Schools

Valley View Teachers Named SMART Exemplary Educators

The district is in the process of upgrading technology in elementary school classrooms.

Submitted by Valley View School District:

As Valley View School District 365U prepares to put the finishing touches this summer on a multi-year upgrade plan that will outfit every elementary school classroom in the district with an interactive SMART board, two VVSD Technology Services Department staff members have been named SMART Exemplary Educators by SMART Technologies.

Bob Petitto, VVSD’s Instructional Technology Specialist for grades K-5, and Catherine Neumann, VVSD’s Instructional Technology Specialist for grades 6-12, received the coveted designation last month because of their passion and knowledge about SMART products.

Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Members of the SEE program are a “diverse and exciting community of educators, administrators and technology coordinators” who interact in a variety of ways to share information, examine a variety of unique opportunities and get a sneak-peak at new SMART devices, according to Deena Zenyk, Marketing Manager for SMART.

“Having two Smart Exemplary Educators within the district will ultimately benefit VVSD teachers and students,” said Don Tufano, VVSD’s Director of Instructional Technology. “As peer educators they will share their knowledge and have access to tools and documentation for delivering SMART workshops. They will also receive direct support from SMART to build engaging lessons and share them with Valley View teachers. ” 

Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Petitto, a former Spanish teacher at Glenbard North High School, has been with VVSD for a year. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and a Master’s in Instructional Technology from Northern Illinois University.

Neumann, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Education from Illinois State University and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Lewis University, joined VVSD in 2005 as a career and technical educati9on teacher at Bolingbrook High School where she also served as Technology Coach. She moved into her current position two years ago.

“Educators around the country are preparing for Common Core and  PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessments using mobile technology,” Neumann said.  “In the SEE group we are able to learn from each other and avoid the same struggles.”

“We are very fortunate to have these two talented individuals on our team,” Tufano said. 

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here