TMCNet: Horry schools officials win technology awards

[November 29, 2012]

Horry schools officials win technology awards

Nov 29, 2012 (The Sun News (Myrtle Beach - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Horry County Schools' teachers and administrators were honored for advancements made in technology at the Grand Strand Technology Council's annual Leadership and Innovation Awards held Nov. 28 at the Horry Georgetown Technical College Conference and Business Center in Myrtle Beach.


HCS employees won four out of 11 awards in five categories -- Innovation, Business Growth and New Marketing Initiatives, Education, Charity and Community Involvement, and Entrepreneur of the Year. Nine of the 17 finalists for awards were staff members of the district office or schools.

Charles Hucks, HCS executive director of technology, won the Innovation in Technology Award for leading the district's 25-member technology team to implement online registration, a new parent and employee notification system, modern technology infrastructure at new schools, new learning management systems, an online program to integrate training, staff development and essential documents, and the launch of new district and school websites.

Three educators won Technology in Education awards. Sie Gilbert, HCS instructional technology coordinator, was recognized for working to integrate Apple technology into classrooms with teachers to gain access to new tools, applications and digital content to support instruction. Darcy Jones, first-grade teacher at Seaside Elementary School, created multiple digital instructional plans that she has shared with more than 900 teachers. Bucky Sellers, a pre-engineering teacher at the Academy for the Arts, Science and Technology, was recognized for 19 years of dedicated service to his students and for coaching and mentoring the school's robotics team. He has been instrumental in developing robotics programs throughout the district and for recruiting the 2013 FIRST Palmetto Regional Robotics Competition to Myrtle Beach. The event will be held Feb. 28 through March 2 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Other finalists representing HCS in the Technology in Education category were Karen McIlrath, Horry County Board of Education; James Page, HCS Adult and Community Education; Stacie Pfeifer, Forestbrook Elementary School; Jennifer Pierce, Loris High School; Virginia Simmons, HCS Adult and Community Education; and Javier Vega, Peggy Ryals and Melissa Shamel, Myrtle Beach High School.

Chad Smith, HCS Technology Specialist III, was a finalist for the Business Growth and New Marketing Initiatives award.

Contact VICKI GROOMS at 443-2401 or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_VickiGrooms.

___ (c)2012 The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) Visit The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) at www.thesunnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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