FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Shannon Howle Tufts, PhD UNC School of Government
CGCIO Program
(919) 962-5438
Chanin Rivenbark Graduates from the UNC Certified Education Chief Technology Officers Program
Chapel Hill, NC, November 11, 2011. Chanin Rivenbark, Chief Technology Officer at North Carolina Virtual Public Schools, has successfully graduated from the 2011 Certified Education Chief Technology Officers (CeCTO) Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and MCNC partnered with the UNC School of Government to offer this groundbreaking professional development opportunity.
The CeCTO program is the first education specific program for CTOs and CIOs in the nation and is proud to graduate its second annual class. The program is designed for K-12 Chief Technology Officers and Chief Information Officers whose responsibilities require a broad understanding of management, leadership, and enterprise topics. The course is approximately 240 hours in length. Course instruction covers enterprise issues, strategic technology planning, communication, project management, emerging trends, risk assessment and management, acquisition management, change management, leadership, security, legal issues and financial trends.
Chanin Rivenbark is one of the 23 K-12 Chief Technology Officers who successfully completed the course this year, joining 34 graduates from the inaugural year. The CeCTO program is one of the many offerings in the nationally acclaimed Certified Government Chief Information Officers’ series, which was pioneered by the UNC School of Government’s Center for Public Technology. The CGCIO program, started in 2005, was the first of its kind in the nation and has successfully graduated more than 600 public sector IT professionals across the country.
In recognition of outstanding services provided through the NCVPS Peer Tutoring Center, we would like to announce that Sandeep is the November Tutor of the Month!
Sandeep earned this recognition through his countless hours tutoring not only the courses the Peer Tutoring Center officially services, but assisting students in courses from all over NCVPS. Sandeep never ceases to amaze with the breadth of his knowledge across a variety of subjects. If he is not familiar with the content a student presents, Sandeep is quick to locate another tutor that has the required expertise.
Not only does Sandeep support the students at NCVPS, he also works hard to support other tutors within the Peer Tutoring Center. Sandeep showed great initiative by connecting with other peer tutors during his office hours via Pronto group chat so that they may work together and share their abilities to better serve NCVPS students. After noting the benefits of this type of group chat within Pronto, he recorded a video tutorial so that other tutors could learn to create groups within Pronto as well.
Sandeep is a new comer to North Carolina and the Iredell-Statesville school system, but he quickly made an impact since moving here from California a couple years ago. He has a natural proclivity for math, programming languages and probably many other subjects. He desires to eventually work in the video game industry. This is, perhaps, influenced by his hobby of playing video games and surfing the web. He thinks someday he might want to live in Japan because they have “all the cool tech stuff”. He says his gravitation towards math and science may come from his grandfather who was an astrologer and dad is an IT project manager. One thing he isn’t keen on sharing is that he had to go to school one day dressed as a tomato.
Sandeep is consistently available via Pronto Monday through Friday for several hours in the afternoon and evening to provide peer tutoring services.
For more information on the Peer Tutoring program, please contact Crystal Pullen at crystal.pullen@ncpublicschools.gov.
GenerationText Super Users are students who have mastered Web2.0 skills. They are very adept at all things Internet. Computer shortcuts are easy for them. PowerPoint, no problem. Video mixing, easy. Networking, second nature. Online, all the time. They’ve earned the names of Digital Natives and Screenagers and . . . our favorite . . . GenerationText!
Congratulations to the 2011 NCVPS Teacher of the Year, Leslie Fetzer!
Leslie started her career in the pharmaceutical industry as a Medical Writer before she realized she had missed her calling and became a teacher. Leslie’s first teaching job was as a Chemistry, Biology, and Forensic Science teacher for the Bolivar-Richburg Central School in the rural community of Bolivar, NY. She moved to Holly Springs, North Carolina in 2007 and taught Chemistry and Biology for Holly Springs High School. In 2009, Leslie joined NCVPS as a Credit Recovery Teacher, and has been a teacher and Instructional Leader for the OCS Blended Learning Program since it began in 2010.
Regarding online teaching, Leslie notes: “Teaching for NCVPS allows me to reach students not only in my local community and classroom, but across the state in engaging ways. I am able to create a lesson meant for a single student that is challenged to learn. They might need to “see it, hear it, or read it” in a different way. I truly believe that students are not limited by their disabilities- they are challenged by them. Teaching online gives me the advantage of having a repertoire of tools and media that I can use to reach students. I am limited only by my own imagination. Their learning challenges prompt and inspire me to be more imaginative and more creative, and I am more fulfilled for it.”
NCVPS would also like to take this opportunity to extend our congratulations to all of the teachers who were nominated by their peers for this recognition: Crystal Pullen, Darlene Schaefer, Debra Pylypiw, Jen Currin, Karen Barraza, Karen Carroll, Kateryna Decker, Lydia Richmond, Michelle Barnhill, Teryn Odom, Andrew Sandel, and Susan Johnson.
Leslie was evaluated by a set of peers and a cross-functional committee of NCVPS staff members.
The NCVPS Peer Tutoring program has launched its Tutor Talk blog. Please visit the blog online at http://ncvpspeertutor.blogspot.com/ and see our inaugural post from Amy Bareham!
We are pleased to announce that the NCVPS Peer Tutoring Program has been approved as an Official Certifying Organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Awards program.
Through this program, NCVPS is now authorized to issue certificates to those tutors who meet the hourly specification for the various levels of this presidential award.
To learn more about the program, please click here.
GenerationText Super Users are students who have mastered Web2.0 skills. They are very adept at all things Internet. Computer shortcuts are easy for them. PowerPoint, no problem. Video mixing, easy. Networking, second nature. Online, all the time. They’ve earned the names of Digital Natives and Screenagers and . . . our favorite . . . GenerationText!
“NCVPS is definitely a new experience for me. Not only my class educational objectives are being met, but this experience is enhancing my PC and technology knowledge. I have learned that students must be open minded and willing to work in any learning environment. It has also increased my time management skills and my ability to work on my own. I have a committed and caring teacher that dedicates time to answer my questions or concerns in a timely manner. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to be a NCVPS student.”
- Joseph P., Principles of Business Student
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