Semi-Finalists

ALABAMA

Teresa Zimmer
Carlisle Park Middle School, Guntersville

In addition to teaching gifted students about technology, Teresa Zimmer organizes a family technology night and coordinates her school's chapter of ASPIRE, the Alabama Supercomputing Program to Inspire Computational Research in Education.

ALASKA

David Fair
Unalakleet Schools, Unalakleet

If a computer in Unalakleet breaks down, one of David Fair's students will probably be able to fix it. By focusing on real job skills, Fair has given his students a sense of direction and a means to earn a good living.

ARIZONA

Sharon Karpen
Sonoran Sky Elementary School, Scottsdale

The third-graders in Sharon Karpen's class use technology to design new products, and plan their marketing and sales. Not only do they gain an understanding of how technology works, they learn about being entrepreneurs.

ARKANSAS

Joy Bennett
Gingerich Elementary School, Stuttgart

All Joy Bennett wants is to make her fifth graders as comfortable with technology as they are with books, paper, and pencils. To achieve this, she infuses technology into numerous classroom projects, from exchanging e-mail with penpals in New York to creating computer-generated quilts.

CONNECTICUT

Jean Lowery
Bishop Woods Elementary School, New Haven

Before Dr. Jean Lowery came to Bishop Woods Elementary, the school had virtually no technology. Through her efforts, the school has acquired hardware, software, and staff development resources, to challenge the diverse students in the school.

DELAWARE

Rebecca Kelly / send e-mail
Delmar Jr.-Sr. High School, Delmar

A special education teacher who teaches in inclusion classrooms, Rebecca Kelly advocates the integration of technology to improve reading, writing, and problem-solving skills. The range of technology her students use-from keyboard devices to Netscape Composer-is, in part, due to Rebecca's tremendous grant writing skills.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Barry Sprague
Park View Elementary School

The students at this inner-city elementary school are building their science skills through technology, thanks to Dr. Barry Spague. Students start with basic computer activities and then advance to work like real scientists, using sensors, probes, the Internet, and other tools to perform real-world experiments.

FLORIDA

Catharine H. Colwell
Mainland High School, Daytona Beach

Physics is what you make of it, and Catharine Colwell has made it the coolest class in school. Her technology-rich classes are a magnet for students of every ability level, and she is the "terminator" when it comes to AP tests and science competitions.

GEORGIA

Robert Caplan
Tapp Middle School, Powder Springs

If you like pushing the limits of instructional technology, you'll love Robert Caplan's language art classes. Using a combination of hardware, software, and creative thinking, he has created a way to deliver multimedia lessons to the single-computer classroom.

ILLINOIS

John Mertes
Rhodes School District, River Grove

In his own words, teaching is not a job for John Mertes, it's "a way of life." As the technology teacher in his school, he supports the efforts of the entire staff, helps students develop the school's Web page, and writes most of the grants that allow his school to have a 3:1 student to computer ratio.

IOWA

Al Bode
Charles City High School, Charles City

Developing International Student Exchanges from E-Mail: An Iowa Experience

Through Al Bode's efforts, students in this rural community in northeast Iowa are improving their Spanish by interacting online with students around the world. In addition, Al Bode and his students host visiting students from Mexico and make the trek to our southern neighbor each year.

KANSAS

David Walker
Tonganoxie High School, Tonganoxie

Using software, probes, graphing calculators, and presentation tools, David Walker has made biology understandable and enjoyable for his students. As for measurable results, student test scores have increased considerably.

LOUISIANA

Monica Folse
Estelle Elementary School, Marrero

Much of the technology in Estelle Elementary School is there because of the grant-writing efforts of Monica Folse. In addition, she is an exceptionally talented teacher of students with special needs and has been named her school's Teacher of the Year three times.

MARYLAND

Diane Boarman
Patapsco Middle School, Ellicott City

The students in Diane Boarman's science classes are "instrumentalists" in the scientific sense of the word. From Day 1, her students learn to use probeware to collect data, analyze it, and make presentations of their findings.

MICHIGAN

In Barbara Leonard's computer and multimedia courses, project-based learning is king. From videoconferencing with a fifth grade classroom at the Saginaw Tribal Academy to producing video storybooks for second graders, her students use technology to reach beyond their own community.

MINNESOTA

Pam Solvie
Morris Area Elementary School, Morris

It's never too early to start students with technology or make them aware of the diversity outside their community. Pam Solvie does a great job on both counts with her first grade students, who have e-pals in Osaka, Japan and videoconference with experts around the world.

MISSISSIPPI

Lia Landrum
South Jones High School, Ellisville

Billy Joel's classic, "We Didn't Start the Fire," is the catalyst for Lia Landrum's students to identify the significant events of a given year. Technology makes the task more interesting and allows the students to do a thorough job of studying and presenting their subject.

NEBRASKA

Katie Morrow / send e-mail
Stuart Public Schools, Stuart

In a rural district whose small size means that classes are enormously diverse, Katie Morrow uses technology to ensure that all of her students achieve basic literacy. She also forges community connections by having her students build a Web site profiling local businesses and organizations.

NEVADA

Linda Thompson
Clark Country School District, Las Vegas

This past winner of the state Teacher of the Year award is on special assignment in the district helping teachers prepare telecommunications lessons. Among Linda Thompson's projects is the "Treasures of Russia," which paired an exhibit at a local resort with online learning activities.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Rosalyn Weizer / send e-mail
Gilbert H. Hood Middle School, Derry

Learning how to learn is an invaluable skill, and that's the focus of Rosalyn Weizer's Computer/Study Skills program. Students learn about assessment by developing tests of their own, and in the process, enhance their ability to apply technology in useful ways. She is also available for teacher training.

NEW JERSEY

Karen Cohen
Montgomery High School, Skillman

Karen Cohen's business technology students are learning to master both technology and the stock market, and their grasp of economics has earned their teacher a Mark of Distinction award from the local business and education partnership.

NEW YORK

Mary Sippel / send e-mail
Newfane Elementary School, Newfane

If you want to know how "Eel Got Electrified," just ask Mary Sippel's third grade students. Their multimedia tale won honorable mention in ISTE's 1999 Multimedia Mania contest. Another multimedia project focusing on animals won a Model Schools grant from the state of New York.

NORTH CAROLINA

Darlene Ryan
Perry Harrison School, Pittsboro

Technology, a solid curriculum, and plain old fun are three ingredients in Darlene Ryan's classes. On any given day, one or more teachers in the district are visiting her classroom to learn how to use technology effectively.

OHIO

Shirley Newton
Westerville North High School, Westerville

As facilitator of the Science Learning Center, Shirley Newton's students do their own projects and develop tutorials for younger students who are struggling in school. They've won several awards, and even invented a chocolate chip cookie recipe that was marketed by a local bakery.

PENNSYLVANIA

Irene Huschak
Altoona Area High School, Altoona

Digital Archaeology: Uncovering a Cityıs Past

Irene Huschak's classes-Emerging Technologies and Software Development-are among the most popular in her school, so much so that her students help to fund the technology lab by teaching summer classes for educators from around the state.

RHODE ISLAND

Lisa Zavota
Curvin McCabe School, Pawtucket

In Lisa Zavota's third grade class, technology is a fact of life. Her students use a broad range of technology-including PowerPoint and the Internet-to master basic skills and then apply them in the real world. She also routinely uses Cornerstone, Storybook Weaver, Spell-It, and Accelerated Reader.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Linda Hains
Rock Hill High School, Rock Hill

There aren't many places where students use technology to learn about the blues, study Russell's Anatomy, and make stories for younger students, but that's exactly what happens in Linda Hains' classroom. She wants her students to grow through technology and use it as a stepping-stone to success.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Brenda Lynch / send e-mail
Madison High School, Madison

You might not expect rural South Dakota to be a hotbed of Spanish language learning, but that's exactly what the situation is in Brenda Lynchs' classes. She uses technology to prepare her students to understand and work with Spanish speakers as they move on to careers and higher education.

TENNESSEE

Betsy Norris / send e-mail
Harris Middle School, Shelbyville

Read Betsy Norris' article

Betsy Norris has built a technology empire in her classroom by writing and receiving over $75,000 in grants. She also maintains the school Web site and has paired her students with telementors at Hewlett Packard.

TEXAS

Joan Gil
Canutillo ISD, Canutillo

This dynamo has given the students in this low-income, rural community access to first-rate technology, resulting in remarkable gains in their performance on state assessment tests.

U.S. SCHOOLS ABROAD

Terese Sarno
Ramstein American Elementary School, Ramstein, Germany

Although they are thousands of miles from the US of A, Terese Sarno's third graders in Ramstein have access to the a variety of technology. In addition to publishing their own newsletter, The Supersonic Gazette, her students use technology to explore higher-level math concepts and art.

UTAH

Alan Griffin
Weber School District, Ogden

In an effort to develop "classrooms without walls," Alan Griffin created a Web-based course on world civilizations. In this self-directed course, students write in their journals, complete projects, and take traditional tests.

VIRGINIA

Sherry Buchanan / send e-mail
Merrimack Year Round Elementary School, Hampton

Through her efforts, Sherry Buchanan has transformed the Library/Media Center at Merrimack into a technology hub, making it possible for a broad range of students, from developmentally disabled to gifted and everything in between, to become technologically savvy.

WASHINGTON

Maureen Stapel
Auburn School District, Auburn

Auburn School District has placed a high priority on staff development, and Maureen Stapel is the person responsible for making the vision a reality. She's established a broad range of technology initiatives that have increased the skills of both the teachers in the district and the students.

WEST VIRGINIA

Brenda Bleigh
Burnsville Elementary School, Burnsville

Old Dog, New Tricks

Although her school serves just 140 students in an economically disadvantaged region, Brenda Bleigh has used a broad range of technology to help her students achieve and succeed. The school is a Technology Demonstration Project and has been recognized as a Title I Distinguished School.

WISCONSIN

Linda Sorenson
Holmen Middle School, Holmen

Thanks to Linda Sorenson, the eighth graders at Holmen Middle School get a full dose of technology while learning U.S. History. They use everything from PowerPoint to the Internet to get a unique perspective on our nation's history.