Pat, Ruth, Chris and Susan meet after school to plan their presentation of a mentoring project between middle school students, teacher education students at the local community college, and scientists from Susan’s lab.

As told by Pat Reineke.

Ruth asked me if I had remembered to bring the disk?

I patted my pocket to make sure.

“Yes. I have it all on my jump drive, here.” I fumbled past change and keys and slid the device into my palm. “Where are we meeting?”

“Right here,” replied Ruth. She looked more frazzled than usual – and Chris, a little too chipper – but then again, it was Friday afternoon. I scanned the classroom. Where was Susan? I glanced at my watch.

“Any word from Susan?” I asked.

They both shook their heads.

“I’m here,“ a voice from the door, “right behind you. It always takes me a while to park. I don’t know why I don’t ever plan for it,” she said. She placed her carrying bag on the far table and wandered over to the bookshelf. She pulled down a textbook and passed her thumb through the pages.

I moved toward the computer and leaned down—which kind is this?—I can never remember where to plug this thing in. I started hunting for the USB port. Susan pulled some papers from her bag and placed them on the table.

“Don’t worry,” said Ruth, “we don’t expect the others until the buses are gone – I’d say we are good for another 15 or 20 minutes.”

“Good,” said Susan. “So – what do we know? What is on the agenda for today?”

There it is. I pulled up the front cover on the CPU and slid my fingers beneath. Two USB ports. I reached with my left hand and pulled a small chair beneath my legs. Settling in, I turned toward Susan. “I received an email from Tanner this morning,” I offered. “They want to make sure we have our house in order, so to speak – and that we will be ready for our presentation next month. Oh … and Gladys wants to know which of us would be willing to serve as a spokesperson for an article the Keever Sentinel apparently is doing on the showcase.”

Chris looked up from a stack of papers. “Why isn’t she doing it? She’s usually good for a sound bite or two. Besides,” Chris’ mouth turned a grin, “I thought that’s what principals were for …”

I chuckled. There is nothing Gladys would like more, I bet, than to lead some reporter through the presentation rooms, commenting on the ‘community power’ derived from being ‘a connected school.’

Ruth stuck her head out the door to check for traffic, then leaned back in: “What was that one she gave us last week, Chris? You know, when we were brainstorming a new banner at the PTA meeting to hang out front during the showcase week … the one about ‘wisdom’?”

I knew exactly the one.

“Keever County… where wisdom is in-formation,” Ruth, Chris, and I said in unison.

Obviously, Gladys had field tested that one already.

Susan smiled. “Actually, I like it,” she said. “So, when are the showcase dates, again?”

“The 20th and 21st,” I said. I didn’t have to hesitate – I could probably tell you how many hours. “Today is the 24th. We have a little more than 3 weeks to get ready.”

“Don’t worry,” Susan said. “Everything is going to be fine. You have this building in great shape – and we have a pretty good handle on what we are going to show, right?”

She must have sensed the anxiousness in my voice. It was nice to receive confirmation from an ‘outsider’ – but I didn’t want her to think I was being pessimistic.

“Thanks,” I replied. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’m not worried – any more than usual, at least.” I smiled, and sat up in my chair. I rubbed the back of my neck. I can tell my tension level had risen since Gladys told me a few weeks ago we’d be hosting the showcase this year. “It’s just that, in the five years that DPI has been holding these showcases, we’ve never hosted one. I IM’ed Rick Chilton last week – he’s the person in my position from Parnell High School, last year’s host – and he gave me lots of tips and advice. Still, he only had 5 showcase finalists to deal with. This year, we’ll have eight.”

Ruth crinkled her nose and waved me off. “Pat, you stress too much. Everything is going to be fine. At least you know one group who will be easy to work with!” She smiled and elbowed Chris for a supportive nod.

“Yeah,” I grinned. “That group from Oslo Middle in Grantham is always easy …”

“Ha, ha,” Chris replied with a sneer. Ruth stuck out her tongue.

I smiled. “Anyhow,” I continued, “I have put together some PowerPoint slides as an outline for our presentation on that Friday. We’ll also need to decide what we want to have running for the concurrent portion on Thursday.”

Susan shimmied the book back into place among the others and took a seat at a table in the front row. She placed a notepad on the desk and drew a pen from her breast pocket.

“So, tell me a bit about the format,” she turned to me and said. “I’m sorry I don’t know more about it, but I am sort of new to this game. What happens on each day?”

I wiggled the mouse on the computer in front of me and listened as the screen flickered awake. A bright, blue screen and the familiar login box came into focus. I entered my username and password and pressed the ‘Enter’ key. I listened as the machine churned through the connections and verifications before finally releasing my desktop. I clicked on “My computer” and searched for my files.

“DPI sent us some guidelines,” I began. “And I have the session plans from the last two showcases for us to use as a guide. It’s pretty scripted. I have them saved onto this thing – if I can find it.” I looked to see if my jump drive was listed. It wasn’t. “Anyhow – the basic gist of it is that every year each school has to fill out a comprehensive survey –“

“ – the ‘LETS GO’ …,” she added.

“That’s right,” I sighed, “The ‘Learning and Educational Technology Survey – General Overview’ is distributed to every school in every district throughout the state. A lot of it is nuts-and-bolts, check-the-right-box stuff – but there is also a component for nominating ‘BIPs’ – Best Instructional Practices – from your district for special recognition.”

“Helllooo…?”

A bespectacled face peered from around the corner. It was Kelly Tanner.

“C’mon in,” Ruth motioned. “We haven’t seen Gladys yet.”

“I just saw her,” Kelly interrupted, “she was just finishing up with the buses. She said she’d be down in about two minutes. How is everyone?”

Chris smiled. “Hi, Kelly.”

Susan waved.

Kelly sauntered around the teacher’s desk and circled over the chair beside me. A gray box popped up on my screen with a menacing “ding!”

“Whatcha’ got there?” Kelly asked.

Oh boy, I thought. I glanced at the screen, straightened my face a bit, and turned to Kelly. “It says that this computer does not support the device I just attached,” I relayed. “I’m sure it is just a driver it needs. I haven’t used my new drive on all of the computers in this building.”

I shouldn’t have mentioned the new drive.

“What new drive?” Kelly asked. “Did you get one of those portable things?”

“Yes.”

“Can I see it?”

I sighed. I knew I’d have to pull this thing out again as soon as I said it. I reached under the table and felt for the device. Grasping it between my thumb and forefinger, I gave it a quick tug. “Here,” I said, and handed Kelly the drive.

Susan flipped her notebook open again and continued: “So, projects get nominated and someone at DPI whittles them down to eight …”

“…a panel.”

“Right,” she replies, “a panel. And then all of the projects are brought together to do presentations?”

“Sort of. I glanced at Kelly, who was peering behind the computer, checking the cables. ‘I guess I’m on my own here,’ I thought to myself. I continued: “A few years ago, DPI thought it would help increase technology integration in schools if teachers and schools were given ‘best practice’ examples of what good integration might look like. They started doing the showcases at the annual state technology conference but then the state got a grant to support the showcase as its own thing. Now, there is a vendor section and a lot of the civic leaders from the communities represented use the showcase as an excuse to hob-knob and show how advanced their districts’ schools are. This is only the second time the showcase has been hosted by a K-12 school.”

I heard a knock on the door and turned to look.

“… Sounds like we’ve found our spokesperson!”

It was Gladys. I guess she had slipped into the room while I was speaking.

“Hi, Gladys,” I replied. “I was just giving Ms. Ramey here a little background.”

Gladys leaned against the corner of the doorway. “Sounds good,” she started, “I’d say that’s a pretty good description.” She turned toward Susan and continued, “When Pat told me about the project you were doing with Chris and Ruth, I called Tanner here and suggested it be offered as a BIP. The rest, as they say, is history.”

‘That’s not how I remember it,’ I thought to myself, but I bit my tongue. I glanced across the classroom and saw Ruth and Chris leaning toward each other, snickering. I guess they, too, remembered the countless visits to Gladys’ office – and emails to Tanner’s – badgering them for permissions, releases, software modifications … anyhow. All’s well that end’s well. After three months, it does appear the Virtual Mentoring project between Ruth and Chris’ classes and Susan’s scientists has made a difference in the kids’ level of excitement about science. And they are writing better. And Gladys and Kelly have even begun talking publicly about the idea of ‘connective technology’ for students. Though, I’m not sure just how strong an ‘advocate’ Gladys really is. I guess a good showing at the Tessies will only help. Nevertheless, I’d just as soon not be showcasing anything at this point – everything’s gone just a little too perfect flying under the radar here, if you know what I mean. I’ll be happy when this Technology School of the Year Showcase is over and gone – no doubt about it. If we win it, fine. If not – even better, as far as I’m concerned. Until then, I have to keep my network clean, my computers running, and my principal quiet to get through this showcase.

“Yes, well, that’s pretty much how, it happened” I muttered. “The DPI review board that picks through the submitted BIPs selected your project with Ruth and Chris as one to showcase.”

Susan offered a slim smile and looked away. Ruth and Chris folded their hands beneath their chins, turned to each other, and batted their eyelashes, “I guess you can thank us for all the accolades, then! We’ll be taking donations in the parking lot after school.”

I rolled my eyes, then grinned.

“True – ‘though they did use a new formula this year – one that was more data-driven – by somehow considering the LETS-GO data,” I added. “Anyhow … we’ll have seven other groups in this building on Thursday and Friday doing presentations of their projects for various school visitors. On Friday afternoon, Dr. Jackson will be here and she’ll present the Tessie to one of the teams.”

Gladys leaned forward from the doorway and walked toward a table in the back row. “I think you guys stand a great chance,” she said. “You all have done a great job with your virtual mentoring project – I’m hearing some great things from the parents.”

I could hear Kelly shifting in the chair beside me. Apparently, not everyone shared Gladys’ view of our “great”-ness.

“I’m sure you will wow ‘em with your presentation,” she continued. “I’ve even heard from some of the other principals that some of their teachers are asking them what we’re doing here that’s so special.” She paused for a moment. “I told them that we had a secret weapon – a top-notch tech department!”

I glanced at Kelly, who looked up and forced a smile.

“I just do what I’m told.”

‘Ain’t that the truth,’ I thought to myself.

Susan jotted a number at the top of her page, then flipped it over to begin anew.
“Ok, well, thanks for the background,” she started. “It sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for us, eh? Pat – you said you have something for us?”

“Yes – I just jotted down some quick notes on our presentation. I’m having trouble pulling it up, but I also emailed it to myself. Give me a sec to bring up my email.”

“I’m going to head to the bathroom really quickly,” Chris offered, and hopped toward the door.

Ruth followed. “I’m going to just grab a drink.”

Kelly leaned toward me and peered over my shoulder as I pulled up a new browser window.

“Are we all set, as far as equipment and software goes?”

“I think so,” I replied. “I did a quick check on Monday.” That was a lie, but I did mean to – I just didn’t get to it. I continued, “I am going to do a full run in each of the rooms next week. Some of the groups will need special setups on their computers. I sent an email to each group yesterday, asking them what – exactly – they’ll need.”

I clicked in the ‘location’ box and typed in my web-mail address. Kelly wiggled the mouse on the computer beside me and shifted around.

“Any responses?”

“I’ll check right now,” I replied, “but so far – none.” ‘I can’t believe I’m the one doing this,’ I thought to myself. “I think we’ll be able to handle it, though.”

Kelly raised an eyebrow. “We? Who did you recruit to help you?”

“Oh – the computer club students are going to be my ‘eyes’ on Thursday. They will bounce from room to room, and make sure everything is running smoothly.”

“ – and get you if its not …?”

I paused. “Of course,” I continued.

Kelly could tell I was offended by the comment and began a defense, “I wasn’t saying –“

“I know,” I interrupted.

“—I was just saying how brave you are to enlist the aid of these kids,” Kelly offered.

‘If you only knew how much I counted on them,’ I thought to myself.

“They’re a good bunch,” I returned. “They’ll be fine.”

I could hear Chris and Ruth chuckling through the halls as they approached the door. Gladys and Susan were getting anxious to start the meeting. Kelly leaned toward me and whispered: “I hope you’re right.”

I smiled back.

‘Me, too,’ I thought to myself.

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