ISTE’s Pink Jackets awarded to two TCEA members

ISTE’s “Making it Happen” Pink Jackets were awarded to Marian Piersall and Ann McMullan at the TCEA TEC SIG meeting in Austin in October.

Making it Happen is an internationally recognized awards program for educators in the field of educational technology integration in K–12 schools. The program identifies and rewards educational technology leaders around the world for their commitment and innovation.

Marian Piersall, Technology Coordinator in Abilene ISD, two-time President and also Vice President of TCEA, has been in educational technology for more than 20 years.

Piersall has enriched not only the teachers in her school district but all of the teachers in schools in Texas with her leadership. She knows that change needs to happen to help fund technology and has worked with legislators to make those changes. She schedules technology staff development in her district and asks those in her district and from her outside contacts to do the training.

A member of TCEA for more than 20 years, Piersall served as the TCEA Area 14 board member for two terms. She was awarded the Technology Coordinator of the year award in 1997; elected Vice President of TCEA in 1999; and organized the 2000 convention. She served as President in 2000-2001 and immediately as Past President for the following year. She then served again as President in 2005-2006.

“The growth of Texas Computer Education Association has been astounding and continues to provide a wonderful place for teachers in the state to find the latest tools in technology and the best training,” Piersall said. “The best part of our organization has been the relationships that have developed over the years. We have a great group of teachers that encourage, instruct, and share with each other to make our jobs easier and less stressful.”  

This will be Piersall’s last year in the Abilene ISD, as she plans a retirement in May of 2008. 

“The recent award from ISTE/NECC/TCEA of the Pink Jacket is icing on the cake or as a friend said ‘going out in a blaze of glory,’ ” she said. “I am honored to have gotten this award and share it with all my family, the teachers who are out in the classrooms making it happen with students and my colleagues in the training field.” 

Ann McMullan is Executive Director for Educational Technology at Klein ISD, northwest of Houston in Harris County. Recognized as an outstanding leader in Klein, she has implemented technology through a systemic process. Klein recently opened Vistas — a 1:1 learning environment to meet the unique needs of high school students. Four of these students were presenters at the Texas Capitol.

McMullan co-chaired the state Educational Technology Advisory Committee 2004-2006 and was instrumental in bringing stakeholders to a common vision for the new Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. She believes that change is needed but it is a process. Anita Givens, senior director for instructional materials and educational technology for the Texas Education Agency, has said that Klein ISD “continues to be a showcase for others.”   

As a district instructional officer, McMullan was at the forefront in technology education because of her commitment to excellence. She led the way for K-8 technology applications skills to be taught within core-content instruction and not as a separate course. She was instrumental in expanding the Klein ISD Technology Professional Development Program to a year-round program, offering hundreds of classes with thousands of participants each year.

McMullan now supervises 10 district technology teachers, two technology assistants, and the district’s library services department. She developed the Klein ISD “Technology Baseline Standard Initiative” which over a period of three years has placed four networked student workstations, an Interactive Whiteboard, projector, document camera and eInstruction assessment system in every campus’ K-8 core-content classrooms and in mathematics and science classrooms on every high school campus. High school English and social studies classrooms will be added this year.

She often presents at the state and national level to share her knowledge and expertise and provide links to other relevant information to advance successful educational technology practices across the nation. McMullan has also presented on several occasions to the Texas State Board of Education and enriched their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of educational technology in Texas schools through real examples from her district.

Pink Jackets (or Black Jackets for men) go to educators who:
Apply available technology now
Move forward and don’t look back
See students as real people
Teach through relationships, inspiring, encouraging, nurturing
Recognize that further change is necessary, but understand that it is a process
Realize that teacher empowerment is the key element to technology integration
Expect success
Motivate through awareness and access to information

Participating organizations such as TCEA are responsible for choosing educators who meet the criteria. More than 260 jackets have been awarded since 1995.