Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888
News Release
2016 ASTE Technology Leadership Awards for KPBSD employees
Soldotna, March 1, 2016—KPBSD celebrates employees Casey Olson and Trevan Walker, who received top statewide recognition with a 2016 Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) Leadership Award. Each year ASTE selects three people who demonstrate true technology integration and have a positive impact on teaching and learning in Alaska. In 2016, two of the three award recipients are KPBSD staff: the 2016 Technology Support of the Year award recipient is Casey Olson, district programmer and analyst, and Trevan Walker, Seward High School principal, who is the 2016 Administrator of the Year. #golden
Casey Olson, 2016 Technology Support of the Year
ASTE Technology Support of the Year Award recognizes Alaskans who help teachers and faculty find and use technology to support academic goals, which may include helping with hardware.
“I am very proud that Casey Olson has been named the ASTE tech support person of the year,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “He is an integral part of our videoconferencing effort to expand opportunities for students around the district. His effort has put a solid infrastructure in place so that students can work with experts and other students from around the world. Students are also able to collaborate with their peers within the district to experience our own diverse cultures. This award is very well deserved and I look forward to Casey continuing his leadership role in meeting our twenty-first century learning needs for our students.”
“The ASTE Tech Person of the Year recognition for Casey Olson is timely and well-deserved,” said Eric Soderquist, director of information services. “Casey has worked diligently to provide the vision and technical guidance critical to the recent Polycom RUS grant award, and continues to be a trusted resource for the video conference platform in use today. He clearly recognizes that IT is about more than just making technology work—focus must be placed on ensuring a given technical solution effectively meets the needs of users. Casey has proven masterful at combining his technical skillset with the vision required to adapt to ever-changing technology implementation and support needs.”
Learning about the award, Mr. Olson said, “I was surprised to be nominated for the ASTE award and honored to be chosen to receive this recognition. Being nominated by teachers in our school district that I’ve worked with for a number of years made the award even more significant to me personally.”
Trevan Walker, 2016 Administrator of the Year
ASTE Administrator of the Year award recognizes Alaskans who lead schools or organizations in the innovative use of technology to support academic goals.
“I am fortunate to have a staff who believes in our common vision to endeavor to be all things for all students,” said Trevan Walker, Seward High School principal. “The reality is that they should get the credit as they are the ones doing the hard work—not just with technology integration in instruction, and the innovative practices that come out of it, but also with the relationships they’re building with kids and genuine desire to see each one of them succeed at Seward High School, regardless of the pathway required to find it.”
Sean Dusek, superintendent said, “We are very proud of Mr. Walker for receiving the ASTE Principal of the Year award. Mr. Walker is an innovative school principal that has worked very hard to meet the individual needs of students at Seward High School. The entire staff is engaged in this ongoing effort and also share in this award. We are looking forward to even greater degrees of success with students in Seward as this award represents the beginning of the modern learning system in KPBSD.”
“This district is making serious headway in tackling the online and blended learning formats,” said Amanda Adams, KPBSD distance learning teacher. “It is really exciting to watch whole cohorts of teachers developing new practices to meet the needs of students. With innovative people like Trevan and Casey, they are holding the doors open for teachers like me to not be bound by tradition. The question is not why do you want to do that, but instead, how can I help you do that.”
Links
- KPBSD Information Services
- Seward High School website
- Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) website
- News Release: Two KPBSD employees receive 2016 ASTE Technology Leadership Awards
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