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Employee
Recognition Program
Technology Services
staff members are eligible for individual and team awards in
our Employee Recognition Program. Honorees receive certificates
and are recognized quarterly via this website, the "Wall
of Fame" at NLC Building D, and an e-mail to all Technology
Services staff. Nominations
may be submitted by any NISD employee at any time throughout
the year.
| Fourth
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
Ken Cadena
For
the past year Ken has gone above and beyond his job
to take on the duties of a vacant business support person.
Ken is nominated for the outstanding job he did to support
what is known as "mass moves" and the finance
end-of-year process. To us, this is better known as
raises, retention checks, and vacation balance updates,
plus a whole lot more! In addition to supporting mass
updates, payroll and year-end procedures, Ken has helped
support the process of entering and validating NCLB
teacher qualifications in Region 20. Ken's attention
to detail and dedication resulted in one of the cleanest
and smoothest transitions we have ever had. Jim Miller
says, "Ken is well respected and I've never heard
him complaining or saying anything negative! Fortunate
are we to have someone like Ken who puts service above
self! His work ethic is beyond reproach. He is always
receptive and responsive to multiple requests from Central
Office, various other departments, and of course HR.
He is very open, friendly, and courteous to all he serves."
|
Steven
Diaz
Steven
went "above and beyond" his job duties by
developing an electronic tool to help manage overtime
requests for pay processing. His pre-populated form
saves the administrative support staff at least five
hours per week in typing and mathematical calculations,
as well as ensuring that staff overtime can be paid
in a timely manner. Susan Peters says, "If you
have never seen these [paper] forms or had to deal with
them you cannot understand how wonderful this is! It
has made me more efficient in my job." Congratulations,
Steven!
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Mark Cavazos, Josue DeLaTorre, Landa Rodgers,
Doris Slay-Barber, and (not pictured) Belinda Plata
Doris,
Landa, Josue, Belinda, and Mark are recognized for their
efforts in getting the 2008 High School Summer School
off the ground. Their activities included developing a
web-based summer school registration and financial management
program, training cashiers who worked summer school registration,
installing temporary hardware and ensuring wireless connectivity,
providing onsite support for the two-day registration
event, entering student data, and printing and delivering
student schedules. Due to their efforts, counselors had
information available in real-time to allow them to make
the best course selections for each student, accounting
procedures were enhanced and have a much higher degree
of reliability, and long lines at registration were eliminated.
This team earns high praise for collaborating with Administration
and Business, as well as providing exemplary tools, customer
services and support to benefit students.
|
| Third
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
Linda
Miller
Linda
is recognized for her outstanding customer service and
support of campus and departmental library staff. Even
though she's been in her position for less than a year,
she has accomplished many things - including spearheading
the federated search committee, adding new schools and
their library holdings to the library management database,
mentoring 15 new librarians, and providing daily e-mail
and phone support for 80 librarians and 91 library assistants.
Linda comes to work every day with a great attitude
that is very much appreciated by her coworkers. Thanks
for all you do, Linda!
|
Jeff Wright
While
we know that campus technology deployments are definitely
a team effort, and we most certainly value the efforts
of the entire team, Jeff is recognized for his LEADERSHIP
of deployment technician teams. Leadership traits cited
in the nomination were process improvement, communication,
problem solving, personal attention, personal integrity,
recognizing and utilizing team members' talents to the
fullest extent, decision-making, and people skills.
Additionally, the nomination was not the first time
we have heard these things about Jeff ... the fact that
Jeff "makes a difference" at a personal level
is a theme we've heard many times before! Like all great
leaders and true to form, Jeff gives all the credit
for deployment successes to the entire team.
|
| Third
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Tracy Rayburn, Dana Bickley, Steven King
Near
the end of February, Technology Services implemented a
Software Review Committee that meets weekly to discuss
and act upon instructional software issues. In addition
to facilitating INS-03 software approvals, evaluations,
installations, acquisitions, prioritizations, and overall
processes (as if that weren't enough), they also are achieving
their goal of improving communications with the schools
and instructional departments. Dana, Steven, and Tracy
spend 6-8 hours a week on this committee process, and
are making significant strides in improving instructional
software service and support across the board for students
and staff.
|
 |
Patti
Wyrick and Dottie Castro
Dottie
and Patti collaborated on the development of training
materials and the subsequent training of 90+ campus staff
on the Texas Records Exchange program (TREx) this quarter.
Although they received little training on the system themselves,
Dottie and Patti have worked diligently to ensure this
new state mandated system has been implemented district-wide.
They created a training guide, job aids, and conducted
19 training sessions. At least another 19 training sessions
are planned for the near future. We applaud this team's
commitment to excellence and appreciate their exemplary
collaborative effort.
|
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Steven
Diaz, Lorraine Trawick, and Mark Cavazos
This team was
nominated by NISD International Languages Instructional
Specialist Rosanna Perez for their excellent efforts in
supporting the recent Advanced Placement Spanish Language
Exam for 380 students across the district. Lorraine, Steven,
and Mark helped coordinate logistics, coordinated technical
support and equipment testing, collaborated with CITs
and teachers, and were onsite to provide additional assistance
at all middle schools and high schools. Rosanna stated
that these three team members "would probably say
this was part of their job, but I know they exceeded their
traditional responsibilities to make certain the AP Spanish
Language Exam was a success for all our students."
Congratulations Lorraine, Steven, and Mark!
|
| Second
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
Jacob
Infante
Jacob
is recognized for his outstanding customer service and
support as the Technician III for Business Careers High
School. Comments from BCHS teachers include, "Jacob
is always knowledgeable, courteous, and patient when
helping teachers and students. He has done an amazing
job with our laptop initiative. On a minute to minute
daily basis, he repairs and replaces parts, screens,
etc., Yet, with the constant interruptions he still
manages to be calm and go above and beyond the call
of duty with a smile. Jacob is an extremely hard worker
and we really appreciate the service he has given to
us."
|
John Robinson
Teamplayer.
Eager. Helpful. These are words to describe John Robinson.
John is willing to go the extra mile to help customers
- internal and external. Recently one of the middle
schools was having Parent History Fair Night. Following
a panic call from the campus because the students' projects
were not loading properly and the CIT was out of town,
John (who doesn't usually work with students in his
position), flew to the rescue. He helped the students
find their source files, recreate, and render movies.
The students had been working on these projects for
several months. John "saved the day" for the
students and teacher, and the campus went on to win
several honors, including state recognition, in the
History Fair.
|
| Second
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Doug Shudde, Marlo Brown, and Sean Embry
Sean,
Doug, and Marlo are recognized for their outstanding work
in providing Parent Connection e-mail services and support.
There are more than 60,000 Parent Connection account holders.
Parents and students alike have come to depend upon e-mail
trigger alerts from the system. When NISD began experiencing
problems with e-mail service providers that were blocking
e-mails from Parent Connection as spam, these three gentlemen
immediately set about addressing the situation by working
with e-mail providers, the Parent Connection vendor, and
Parent Connection account holders. Their teamwork and
collaboration resulted in thousands of happy customers.
|
 |
Landa
Rodgers and Doris Slay-Barber
According
to several campus administrators and counselors, Landa
and Doris "embody Northside's Commitment to Excellence."
Through
their expertise and dedication, they have implemented
the online course request system for secondary schools,
providing timely data essential to developing the master
schedule. Both ladies make site visits to ensure that
the system runs smoothly. Campus staff say that Landa's
and Doris' outstanding technical support, willingness
to think outside the box, pioneering spirit, and dedication
are truly impressive. Congratulations to these two ladies
for delivering first-rate service and solutions to the
campuses!
|
| First
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
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|
|
Dana
Bickley
Dana
is recognized for her superior customer service and support
of elementary campuses, particularly those who have recently
transitioned to Microsoft Active Directory and/or have
received new technology campus-wide. CITs report that
Dana is always willing to listen to their concerns and
find answers to their questions. Not only has Dana gone
above and beyond to help CITs, teachers, and students,
she does it all with a big smile and a very positive attitude!
|
Chris
Harrell
Chris
assumed a lot of extra responsibilities this quarter to
aid in school startup. In addition to her regular duties
related to getting school started and supporting campus
attendance secretaries, Chris actually fulfilled the role
of attendance secretary at two campuses that had vacancies.
On behalf of these two campuses, Chris posted in excess
of 2,000 attendance records, enrolled and/or withdrew
more than 300 students and made countless schedule changes
and entries so that teachers would have accurate gradebook
and CMS data. Chris also organized lots of resources into
binders for attendance secretaries which will help them
throughout the year.
|
Mary
Ann Quiroga
Customers
report that talking to Mary Ann at the Help Desk always
brings a smile to their faces! Callers know that Mary
Ann will know exactly how to help and what to do. Mary
Ann inspires confidence and trust by always going the
extra mile and figuring out the best solution to meet
customers' needs.
|
| First
Quarter 2007-2008 |
| Team
"Excellence" Award |
|
Ron Stephens and Olga Perez
Ron
and Olga are recognized for their outstanding work in
providing PEIMS services, reports, and related data analysis.
Their attention to detail and accuracy ensure that the
PEIMS submissions paint a true picture of NISD, in terms
of student, staff, and financial data used in several
state-wide monitoring systems. Program and department
directors district-wide count on Ron and Olga for current
and historical data analysis, which is then used to drive
decision-making and program improvement.
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
|
|
Sandy
Roe
Sandy
is the unofficial, one-woman "triage help desk"
for all district staff and many parents who want to talk
to "the technology department." She fields several
hundred calls, particularly during the few weeks before
school starts and right after. She always helps callers
with style and grace on topics such as forgotten passwords,
AUP training, e-mail help, Parent Connection, gradebook,
"how to's" for purchasing software, hardware,
and technology supplies, and so much more. She is absolutely
customer-friendly to everyone, no matter who they are
or what their problem is. Sandy is recognized for her
outstanding customer service and support.
|
Kenneth
McDuffie
Ken
is recognized for his superior customer service and support.
The nomination for Ken came from Valley Hi Elementary
and stated, "We would like to express our heartfelt
gratitude for our campus technician. We feel so fortunate
to have Ken on our side. Ken responds lightning-fast...no
challenge is too great for him. He works above and beyond
a thousand times over. However, the best part of having
Ken on our team is his attitude. His smile and joyful
attitude are infectious, and he makes Valley Hi a nicer
place to be whenever he is around." Well
done, Ken!
|
Lorraine
Trawick
As
project manager for secondary eGrade, Lorraine is recognized
for teamwork and collaboration, as well as leading the
effort to provide this particular tool and related resources
to campuses. Lorraine works diligently with the vendor
and district committee, headed up the writing of training
materials, supervised the creation of support resources
such as video tutorials, flipbooks, and click charts,
and helped roll out training to all secondary CITs, CTFs,
administrators, teachers, and attendance secretaries.
She continues to meet personally with principals and others,
striving for continuous improvement of the eGrade implementation.
Throughout it all, Lorraine remains calm, helpful and
charming.
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Frank Garza, Andy Contreras, Guy Copenhaver, Mark Cavazos,
Carlos Trevino, Steven Diaz, Isaac Carrillo, Kevin Fredericks,
George Ortiz, Javier Tamez, Billy Debner, and (not pictured)
Steven King
This
team is recognized for their outstanding technical and
AV support of the many beginning-of-year district-wide
events, such as Administrator Institute, Data Day, Convocations,
and New Teacher Academies. This team is to be congratulated
for their teamwork and collaboration with staff from several
departments across the district, many of whom have praised
their can-do customer-friendly attitudes and the high
level of support that has been provided.
|
 |
Marlo
Brown, Belinda Plata,
Adriana Carrillo, Patti Wyrick, John Robinson
Each
year Technology Training and Development is tasked with
providing training for new staff members who have access
to technology. This year, this team of trainers conducted
40 sessions the New Employee Technology Training. They
trained 735 new staff members on accessing network resources
(e.g., ERO, SEMS, UnitedStreaimg), saving files to and
using the network, using Groupwise e-mail, and more. This
training allows new staff to arrive at their campus or
department ready to use technology starting on their first
day. This team exemplifies teamwork and collaboration,
both with HR and in their own group.
|
 |
Joe
McMonagle, Armando Alvarado,
Joe Delgadillo, Allan Dufault, Chris Conkle
This
team worked tirelessly over a period of many months to
upgrade the Wide Area Network for all campuses and administrative
support locations. Their work included determining timelines,
rack space and electrical requirements; ordering equipment;
coordinating with AT&T, the Facilities Department
and campuses; redesigning some areas of our Data Center
and installing equipment. All their work provides continued
access to valuable network tools and resources for staff
and students. Congratulations to all!
|
 |
Pam
Rogers, Sloan Lopez, Dottie Castro, Chris Harrell, Dana
Bickley, Doug Shudde, Lorraine Trawick, Patti Wyrick,
John Hayes, Derick Xac, Jon Trent, Doris Slay-Barber,
and (not pictured) Mary McBeth
Kudos
to members of this group for their various roles in implementing
the new NISD secondary gradebook. Their work included
facilitating policy discussions, communication and training
users, data uploads, server maintenance and management,
Parent Connection enhancements, and working closely with
the vendor on software installation, development of customized
reports, and technical support. Thank you for a job well
done!
|
| Third
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
|
|
Victoria
Carrillo
Victoria
is recognized for her outstanding customer service and
support of the Resource Planning Department. Director
Stan Drezek states, "I wanted to call your attention
to the quality of employee you have in Victoria Carrillo.
Recently, we have been working more closely with and having
the benefit of Victoria's expertise and caring. I want
you to know just how conscientious Victoria has been in
seeing the myriad of our reports get submitted, run, and
picked up. She makes innumerable changes as well. Recently,
she just about finished a complete re-write of our Neighborhood
Count Program, the single most important program we have.
We appreciate Victoria and her support of our office."
|
Jose
Benavidez
Numerous
campus administrators and Information Services staff have
praised Jose's friendly and helpful customer service and
support at the front desk / report-check-out station at
Technology Services' NLC location. He goes the extra mile
in serving those who come by to collect report cards,
AGR cards, and other printed reports that campuses depend
upon. This is just one small part of Jose's job, but his
efforts are very much noticed and appreciated by all.
|
Jon
Trent
Jon
is recognized for providing superior customer service
and support for instruction. Career and Technology Specialist
Shirley Flores states, "Jon has gone above and beyond
for the Career and Technology Department to solve multiple
issues to ensure the successful installation and implementation
of the Certiport Microsoft Specialist Examination Software."
This software is used by high school students across the
district to achieve the Microsoft Office Specialist designation,
the official Microsoft Office certification for desktop
productivity.
|
| Third
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Belinda Plata, Marlo Brown, Cindy Holmes, Adriana Carrillo,
Andrew Spicer, Selia Espinoza, John Robinson, Ruben Urrutia,
Arnold Moreno
This
team is recognized for their efforts to provide Tablet
PCs for Cabinet members and several department directors.
Through teamwork and collaboration, this team pulled together
to evaluate, order, and image the devices, develop training
materials, and conduct 15 training sessions for staff.
The Tablet PC has proven to be a very popular tool for
busy NISD mobile professionals who can now work almost
anytime, anywhere, thanks to the efforts of this group.
|
 |
Gil
Huerta, Sean Embry, Michael Bohler, Allen Case, Belinda
Plata, Joe Delgadillo, Jon Trent, Martha Smith, George
Ortiz, Ken McDuffie, Gary Dennis and (not pictured) Julie
Carreon, Oscar Reyes, Steven Diaz
This
team is recognized for their teamwork and collaboration
with the Child Nutrition Department to support the new
Pont of Sale (POS) system currently being piloted in several
school cafeterias. This new system has the potential to
offer several enhanced services and efficiencies to NISD
students, staff, and parents. According to Child Nutrition
Director John Thomas, the team "faced several challenges
during the process and did a wonderful job responding
to them. The result is a change that will help our department
provide better customer service and help our staff be
more efficient. Thank you so much for the support and
help you have all provided."
|
 |
Shanna
Falgoust, Jon Trent,
Derick Xac, Walter Walden, Landa Rodgers
This
team is recognized for their teamwork in developing and
implementing a fabulous new tool for campuses called N-Time.
N-Time is a web-based application that allows Content
Mastery Center (CMC) teachers to track, document, and
report the time, purpose, and services for students who
receive CMC support. Application development was done
by Landa, Derick, and Walter; Jon provided SQL Server
and LDAP assistance; Shanna created training materials
and delivered training to campus staff. Due to the success
of this initiative, N-Time will be expanded to additional
campuses and areas where students are served (e.g., nurse,
counselor, administration).
|
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John
Robinson, Marlo Brown, Michael Bohler, Joe McMonagle,
Joe Delgadillo, George Ortiz, Mark Cavazos, Michael Back
and (not pictured) Everett Lewis
This
team's hard work, dedication to meeting the customers'
needs, willingness to listen and efforts in trying to
resolve concerns during the Vocera pilot exemplified outstanding
customer service and support. Even though the Vocera system
did not meet the customers' needs in the end, the team
is determined to evaluate alternative tools to help campus
staff achieve their communications goals.
|
 |
Rey
Solis, Chris Casias, Dominic Saenz
and (not pictured) Rick Klein
Upon
hearing that DuWayne Headrick was going to be out of the
office for an extended period, the Textbook Warehouse
team volunteered to help with Records Management pickup
requests from campuses and departments. Through collaboration
with DuWayne and the staff at the various locations, the
team picked up 35 pallets of boxes (approximately 1,400)
and delivered them to the warehouse to be inventoried,
giving much needed relief to campuses and departments
and making Records Custodians very happy.
|
| Second
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
|
|
Neal
Fabilenia
Neal
is recognized for providing wonderful tools, resources,
customer service, and support. He quickly creates Cognos
reports to fulfill the needs of campuses during critical
time periods (e.g., master schedule development, next
year planning, boundary changes information). He often
logs in from home to make sure everything is working on
the Cognos servers and finance cubes before leaving for
work. He patiently works with users over the phone and
through NetMeeting to help them learn best practices for
using the Cognos reporting system.
|
DuWayne
Headrick
DuWayne
is recognized for his outstanding work in establishing
the new Records Warehouse. He coordinated everything -
shelving, environmental issues, movement of contents from
the old warehouse, setting up the vault, and much more.
This was in addition to his regular Records Manager responsibilities
- document retrieval, destruction, and supporting the
Transcripts office. DuWayne does everything with humor
and enthusiasm and is much appreciated.
|
Susan
Marron
Susan
is recognized for teamwork and collaboration, particular
during the last quarter when the library processing team
was short two staff members. Susan rose to the occasion
and redoubled her efforts to keep the workflow going.
She helped organize and reorganize the endless boxes of
library boxes to make things more efficient. Susan was
cheerful and optimistic throughout the changes. She has
also worked closely with training a new cataloger in the
department.
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Olga
Perez
Olga
is recognized for providing wonderful tools, resources,
customer service, and support of the PEIMS data submissions.
For the third year, she has designed and produced the
55-page "PEIMS Data Review" reports used annually
to provide historical and current year summary information
to the Superintendent's Cabinet, Administrative and Instructional
Directors, and NCLB/Title Program coordinators. Olga also
continues to excel at developing and coordinating the
training and quality control systems necessary for reporting
PEIMS student disciplinary records and Leaver/Dropout
records.
|
Gabriel
San Miguel
Gabe
was nominated by three CITs who really appreciate his
customer service and support. They report that he is very
knowledgeable, always willing to help, quick to complete
his tasks, dependable, courteous, respectful, and always
has a smile on his face. When it comes to technology,
Gabe keeps their campuses up and running and always goes
the extra mile.
|
Andrew
Spicer
Andrew
epitomizes customer service and support. Sharon Sanchez,
NISD Director of Grants and Recognitions states, "Andrew
works with our department often and always does a great
job. He is helpful, knowledgeable, pleasant and patient.
When we have a technology problem, he promptly addresses
it and explains what he has done. He also answers our
many questions about technology related issues, providing
detailed explanations and even demonstrations when necessary.
Andrew is an asset to Technology Services and we are grateful
he works with the Grants and Recognitions Department."
|
| Second
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Lorraine Trawick and Amanda Hefner
Amanda
and Lorraine have provided outstanding instructional support
and service to the staff at Business Careers High School
for the 1:1 wireless laptop initiative. Amanda and Lorraine
collaborate closely to develop and deliver tools, resources,
and high-quality professional development, so that teachers
and students can make the most of their laptops. Using
themselves as a model, they show teachers how to differentiate
and customize instruction for individual students using
the laptops. Their joint delivery flows seamlessly during
the training sessions. Amanda and Lorraine exemplify the
Technology Services cores values of teamwork and collaboration.
|
 |
Joe
Delgadillo, Nancy Rex, Joe McMonagle, Michael Bohler,
George Ortiz, and Chris Conkle
This
team is recognized for their teamwork and collaboration
supporting
the recent eRate submission. Their work will save the
district millions of dollars in eRate-eligible equipment,
including network switches, wireless access points, wireless
controllers, and VoIP equipment. The team spent many hours
gathering information, developing RFPs, and preparing
the eRate applications. Everyone played an important and
vital role in this successful endeavor.
|
| First
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
Steven
Diaz
Technician
III Steven Diaz is recognized for the great job he does
supporting campus technology deployments, most recently
Fisher, Colonies North, Leon Valley and Murnin. Project
Manager Martha Smith states, "Steve has gone above
and beyond, is very organized, and has been accountable
for all the equipment, software loads, etc. He works
well with his team and communicates effectively ensuring
the deployments stay on schedule. The deployments have
even finished in record times. I have heard great things
about Steve from the campus administrators as well as
staff. The Fisher's principal secretary had problems
with her palm software and Steve's determination to
get it resolved was exemplary. When Steve leads the
deployment/team, I have the utmost confidence that the
job will be done well, he will be thorough, aims to
please and is definitely a LEADER." Congratulations,
Steven!
|
Belinda
Plata
Belinda
Plata is responsible for planning and facilitating the
"Business Academy for Bookkeepers." She works
with the business office staff to identify the area
of needs for the bookkeepers and plans training sessions
to meet their specific needs. This year 130 staff members
attended the academy, an increase from 113 attendees
the year before. In
addition, Belinda consistently provides training and
development support for the business office. Her enthusiasm
and professionalism is greatly appreciated. Belinda's
contributions to the business office are evident by
this statement from Oscar Cardenas, Executive Director
of Budget & Finance, "Ever since we added this
position, with the support of Tech Services, we have
made tremendous gains in the development of our bookkeepers.
Belinda is doing a GREAT job!"
|
| First
Quarter 2006-2007 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Pam Goebel and Josie Butcher
Pam
Goebel and Josie Butcher are customer-oriented team players.
During August - September they presented 807 transcript
requests, creating $3587.00 in revenue. That is from the
happier customers; some have to be turned away because
their request does not meet the federal laws. They also
provided 634 telephone or written graduation verifications
to various agencies. They maintain almost 1,000 rolls
of microfilm containing permanent or vital District information.
Because they maintain the master microfilm library they
also processed 49 requests from other District departments
for copies of records from the microfilm during this period.
Pam and Josie also maintain a database of over 214,000
student records that have been microfilmed. Each year,
prior to microfilming, they review the records of students
in grades 6 - 12 who have graduated or withdrawn, averaging
8,300 per year. They ensure all information on the Academic
Achievement Record and Permanent Record Card is correct
and testing labels match the student's name. Congratulations,
Pam and Josie!
|
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David
LeBlanc, Mary Ann Quiroga, Jacob Esquivel,
and (not pictured) Tera Garcia
The
Help Desk staff has earned recognition and commendation
for all their hard work during the start of the current
school year. Beginning the year short staffed with two
vacancies, they were inundated with calls from thousands
of District employees requiring their assistance. Through
their endurance and perseverance day after day they continued
in their resolve to assist every user that called with
the dignity and respect they deserve. Congratulations,
David, Tera, Jacob and Mary Ann!
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
|
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Helen
Baca
Known
as the "Database Queen" of Academic Technology
Services, Helen performed an extensive and detailed redesign
of the online School Improvement Plan for campus administrators.
Coordinating with the Director of School Improvement Initiatives,
she created a different version for Elementary, Middle
and High School, assessing the data entry, data import
and data display needs and adjusting and testing the database
design accordingly.
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Landa
Rodgers
Landa
is recognized for her overnight response to changes within
the NEIC voting site. Additionally, in response to numerous
requests, she was instrumental in creating a single site
for all Directors, HR Staff members, Principals and Vice-Principals
to go to for status of employees completing their AUP
training, Handbook Acknowledgement, and Sexual Harassment
Training.
|
Ben
Smith
Ben
has made a difference by simultatneously creating an alternative
to the district's currnt directory service and developing
a secure desktop management environment. Both are currently
being piloted at five campuses. At the conclusion of the
pilot phase, it is expected that the district will begin
a large-scale project to roll out this technology to the
entire district. The district should expect to see a Return
on Investment of 15-30% (through reduced annual costs
for desktop lockdown software such as DeepFreeze and reduced
annual Novell licensing costs) within this fiscal year
as the district migrates to this solution.
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Michael
Back, Michael Bohler, George Ortiz, Joe Delgadillo
These
members of the NISD Wireless Team are recognized for their
outstanding efforts in deploying a new wireless local
area network (LAN) architecture at Northside. Northside's
previous wireless LAN required manual configuration of
each of 350 access points at Northside. This team researched
current trends in wireless LAN technology and deployments
in an effort to recommend a more flexible and easily managed
wireless LAN solution. A centralized wireless LAN solution
that utilizes a wireless controller to manage, process
and configure the wireless environment was recommended.
This solution will provide a single point of administration
for various policies relating to security, intrusion detection,
user roles and software upgrades, and will ultimately
have a positive impact on the planning, performance, security
and total cost of ownership of NISD's wireless LAN across
the entire district, resulting in both a cost savings
as well as resource savings.
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Bob
Owen and (not yet pictured) Cynthia Velez
With
ingenuity and diligence, this team provided in-house development
of a method to synchronize accounts and passwords between
our legacy directory service (Novell eDirectory) and our
new directory service (Microsoft Active Directory). This
success was not only critical to the one-to-one laptop
initiative at BCHS and at the four new elementary campuses,
but also is also providing Northside with a migration
path to a more fully integrated Microsoft Windows solution,
with an approximate savings to the District of $75,000.
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Chris
Harrell, Sloan Lopez, Shanna Falgoust, Doris Slay-Barber,
Derick Xac and (not pictured) Jon Trent, Dottie Castro
Due
to the efforts of this team, the district-wide elementary
gradebook initiative was successfully launched on August
21. Training was provided to over 3,000 teachers, administrators
and attendance secretaries prior to the first day of school.
Because this gradebook is Web-based, it may be used from
home for educators to not only record grades and attendance,
but to view important information such as parent contacts,
special programs, and TAKS mastery. Other information
to assist the educator, such as textbook numbers, field
trip permission and tutoring groups may also be recorded.
This new tool is overwhelmingly popular and implementation
has been very smooth.
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Jacob
Infante, Michael Bohler, Allen Case, Ben Casillas, Marlo
Brown, Ken McDuffie, John Robinson, John Hayes, Art
Lozano, Velma Duenez, Tracy Rayburn, Michael Back, George
Ortiz, Shanna Falgoust, Selia Espinoza, Mary McBeth,
Bob Owen, Julie Carreon, Amanda
Hefner, Mark Cavazos, Sean Embry, David Pastrano, Joe
Delgadillo, Lorraine Trawick, Bruce Haan, Bill Greenham,
Ben Smith, Gary Dennis and (not pictured) Cynthia Velez,
Jon Trent, Kevin Frederics, Ruben Urrutia
The
School Board's decision last Spring to pilot a one-to-one
laptop initiative at Business Careers High School in
the Fall of 2006 created an enormous amount of work,
with an extremely aggressive timeline. Initiatives of
this scope usually take 12-18 months, but this extraordinary
team was able to pull it off in half that time. Many
new technologies are being introduced/piloted as a result
of this project (Reverse Proxy, Active Directory/Desktop
Management, Password Synchronization, Secure Printing,
Controller-based Wireless, etc.) Members of this team
were instrumental in various aspects of the project,
a few of which are listed below.
* The acquisition
and preparation of 740 laptops and cases
* Preparation of the classrooms and work areas
* Configuration and implementation of wireless connectivity
throughout all BCHS classrooms and teacher workrooms,
as well as the Holmes/BCHS library, cafeteria, auditorium
and selected outdoor areas.
* Curriculum written and developed for ninth and tenth
grade social studies and English, and all business and
technology courses
* Staff development of all BCHS teachers and administrators
with a weeklong "wireless retreat" in June and
with monthly follow-up sessions throughout the year
* Student and parent orientations
All in all,
this initiative has created a lot of excitement, positive
energy and excitement among everyone involved, particularly
the 555+ students now attending BCHS!
|
| Third
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
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John Hayes
John
is recognized for his work throughout the year in helping
GT teachers and students integrate video production
into instruction. Several GT teachers district-wide
have praised John for his professional development efforts,
site visits to help with projects, patience, kindness,
and technical and instructional expertise. Many, many
students have been able to create and experience incredible
video production projects because of John. John was
also instrumental in working with the Instructional
Specialist to modify the equipment standard for the
GT program in new schools.
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Fermin
Martinez
Fermin
was instrumental in the success of this year's high
school Advanced Placement testing for International
Languages. The logistics and administration of the AP
testing get bigger and bigger each year. This year,
there were some unexpected technical difficulties encountered
by students as they were testing. These issues were
resolved by Fermin, working diligently with the Instructional
Specialist, teachers, CITs, students, the vendor, and
technology.
|
| Third
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Team
"Excellence" Award |
|
Ken McDuffie,
Kevin Frederics, Carlos Trevino,
Jacob Esquivel, Frank Garza,
and (not pictured) Andy Contreras, John Robinson
Need
a team, quick, to support high school graduations -
who can you call?!? This team performed audio visual
activities to include sound, videotaping, and camera
operations for eleven NISD graduations during a one
week period. They worked many long hours on evenings
and weekends at the Alamodome, Paul Taylor Fieldhouse,
and the Reddix Center. The meaning and memories of these
graduations for parents, relatives, friends and the
community were preserved and made more special by the
hard work and dedication of this team.
|
| Second
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
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Julie
Aelovet
Julie
received several nominations from staff in Engineering
Services, Grants, and Technology Services. Terms used
to describe Julie were "incredibly patient, thorough,
and professional", "flexible and diligent",
"helpful, efficient, and dedicated." Julie
excels in providing first class customer service. She
researches and resolves hardware and software issues.
Her great attitude and ability promotes our Technology
Services community in a very positive way.
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Judy Cody
When
the American Library Association was in San Antonio,
NISD Librarians presented a full day conference on January
20. Judy served "above and beyond" her regular
job by helping a dozen librarians get ready, in addition
to everything she already does in Library Services.
As the team of librarians was frantically preparing
near the big day, Judy made sure that everyone had everything
they needed, that is was packaged beautifully, that
transport of it to and from the convention center was
coordinated, that the displays were perfect, that schedules
were met, and that the takedown was quick and easy.
We literally could not have done this without Judy's
help.
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Jack
Funkhouser
Jack
"makes a difference" for Technology Training
& Development and Northside ISD. He consistently takes
the lead on projects, oversees projects, and seeks new
leadership opportunities. Examples are his training and
development work with:
* CMS Phase III training
* Moodle learning management system and PHP/MySQL
* Personal Graduation Plan
* February Q.U.A.D. training.
Jack receives rave reviews from campus and district administrators
for the outstanding job he does when teaching face-to-face
an online classes. He was mentioned by name at NCN and
AIM for his "can do" attitude and willingness
to always be helpful and solve problems.
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Ben Smith
Through
careful planning and work, Ben helped make the December
Online Exit-level TAKS testing an overall success for
Northside ISD. He displayed exceptional foresight n
preparing additional network services and providing
the data redundancy necessary to overcome inadequacies
of the state's testing system that caused the testing
to be unsuccessful in many other school districts. Because
of Ben's exceptional planning and technical skills,
NISD was able to successfully administer the online
TAKS re-test in December for 365 math test-takers, 340
science test-takers, and 85 social studies test-takers.
|
| Second
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Bert
Sandoval, Fermin Martinez, Jeff Owens,
Everett Lewis, Armando Alvarado (not pictured)
This
team has done an excellent job over the past few months
working on our Data Center. They took ownership of this
project and made it their mission as a team to make
our Data Center into a topnotch networking facility.
With everything neatly organized, it is now much easier
to manage and track down equipment and connections,
saving time and frustration. During this award period,
this team has been involved in the following aspects
of the Data Center Upgrade Project:
* Capacity planning
* Functional organization of servers by row
* Redesigned network's backbone configuration
* Facilitated re-wiring of fiber optic cabling between
Central Office buildings
* Documented configuration changes for more that 20
switches and 75 servers
* Coordinated the move of 86 Gigaman uplinks
* Color coded and labeled all cabling in the Data Center
* Coordinated installation of redundant connection
* Coordinated installation of two phases of flooring
work
* Removed more than 2,000 feet of cabling
* Installed and labeled more than 1,500 feet of copper
and fiber optic cabling
Finally, there was no unplanned down time as a result
of all this work in the Data Center by this outstanding
team!
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John Hayes,
Doug Shudde, Elizabeth Langer,
Ben Smith, Ken Cadena, Jan Cayton (not pictured)
This
team is recognized for their outstanding implementation
of UnitedStreaming, a digital video-on-demand product
from Discovery Education. This research-based instructional
resource includes over 4,000 full length educational
videos, 40,000 video content clips, 18,000 images, and
a variety of teacher materials. All media and materials
are aligned to TEKS, updated daily, and delivered to
the computer desktop (video may be downloaded or "streamed"
live). Not only can this content be used by all NISD
educators, but it can also be used by students in the
creation of their own digital media connected to their
learning. The team's efforts included installation and
configuration of the product on NISD servers, data exports
and imports; account management, and delivering multiple
professional development sessions for instructional
specialists, CITs, librarians, principals, Cabinet,
and more.
|
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Mark Cavazos,
Lisa Gerlich, Alex DePena, Sean Embry,
This
team spent many hours over a period of two months troubleshooting
e-mail issues with the state-contracted online testing
vendor for the Texas Observation Protocol (TOP). More
than 1,700 teachers were required to take the online
TOP test during January, February, and early March.
Due to issues with the vendors e-mail system, teachers
were not receiving registration and login information
in a timely manner. This team worked closely with Testing
& Evaluation and the vendor to resolve the issues.
In addition, five computers in each campus library had
to be properly configured so that teachers could complete
the online test by the deadline.
|
| First
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
|
|
Martha
Smith
Martha
is recognized for the phenomenal service and extraordinary
effort she provided, as Project Manager, for a new CIT
during a recent campus-wide technology deployment. The
CIT stated, "We are being bond deployed this week
and as a CIT with only six weeks under their belt, the
deployment was an intimidating prospect. I have had
an overwhelming amount of questions and concerns that
have needed attention to make this a project a success.
Martha has made a difficult process for me into a pleasant
learning experience. Martha was extremely thorough and
kind in explaining and overseeing this endeavor. No
matter how many times I called or emailed her she has
responded promptly and with patience. Her dedication
and service went beyond ordinary professionalism. She
is a great asset to the entire Northside School system
and I could not have completed this project without
her support and kind encouragement."
|
Mark Barba
Mark
developed a procedure to instantly identify any 911
call made from any NISD phone and provide an e-mail
message to the NISD Police Department and Technology
Services. Taking this a step further, we can now send
a message directly to any phone to communicate 911 call
information. For a campus, this information will be
displayed on the principal, vice-principal, and campus
secretary phones. This will minimize false dispatches
of SAPD officers to NISD campuses and will provide a
means for administrators to know what is happening on
their campuses in regards to emergency situations.
|
| First
Quarter 2005-2006 |
| Team
"Excellence" Award |
|
Susan
Maron, Diana Fuentes, June Kariger
This
team of great individuals have continuously supported
the educational success of NISD English Language Learners
by making sure these students have what they need. These
three staff members have spent many hours of work creating
the records for all new Spanish library books and AV
materials being added into the NISD online system. The
team has developed and implemented the plan for the
transfer of thousands of bilingual books and materials
from campus to campus. Their willingness to serve, striving
for equity for all students, and their positive attitudes
are commended.
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2004-2005 |
| Individual
"You Make the Difference" Awards |
|
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Landa
Rodgers
Landa
worked fast and furiously with great skill to develop
and/or update several Web applications this quarter.
Her products enabled various departments to roll out
new and/or improved online tools to assist district
staff. These tools include: Online Handbook Acknowledgment
and Reporting, PDAS Online, Automated Supplemental Pay,
Volunteer Module, and Stipend Module.
|
Andrew
Spicer
Andrew's
help in setting up the Apple equipment for the high
school photography and journalism labs was invaluable.
He contributed effective and practical suggestions during
the process of creating 10 different images as well
as when working with the contractor to deploy the equipment
and in performing quality control checks post-deployment.
Additionally, he researched and resolved a problem encountered
during the deployment with use of older scanners not
working with the new computers. Andrew is an excellent
problem solver who can be depended upon to get the job
done quickly and effectively.
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Derick
Xac
Derick
took an existing product, the Elementary Excel/Access
report card and gradebook (A.K.A. Jack's Gradebook), and
customized it according to the new specifications required
by the Elementary Instruction Department. His programming
and design efforts streamlined the product and made it
easier for CITs and teachers to manage. Teachers report
that the product is very user friendly. Derick also assisted
Academic Technology coordinators with training the CITs
on the updated version.
|
Gil Huerta
Each
school must have a cafeteria Point of Sale (POS) system
in place by the first day of school. This year was particularly
challenging due to construction projects. With only
days before school started right up until the morning
of the first day, Gil was setting up and/or resolving
major problems with POS systems at ten schools. Because
of his efforts, knowledge and skills, 100% of POS systems
were operational before breakfast serving lines opened
on day one.
|
| Fourth
Quarter 2004-2005 |
| Team
"Excellence" Awards |
|
Elizabeth
Langer, Patti Wyrick, Mary Ann Martinez, John Hayes,
Helen Baca, Joyce Stevens, Larry Stegall, Rose Parks,
Doug Shudde (not pictured)
The
team hosted thousands of parents and students over two
evenings last May at the "Digi Awards" to
recognize and celebrate students' work throughout the
year in the creation of digital media products connected
to school learning. Over 1,100 entries were received
and judged for this year's 3rd annual Digital Media
Fair, which takes months of planning and promoting.
Trophies and medals were awarded to approximately 240
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