Thursday, May 25, 2017

Dr. Laura Spencer - Top Tech Exec, San Diego

Congratulations to LUSD's Educational Technology Director, Dr. Laura Spencer, who was recently named one of San Diego's Top Tech Execs for 2017. More than 1,200 guests celebrated San Diego's tech community in the 10th annual Top Tech Exec Awards held on Thursday, May 11. The celebration is by far the largest technology recognition event in San Diego. With a substantial increase in attendance this year, the popular event has outgrown its original Del Mar Fairgrounds location and was hosted on the field at Petco Park. The regions technology elites were entertained with parachute jumpers, inventive cuisine, along with a grand finale fireworks presentation. The field of nominations also set a record this year. Out of over 600 nomination submissions, 526 made it to the qualification round. Ultimately 11 individuals were named as honorees and Dr. Spencer received one of two special recognitions, the Cox Business Exemplary Award.


Dr. Spencer is committed to ensuring that technology is used as a tool to engage and educated students in authentic experiences. She has been the director of educational technology for the Lakeside Union School District for three years. She oversees the implementation of technology-integrated instructional programs, professional development standards and technical infrastructure. Her work has resulted in two Classroom of the Future Foundation school awards, an Innovative Educator Award from Classroom of the Future Foundation, and an Administrator of the Year award from the American Heart Association.

During her tenure as a classroom teacher, Laura participated in Project LemonLink, a program focused on high-speed internet connectivity, equity, and 1:1 access to this-client tablets so middle school students could have equitable access to quality digital instructional resources. During this time she was awarded a Microsoft Innovative Educator award, as well as chosen as a "Best of NECC" presenter for the National Educational Computing
Conference.

Dr. Spencer is also active as a technology advocate in the community. She serves as the president of the San Diego affiliate of CUE. In this role, she has worked to provide grants and awards for deserving educators throughout the county. She presents at both local and national conferences, including SDCUE Tech Fest, CUE Annual Conference, CUE Rock Star, ASCD, and ISTE. Dr. Spencer received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from Alliant International University. She also holds two masterS degrees from National University, one in Educational Administration and one in teaching with a focus on reading.



A video team came to LUSD to record Dr. Spencer as she interacted with students at Riverview in an Ozobot lesson in Celine Fang's classroom. She was also filmed at the Network Operating Center (NOC) as she worked with her IT team. The highlight video was played at Petco Park as Laura was honored with the Cox Exemplary Award.

LUSD is very proud of our own Dr. Laura Spencer! Thank you Laura, for all you do for the students, staff, and community of Lakeside and beyond!



Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Walk to School Day




On Monday, students and parents joined teachers and staff to walk to school. Each school chose locations to meet and then walked together to campus. The purpose of the walk was to recognize how important our public schools are to our community.

The opportunity to start the day not only with a little exercise but with happy students and their families definitely put a smile on the faces of Lakeside teachers and administrators.

Thanks to all who participated! 

Monday, May 1, 2017

Teri Cook Wins CSEA Unsung Hero Award


Teri Cook, centered, receiving her award


Teri Cook, District Office Secretary, recently received the California School Employees Association's Unsung Hero Award for her work with the Lakeside Union School District and CSEA Lakeside Chapter 240. An unsung hero  is someone who makes a substantive yet unrecognized contribution. This truly represents Teri, as her strong work ethic and straight forward, common sense approach to every situation has been integral to both the District and Chapter 240.  
She has sat on the Chapter 240 Executive Board for the past 15 years, and is currently serving as the Chief Negotiator and Past Chapter President. She is a strong leader who advocates for all employees.  She keeps the members best interest at the forefront of all she does, and because of such, has become a trusted and reliable mentor for many employees in our organization. 
Teri’s goal is to make coming to work a fun experience. She goes out of her way to invite the newer employees to be part of CSEA.  She recently put together a very successful Amazing Race activity, designed to give the new classified employees the opportunity to meet veteran employees and become familiar with the chapter leadership. She not only included all classified employees; she also involved our local community partners.  Because of her efforts, Chapter 240 now has younger employees on the executive board and many more coming to the chapter meetings. 

We are proud of Teri for receiving this well-deserved recognition from CSEA. We value her dedication to our staff, our students, and our community.