Teachers in school district are heading towards the future

by Kim Smith
THE POST

The roles of teacher and student have been reversed for some employees at the Trimble Local School District.

The teachers are students in a computer training course, said Linda Edmiston, library/media coordinator. The teachers will be certified in using databases, spreadsheets and the Internet in their classrooms after the training is completed.

"I believe this will improve teacher skills," said Diana McCauley, principal of Trimble High School. "When the teachers know how to work with computers, it's easier for them to pass on that knowledge to the students."

Employees also can get continuing education credit from Ohio University through their participation in the program, Edmiston said.

The trainees will use the school computer labs and participate in two days of training, McCauley said. The level of expertise a teacher has with computers will establish how much time they need to spend in the labs.

Trimble is one of the few districts that offer this type of program for its entire staff, said Rosemary Hayes, coordinator for Continuing Improvement Plan. Every staff member, not only the teachers, is allowed to participate.

"It seems to be going really well," Edmiston said. "Other schools I've talked to haven't done this with such a large amount of people in such a small amount of time."

The program is part of the CIP and the district's technology plan, which was revised in August, Hayes said.

A committee of ten people, including teachers, parents and a student, make up the Technology Advisory Committee, Edmiston said. They work with the allotted funds and the requirements of the technology plan in organizing what needs to be accomplished in the training sessions.

Specialty instructors from the Education TV of Southeast Ohio are teaching the classes. They are being paid by a grant from the state, McCauley said.

"The instructors tell us how we can use the information in the classroom," Hayes said. "They give us information that we can apply (to our classes)."

The district also has permission from the state to have waiver days, Hayes said. These days allow the teachers to use weekdays for training.