Community Member Introductions

[Raynise]

Introduce yourselves. Please share your name, role, district, an area of expertise that you have and one thing you hope to gain through this community.

[NickPolyak]

Hi Everyone - I'm Nick Polyak, Superintendent for the Leyden High Schools in Illinois.  I'm looking forward learning from everyone in this group!

[Ahrosser]

Welcome!  Can't wait to engage with you in this awesome community! 

[Raynise]

Welcome Nick!  We are excited to have you in our learning community.

[Raynise]

Welcome Nick!

[RadhikaZahedi]

Hello Everyone!

I am Radhika Zahedi, Director at The Green Acres Academy Schools in Mumbai. Very excited to connect and learn with this wonderful community!

[Ahrosser]

Welcome to the Community!!!

[Raynise]

Welcome Radhika!

[omarcktell-asb]

Hi everyone, Oren Marcktell here from The American School of Barcelona. I am the IT Director at the school, we are a PK-12 private school located in Barcelona. Areas of expertise are systems management, Google Administration, and software development projects. We have restructured our IT department to have a small but effective software development team that creates custom software for our school.

[Raynise]

Welcome Oren!

[reidjohnathan]

Hello everyone. My name is John Reid and I am the IT director at a community college in Kansas. Areas of expertise include server, network, VoIP and cloud management. I am looking forward to learning with this community.

[chrislehmann]

Hello all - 

Chris Lehmann - founder of Science Leadership Academy and CEO of SLA Schools in Philadelphia, PA. Very happy to be here and share with others who are looking at the future of learning!

[Raynise]

Welcome Chris!

[AWhite]

Hi,

My name is Anne White and  I am  the ICT Coordinator in a very large primary school in Malahide, Dublin. We have 920 children age 4-13 - Junior Infants - Sixth Year. I am also a full time class teacher, teaching 2nd class so 8-9 year olds. We have been using google for the last 10 years as teachers and in the last 5 years have started using chromobooks with our students as their student devices. Given the size of our school we do  not have one-to-one access but instead each level have access to a class  set of 30 Chromebooks. We now have excellent and reliable wifi  so internet access is good. Our plan is now focused on constructive learning and use of the Chromebooks for active learning. We are having difficulty accessing  the play store and downloading apps to the chromebooks so I'm hoping that through engagement with these forums I'll be able to ask more specific  questions and get answers for our queries 

[Raynise]

Welcome Anne!

[Gifty_1]

Hi Everyone! My name is Gifty Francis, I'm a Deputy Headteacher in London, UK.  I'm looking forward to sharing edtech ideas with this community to support teaching and learning.

[Raynise]

Welcome Gifty!

[AWhite]

Hi,

My name is Anne White and  I am  the ICT Coordinator in a very large primary school in Malahide, Dublin. We have 920 children age 4-13 - Junior Infants - Sixth Year. I am also a full time class teacher, teaching 2nd class so 8-9 year olds. We have been using google for the last 10 years as teachers and in the last 5 years have started using chromobooks with our students as their student devices. Given the size of our school we do  not have one-to-one access but instead each level have access to a class  set of 30 Chromebooks. We now have excellent and reliable wifi  so internet access is good. Our plan is now focused on constructive learning and use of the Chromebooks for active learning. We are having difficulty accessing  the play store and downloading apps to the Chromebook so I'm hoping that through engagement with these forums I'll be able to ask more specific  questions and get answers for our queries 

[PetroliaTech]

Hello, everyone! My name is Wendy Coker, and I am the Technology Director for Petrolia CISD, a small Pre-K through 12th grade public school in north Texas. I am a one person IT team that does everything from computer repair, network management, budgets, acquisitions, and even managing our social media! It can be exhausting, and I am always looking for areas to learn more. I look forward to everything I will learn from all of you!

[Chrissy]

Good afternoon, everyone!  My name is Chrissy Franklin, Executive Director of Western Heights Learning Center, a nonprofit in Albuquerque, NM.   We serve ages 2 through 5th grade and provide community based home visiting services.  We have an IT individual that mostly helps with hardware and setup issues, but I manage just about everything else.  I am always looking for innovative ways to streamline our processes and move to a more digital filing system.  I look forward to learning from this group and sharing ideas! 

[Raynise]

Welcome Chrissy!

[heath_durbin]

WOW, amazing peers to be with.  My name is Heath Durbin, Esq., I'm the Dean of Students for a small College in Southern California. I'm not an expert in any filed, but knowable in many. I'm hoping to help improve our use of technology in the class room. 

[Raynise]

Welcome Heath!

[terrykorte]

Hi everyone. I'm Terry Korte and I'm the Managing Director of Technology  for Edmonton Public Schools - one of the larger public school districts in Canada (120,000 K-12 students, 215 schools).  We've been using GWFE and Chromebooks for over a decade with staff and students and our Tech department handles everything from the hardware to support to licensing to teacher PD and policy development. Looking forward to learning from all of you on this journey!

[Mike-Abello]

Good day to all! I'm Michael David John E. Abello, you can call me Mike for short. I am the EdTech Coordinator for Sacred Heart School - Atene de Cebu, Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines.

We have been using Google for Education for about a decade now. We also have some Chomebooks and recently got Tablet carts. I look forward to learning from all of you.

More power. God bless us all! 

[kdemland]

Hello everyone! I'm excited to join this group and learn from all of you. 

I am the Coordinator of Instructional Technology for Brazosport ISD. We are located about an hour south of Houston, Texas. We serve over 11,000 Prek-12th grade students and have 16 campuses. We adopted GWFE over 10 years ago and have been 1:1 chromebooks since approximately 2016.

My areas of expertise surround classroom technology integration, professional development, 1:1, and Chromebooks. I look forward to learning more from this group!

[Ahrosser]

Welcome to the Community! We are happy you are here! 

[M_Culver]

My name is Melissa Culver. I've been in education for 24 years. I am presently the Technology Coordinator for a school district in California; we oversee charter schools. I wear several hats. We've got several projects going right now. Thanks for the add. 

[Ahrosser]

Happy to have you join us! 

[Shahinaz]

Hello fellows,

I'm Shahinaz associate professor of Educational Technology, city Ajman University at UAE, I spend the past 4years between like minded community members and leaders of GEGs and it's really a treasure.

Nice knowing you all.

[tmaki]

Hello, fellow Googlers! 

I'm thrilled to connect with fellow education leaders passionate about leveraging Google's suite of tools to enhance teaching and learning experiences. My name is Timothy Maki, CETL. I currently serve as the Chief Information and Technology Officer at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, a K-12 public charter school in western North Carolina with an enrollment of 1450 students.

With over 25 years of experience in educational technology, I've dedicated my career to fostering environments where technology enhances the educational journey for students and educators. My areas of expertise include change management, team building, professional development, improving school culture and communication, and implementing workflow automation to streamline operations. These skills have been instrumental in my role, where I spearhead initiatives to integrate technology into our curriculum and administrative processes, enriching the educational experience for our community.

I am particularly interested in discussing and exploring innovative applications of Google's educational tools to enhance our teaching and learning environments further. My goal is to share my experiences, learn from this community's vast knowledge, and contribute to our collective mission of making education more accessible, interactive, and impactful through technology.

Thank you for welcoming me into this community. I am eager to engage in meaningful discussions and collaborations with all of you.

[techykari]

Hi everyone! I am a technology integration specialist with Chesapeake Public Schools in Virginia. I started a GEG group for my region (GEG Hampton Roads) several years ago, but it never really got off the ground. I would love to give it another chance and start it back up again. I look forward to meeting everyone!

[possibeelities]

Mabuhay from the Philippines! I am Teacher Bee from the Multiple Intelligence International School in Quezon City, Philippines. I am glad I stumbled across this community platform. Our school has been using Google Workspace for Education way before the pandemic began, but it had become a crucial part of my personal teaching and learning process especially during the lockdowns (as you may know, our country holds a record on). I look forward to learning innovations and meeting new people to converse and explore the vast possibilities we have in the new normal of education.

Maraming Salamat! 

[michael]

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day:) My name is Michael McCormick and I'm proudly serving the Val Verde Unified School District in sunny, Southern California.  This is my 33rd year in education and my 9th as superintendent in Val Verde.  Educational change and technology integration are a couple of my passions.  Here's a link to my EduRevolution Podcast

I'm looking forward to sharing, networking, and learning from one another.

[Ahrosser]

Can't wait to learn about all of the wonderful things you are doing! 

[javierbalan]

Thanks @Raynise for your welcome!

Mi nombre es Javier Balán pertenezco a la comunidad de GEG (Google Educator Group) Obregón in Sonora, México. Actualmente soy líder de este GEG y también colaboro como GEG Mentor para las comunidades de Hispanoamérica.
También soy Google Champion (Trainer and Innovator #VIA22) y miembro de Google Pilot Program.
En la institución educativa en la que me encuentro estoy como responsable de la consola de administración de Google.
Me agrada compartir experiencias con otros líderes GEG y aprender también de ellos.
Soy usuario asiduo de la plataforma X (antes Twitter) y de LinkedIn.
Agradezco la oportunidad de estar con esta gran comunidad.

- - - - - - -

My name is Javier Balán and I belong to the GEG (Google Educator Group) Obregón community in Sonora, Mexico. I am currently the leader of this GEG and I also collaborate as a GEG Mentor for the communities of Hispanoamérica.
He is also a Google Champion (Trainer and Innovator # VIA22) and a member of the Google Pilot Program.
I'm responsible for the Google administration console at the educational institution where I work.
Like to share experiences with other GEG leaders, learn from them, and regularly use the X platform (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
I appreciate the opportunity to be with this great community.

[Joeri]

Hello everyone,

My name is Joeri Overheul. I'm head of operations at my school in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Looking forward to learning from each and everyone of you. Have a great day!

[Naoki_Tokai]

日本の GEG Toyama リーダーの東海直樹です。北陸地域の５つの GEG のメンターもしています。よろしくお願いします。

[erichawkinson]

Great to see you again Naoki! #JPN19 Forever 😉

[Edutech_Ness]

Hello friends!

I co-lead GEG NorCal with @StephRothEDU. I work in California teaching amazing 7th grades English and 7/8 robotics.

Stephanie and I would like to get more involvement in our GEG group. Any and all ideas welecome!