Anywhere
Learning Summits, The Business Council, and TED. He has made numerous media appearances including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Time Magazine, Fast
Company, BusinessWeek, CNN, MSNBC, and USA Today. He is an advisor to several national and global organizations, as well as a member of the
Microsoft Partners in Learning International Advisory board.
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Paul Houston, EdD
Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators
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Dr. Paul D. Houston has served as executive director of the American Association of School Administrators since 1994. Dr. Houston has established
himself as one of the leading spokespersons for American education through his extensive speaking engagements, published articles, and his regular
appearances on national radio and television.
Dr. Houston served previously as a teacher and building administrator in North Carolina and New Jersey. He has also served as assistant superintendent
in Birmingham, Alabama and as superintendent of schools in Princeton, New Jersey; Tucson, Arizona; and Riverside, California. In addition,
Dr. Houston has also served in an adjunct capacity for the University of North Carolina, Harvard University, Brigham Young University and Princeton
University. He has served as a consultant and speaker throughout the U.S. and overseas, and he has published more than 100 articles in professional
journals.
In 1991, Dr. Houston was honored by the Council of Great City Schools for his leadership in urban education when he received the Richard R. Green
Leadership Award. In 1997, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Education from Duquesne University. The Hope Foundation honored Dr. Houston with
the Courageous Leadership Award of 2000. The Horace Mann League presented Dr. Houston with the league's 2001 Outstanding Educator Award. He was
cited as an articulate spokesperson for strong and effective public education. Dr. Houston co-authored the books Exploding the Myths,
published in 1993 and The Board-Savvy Superintendent in 2002. His columns have been collected and published in his books Articles of
Faith & Hope for Public Education and Outlook and Perspectives on American Education.
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Cheryl Lemke
President & Chief Executive Officer, Metiri Group
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Cheryl Lemke is CEO of the Metiri Group, a learning technology consulting firm based in Los Angeles, California. Her firm provides services ranging
from public policy consultation to school technology audits and online assessment designs. Metiri Group clientele includes U.S. Congressional
Committees, state education agencies, high tech industry, foundations, professional organizations, and school districts.
Ms. Lemke’s strength lies in systems thinking—seeing the big picture, forming the right team and taking the action that gets results. With more than 20
years experience in public education, she has held positions as the state technology director in Washington State, the Associate Superintendent for
Learning Technology for the Illinois State Board of Education and the executive director for the Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Currently
the Metiri Group is working with the State Education Technology Directors’ Association (SETDA) to develop a suite of assessment tools for states to
gauge their progress in using technology to meet advance the goals of No Child Left Behind federal legislation. A national report she authored for
SETDA profiling year one of the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology is currently the focus of Congressional briefings. This year she also
facilitated two national summits for the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future and is currently working with three large urban schools
districts on learning technology initiatives.
Ms. Lemke has been honored by professional organizations throughout the country. In the year 2000 she was identified as one of twenty most influential
educators nationally in the field of learning and technology. She has authored several journal articles and is a regular presenter at national,
regional and state technology conferences.
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William McNeal
Superintendent, Wake County Public School System, NC
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From teaching in junior high school in 1974 to a series of district leadership roles, nearly all of Bill McNeal's professional career has been
devoted to the Wake County Public School System. As associate superintendent for instructional services he helped develop the district's first
unified academic goal in 1998.
Named superintendent in 2000, Mr. McNeal has helped narrow the achievement gap while embracing a new goal -- high academic growth and 95 percent
of students meeting academic standards by 2008. The American Association of School Administrators has named him National Superintendent of the
Year for 2004.
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Seymour Papert, PhD
Professor Emeritus, MIT Media Lab
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Dr. Seymour Papert, internationally recognized thinker and activist in the evolution of learning in the digital world, collaborated with Jean Piaget,
was a founder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence and Media Laboratories and is the principal inventor of the Logo programming language. Dr. Papert is
the author of many books including Mindstorms, The Children’s Machine, and The Connected Family.
Dr. Papert now lives in Maine, and has founded the Learning Barn, a small laboratory developing methods of learning along the lines of his vision for
education. He was instrumental in the state of Maine’s commitment providing laptop computers for each post-elementary student. For more information:
www.learningbarn.org.
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Robert Tenczar
Director of Communications, Community Consolidated School District 15, IL
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Mr. Tenczar is currently Director of Community Relations for Community Consolidated School District 15 in Palatine - the second largest elementary
school district in the state of Illinois. As director, Mr. Tenczar is responsible for providing timely and effective communications to all District
15 internal and external constituents in order to build understanding and confidence in District 15's ability to create world-class learners while
maintaining a safe and caring learning environment. He is a member of the superintendent's cabinet and serves as category champion for Baldrige
Category 3: Student, Stakeholder, and Market Focus at the district. He has nearly 20 years of professional experience in the field of communications,
including 16 years in the field of higher education, newspaper reporting, and working with a top-rated Chicago public relations agency.
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Jude W. Theriot
Superintendent, Calcasieu Parish Public Schools, LA
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Jude W. Theriot has served as Superintendent of Schools of the Calcasieu Parish School System since July 1995. He is the American Association of
School Administrators' 2000 Louisiana Superintendent of the Year. Mr. Theriot was Assistant Superintendent of Middle Schools from 1987 to 1995;
Principal of Moss Bluff Middle from 1982 to 1987; Principal of Rosteet Junior High from 1981 to 1982; and Vice Principal of Bell City High from
1980 to 1981. Mr. Theriot received degrees from Ed.S. and M.Ed. degrees in Guidance and Counseling and a B.A. in Speech and Social Studies
Education from McNeese State University; did Post Graduate work at Louisiana State University; and received certification in Administration
and Supervision from MSU. He is the Chairman of the Louisiana Testing Security Committee, Vice-Chair of the Louisiana Testing Commission, and
serves on the Governor's Commission for High School Redesign, the Louisiana State Superintendent's Advisory Commission, and Education Task Force
for Student Violence and Safety. He has just been elected Vice-President of the Urban Superintendent's Association of America. Mr. Theriot is the
Chairman of United Way of Southwest Louisiana. His professional presentations include American Association of Rural Superintendent's Conference
Closing Speaker; Keynote Speaker for the Illinois State Administrators School Superintendents, United School Administrators of Kansas Conference
and Region I Texas Superintendent's Association; and a presentation to the Texas Association of School Superintendents. His membership in
professional organizations include the American Association of School Administrators (AASA); Urban School Superintendents Association of America
(USAA), National Middle School Association (NMSA), President of Louisiana Middle School Association (LMSA), and National Association of Secondary
School Princpals (NASSP).
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Bernie Trilling
Senior Director, Think.com, Oracle Education Initiatives
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Bernie Trilling is Senior Director of Oracle's Think.com and ThinkQuest programs. Think.com is one of company's key education initiatives, offering
a free, protected online environment for teachers and students globally, to communicate, collaborate on projects, share their ideas and learn
together. ThinkQuest is an international competition where students collaboratively create educational websites. Nearly 6000 selected websites
are housed in the online ThinkQuest library which is celebrated as an invaluable learning resource for teachers and students worldwide.
Prior to joining Oracle, Mr. Trilling was a Director for the Technology In Education group at WestEd, a national educational laboratory, where he
led a team of educational technologists in integrating technology into the instructional and administrative worlds of education. Additionally, Mr.
Trilling has served in a variety of roles in both education and industry, including executive producer for instruction at Hewlett-Packard Company,
where he helped run a state-of-the-art global distance learning network, and as an instructional designer and educator, working in all aspects of
education and training from preschool to corporate training.
Mr. Trilling is an active member of a variety of organizations dedicated to integrating technology into all aspects of learning and leading in
education.
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Beverly White
Chief Technology Officer, Wake County Public School System, NC
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Bev White was named Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in February 2003, after serving for five years as
Executive Director of Education Technology Services for the School District of Greenville County in Greenville, South Carolina. As CTO, Ms. White
oversees the Technology Services Division; consisting of 80 fulltime employees and 50 contract employees in Telecommunications, Information
Systems, and Customer Support. The division provides technology leadership, support, and services for WCPSS while effectively and efficiently
managing district-wide information resources and ensuring information security and integrity.
Ms. White taught mathematics in Georgia and Pennsylvania at the high school and college levels before serving in several capacities at
Pennsylvania’s Keystone College from Coordinator of Instructional Technology to Director of Technology. In 1995, Ms. White became Director of
Information Systems at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Pennsylvania.
In addition to her years of providing technology leadership in public schools, Ms. White has also organized and given numerous presentations to
support staff and educators, in-state as well as nationally, and authored several publications focused on technology and education. Her involvement
in various professional development opportunities includes having been a member of the South Carolina Technology Plan Revision planning and writing
team, participating in the SEIR-TEC SEA Academy, and chairing the CoSN Webcast Committee.
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2005 International Symposium Speakers
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James Bosco, Ph.D.
Professor, Western Michigan University, Chair, CoSN International Committee
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Dr. James Bosco holds the rank of Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan and he is also
the Director of External Educational Technology Relations for the College of Education at WMU. As such he works at the state and national level to
foster linkages between WMU and other agencies and organization to expand and improve the use of technology in K-12 schools and in the preparation
of education professionals. He played a major role in connecting schools in Michigan to the Internet and has continued to be involved with a number
of technology initiatives at the state level in Michigan. He was a member of U.S. Senator Carl Levin’s technology working group that resulted in a
series of school ICT initiatives in Michigan. He coordinated the development and teaches in a on-line graduate program for educational technology
directors. He is currently a member of the State Advisory Committee for the Michigan one-to-one K-12 wireless initiative. He has been extensively
involved with ICT at the national level as well. He was a past -chair of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). and is the current co-chair
of the CoSN International Committee. He was responsible for the establishment of the Technology Standards for School Administrators which was
adopted by the International Society for Technology in Education as NETS*A and he serves on the ISTE advisory committee for technology for school
administrators. The focus for his research and writing for the past several years has been on ICT as it pertains to school reform. He was co-director
of a Kellogg Foundation project on school reform at the secondary level and is currently at work on a book on the topic of school reform.
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William Gilcher, Ph.D.
Goethe-Institut Washington
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Dr. William Gilcher is director of Media Projects in North America for the Goethe-Institut Washington, the German Cultural Center. He holds an M.A.
and Ph.D. in film studies from the University of Iowa. He specializes in planning and implementing intercultural presentations using the internet
and other electronic media on European-American themes and has coordinated programs with many German institutions. For the last several
years, he has served as co-chair of CoSN's International Committee.
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Sally Johnstone, Ph.D.
Founding Director, Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications
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Dr. Sally M. Johnstone is the founding director of WCET, the Cooperative advancing effective use of technology in higher education at the Western
Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) in the U.S.A. Dr. Johnstone’s special areas of expertise include: the effects of the integration
of technology on higher education institutions and system organizations, collaborations, quality assurance issues, project development and evaluation,
international projects, open education resources, and generally supporting WCET members in the planning for and implementation of eLearning.
Dr. Johnstone has authored dozens of articles, book chapters and major reports on distance and distributed learning. She also leads workshops and gives
about a dozen invited addresses each year to higher education organizations throughout the world. She earned her Ph.D. in experimental psychology
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Lawrence Lessig, JD
Founder and Director, Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Law School
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Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school’s Center for Internet and Society. Prior to joining the
Stanford faculty, he was the Berkman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Lessig was also a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and
a Professor at the University of Chicago Law School. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin
Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.
More recently, Professor Lessig represented web site operator Eric Eldred in the ground-breaking case Eldred v. Ashcroft, a challenge to the 1998
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Lessig was named one of Scientific American's Top 50 Visionaries, for arguing "against interpretations of
copyright that could stifle innovation and discourse online."
He is the author of The Future of Ideas and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. He also chairs the Creative Commons project. Professor Lessig is a
boardmember of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a Board Member of the Center for the Public Domain, and a Commission Member of the Penn National
Commission on Society, Culture and Community at the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Lessig earned a BA in economics and a BS in management from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in philosophy from Cambridge, and a JD
from Yale. Professor Lessig teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, contracts, comparative constitutional law, and the law of
cyberspace.
For more information, please see Steven Levy's profile of Professor Lessig in the October 2002 issue of Wired: Lawrence Lessig's Supreme Showdown
or see his curriculum vitae.
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Susan Mann
Chief Operating Officer, Curriculum Corporation
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Susan Mann is the Chief Operating Officer of Curriculum Corporation, Australia’s national schools curriculum development agency owned by all
Australian Ministers for Education. Until recently, she was the Chief Operating Officer of the Le@rning Federation, an initiative jointly
managed by two Australian ministerial companies, education.au limited and Curriculum Corporation and funded by Australian, state and territory
and the New Zealand governments. The Le@rning Federation is developing online curriculum content for all primary and secondary schools and a
distributed delivery system. Its work also includes development of digital rights management and pedagogical and interoperability standards
for development of educational multimedia. Ms. Mann has a teaching background at the secondary and tertiary education levels and has worked
on a range of national education initiatives for the Australian government.
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Elizabeth Pape
Chief Executive Officer, Virtual High School, Inc.
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Liz Pape is the CEO of VHS, Inc., a non-profit collaborative of high schools across the U.S. and abroad offering Internet-based courses to high
school students in VHS member schools. She has a B.A. in Economics and an MBA. For the past fourteen years she has been involved in education, as
a technology specialist, integrating the use of technology in the curriculum, as the grant administrator for the Virtual High School Technology
Innovation Challenge Grant, and now as the CEO of VHS, Inc.
Ms. Pape has shared her expertise in K-12 online education, speaking nationally at numerous education and technology conferences, including the
National Education Summit, the American Association of School Administrators, the Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Developers, the National
School Board Association and National Educational Computing Conference and has written nationally about online education. She currently serves on
the U.S. Department of Education National Online Education Policy Forum, the NCREL Blue Ribbon Panelist for Online Education, the Blackboard K-12
Advisory Board and is a founding board member of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL).
In 2005, Ms. Pape received the Community Builder Award from the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training, in recognition of her
efforts in advancing the use of technology in education. VHS has received the Magna2000 School Award for outstanding programs that advance student
learning and the Stockholm Challenge Award 2001 for innovative use of technology in education.
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Tim Stroud
President and Chief Executive Officer
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As the President and Chief Executive Officer for the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), Tim Stroud is responsible for providing
leadership and direction for teachers, administrators, and public policy makers interested in pursuing online educational opportunities in the
K-12 community in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Mr. Stroud has a wealth of practical and policy experience in K-12 learning that includes
working as special assistant to former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, serving as the Assistant Director of Educational Issues for the
American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and seven years of classroom teaching in Fairfax County Public Schools.
In addition, he spent several years as a legislative aid in Congress to former House of Representatives, Majority Whip, Tony Coehlo (CA) and Senator
Dennis DeConcini (AZ) and as a lobbyist representing several major K-12 school districts and institutions of higher education institutions. Mr.
Stroud continues to provide leadership and guidance to several national groups including serving as a member of the Board of Directors for The
National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET), and to the U.S. Secretary of Education’s advisory committee for online learning.
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