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SWAT Teams 
What SWAT Leaders and Students Are Saying
July 2008- SWAT is a wonderful opportunity for our students to increase their skills as they prepare to enter the 21st Century as competent and competitive individuals. SWAT provides our students with the opportunity to generate ideas, create plans, and see these plans through to fruition...all of which are necessary leadership skills. We are so fortunate to have talented students and teachers willing to collaborate to make our SWAT Club a success.
Cathy Williams
Principal
East Garner IB Magnet Middle School
6301 Jones Sausage Road
Garner, NC 27529
919-662-2339June 2008- From Julie Hill in Iowa
Hi Lucy, I emailed you last October and we registered to get started. My
principal and assistant principal were thrilled. They have given me
anything I have needed. The students learned about the software we
have at our school. They were able to trouble shoot and help teachers
in the computer lab and on their classroom computers. I am so proud. I
started with 7 students 3 girls and 4 boys. They meet
once a week. We were interviewed by the local radio station in
November. In April we opended up the interview process for new
members. The current members are 5th graders going to 6th grade so
we opened it up to 4th graders going to 5th grade and 5th graders
going to 6th. We have 38 students or (1/3 of the students in these
grades) WOW! Then we interviewed as a group, gave out teacher reviews
of the students(for my eyes) and we chose 6 more team members.
This week we are having a summer camp. They have learned the hardware
parts and processes of the computer. Tomorrow the Geek Squad from Best
Buy is coming to teach the students how to change out mother boards
and circuits. Both local papers are also coming to do stories. I hope
this will get the Best Buy corporation interested in sponsoring us for
next year.
The plan for next year is each returning SWAT member will mentor a new
member. The two member team will be responsible for developing and
keeping a current web page for a specific grade level. (K-5) I have
also chosen one of my most responsible students to make a lost and
found web page. We, like a lot of schools, incure a hug amount of lost
items. Everything from jackets to well you can imagine. So to help
keep this to a minimum we are designing a webpage where we will put
pictures of the lost items. The students can check it out and parents
can also look at home. I'l let you know if this is successful.
I am so glad I found SWAT. These kids love it and it has been very
rewarding for me.
Thanks,
Candy McDonald
Southside Elementary
Lebanon, TN
SWAT Sponsor and loving it!!!Spring 2007-El Paso adds on more SWAT Programs in their schools! Thank you!
A voice from the Past:
Ms. Miller,
So the other day I ran into a SWAT webpage randomly and wanted to see
how things were going. You may not remember me but I was at Davis Drive
elementary school back in 1997 and was on the SWAT team. I read
something that you are bringing SWAT to Asia. I wish you success on
that front. I'm now at Indiana University studying Film and Theatre and
Drama. Since America appears to be struggling in science and math I'm
glad someone is still advancing technology!
Winter 2005-SWAT moves toward District-Wide Models!
I am with our Instructional Services Dept. in El Paso Independent School District in El Paso, TX. We are interested in piloting SWAT in a couple of elementary schools next fall.
Erline Gordon
Instructional Services
El Paso Independent School District
915-587-1174
edschect@episd.org
Spring 2004
American International School - Riyadh
Hi Lucy
It's been almost a year since I updated you on our SWAT efforts but let me assure you that our high school SWAT team is as popular and busy as ever.
In fact, it is one of the largest and most active clubs on campus!
Attached is a MSWord document written last week by one of the club
members for our high school newspaper. I have also included a few photos for the swatweb.net site.Enjoy from Marianne Hauser
American International School - Riyadh
Riyadh 11421 Saudi Arabia
marianne_hauser@ais-r.edu.sa
SWAT grew so much in numbers this year (because of your visit) that I had to organize three nights after school for the meetings: 1st and 2nd, 3rd & 4th, and another for the upper grades. I got their t-shirts, but made the mistake of letting them take them home to show their parents, and am still waiting for the return of all so we can take some photos.
The students are always asking, "Do we have SWAT tonight" and I always answer, "Yes". One day a boy said, "Are we having SQUAT tonight" and I knew I had to review what SWAT was and meant. [I was an 8th grade teacher for so long....] The little ones just finished Mother's Day cards. The middle graders are becoming experts in Kidspiration and Inspiration. The upper graders have
finished the class webpages (they'll be published on our main website when I get around to the editing...) and now are designing a HyperStudio multimedia presentation on how to use a digital camera in classroom projects. Then they'll go to the rooms to present the teacher and class.This year the administration is including SWAT on awards day with an outstanding leadership award. I have a 4th grader who comes on the lower grade day to help; she also presented our lab and it's marvels to benefactors from our twinning parish. She will get the big award. Kevin and Joy at IIT are initiating SWAT teams this summer from the neighboring public high schools and will train them to help trouble shoot for teachers.
Peace,
Sr. Mary Therese
Chelsy Hooper
Computer Teacher
Overbrook School (on the Dominican Campus) (PK-8)
4210 Harding Road
Nashville, TN 37205
Thanks for emailing me!
I heard about the SWAT organization through Teacher Magazine. I had been considering a similar setup (this is only my 2nd year teaching computer, K-8) and then when I read about SWAT, I thought it would be perfect. It helped convince my principal too, since I was able to tell her that it's a nationally recognized club, like NJHS--she's actually going to give me a small stipend for leading the team!
I am offering membership to 6th through 8th graders next year. At our campus we have a Tech team of 4 people who are responsible for all three schools on our campus--Overbrook is the elementary school, St. Cecilia is the high school, and Aquinas is the college. I'm going to tell the high school about SWAT also. Anyway, since there are only 4 members of the tech team, they basically fix problems once they become really bad. Our SWAT goals are to help maintain the computers in our school--cleaning, running maintenance programs, to help teachers after school with lesson plans / tech integration--in the future, help them with teacher web pages. Our members will also be tech ambassadors when in their regular classrooms--if a tech problem in the classroom arises, our members will be the first line of defense. If they can't solve it, the tech team is called. We'll also create a web site of useful links and tips--solving tech issues, Internet searching, cool tech stuff kids like--so check back with us sometime. I'm sure I'll develop more things for them to do as we go through the year. I'm planning on meeting with them once a week after school for an hour.
If your principal sees your enthusiasm and willingness to improve the school overall, then he or she has a hard time saying no. This club especially helps students develop character, and I can definitely see how students who maybe aren't involved in other things will have a real opportunity to succeed and show leadership.
I will definitely keep in touch. It's so nice to be in contact with someone in a similar situation--most of the time, it seems, we computer teachers are all by ourselves. I'm attending the NECC Conference in Seattle this summer and hope to get even more ideas there.
Anyway, I'm so glad I read about SWAT! I can't wait to get the CD so we can get started.
Thanks so much!
Chelsy
San Diego, California
I learned about the SWAT program through the NEA monthly magazine. I
recently began duties as a Technology Coordinator at our middle school and thought this would be a great program to implement. I brought the idea to our Site Governance Council and they agreed to fund the program. I have already begun recruiting for a class next year. My goal is to create a small group of students with higher technology skills. They cannot only act as period monitors to trouble shoot, but can also serve as instructors for both staff and students on specialty programs such as Dreamweaver (for building webpages), Inspiration (graphic organizers) and iMovie. I am hoping they will also inspire both staff and students to stretch their technology literacy above and beyond by using iMovie and Keynote for presentations. We are even toying with creating an electronic portfolio that can be saved on a CD. All of the students I have talked to are very enthusiastic about the program so I am looking forward to the arrival of the CD.
Thank you very much,
Mary
Monroe Clark Middle School
San Diego, California
Download the pdf file to read the article.
April, 2003-Briana Rubinberg/St. Eugene School-Chicago, Il
I have heard of several schools who use students helpers for technology. I found the SWAT information as I was searching online. My school is currently remodeling our lab and adding computers to the classrooms. Right now I am the only staff to maintain the computers. Along with maintenance, I teach 25 classes a week. My hope is that I
can gather a group of students who are interested in computers, are willing to learn and can help alleviate some of the basic maintenance I have to do. I am also hoping to encourage some of our students who are not athletes or "popular" and help them find a place where they excel. I think being a part of a SWAT program will build confidence and responsibility in our students.Thank you for creating what seems to be such a wonderful program.
Briana Rubinberg
Telluride Elementary
1. Good Morning Ms. Miller,
After reading the most recent issue of Teacher Magazine on SWAT I was compelled to write you. Wow, what a story of accomplishment. My name is Adam Truitt. I am the technology education Specialist at Telluride Elementary in Telluride, Co. I teach K-5 technology while maintaining tech in-services for my teachers and servicing the network. As you can imagine my hands are full. I have started an afterschool tech club for those that are interested in Hockey or Ballet. Inspired by your creation I have decided to purchase one of your CD packets and incorporate SWAT into my club and go from there. Thanks again for your dedication and service towards technology in education.Sincerely,
Adam Truitt "that tech guy"
Technology Education Specialist
PO BOX 187
(970)728-6615 ext 952
atruitt@telluride.k12.co.us2. Attached two papers written by Todd C. Thibault Sr., Technology Educator in New Hampshire, for his class ADB 610 (Instructional Design for Classroom Teaching and Learning) See what teachers are up against to get funding for technology support in education.
"I have, since I was an entry level college student, believed that students should learn by doing and not waiting for the technology to be given to them when they are in the workforce. Basically give the students more experience to advance themselves in technology. Where do I start and can you help? I have less then 5 months to convince someone to let me work on this program, is it possible?"
SWAT-American International School RiyadhThis article was written for our school wide newspaper in the IB Computer Science class.
SWAT's Debut (Word Document)
Photos
Marianne Hauser
American International School
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
SWAT in Illinois
We've had a good year in SWAT. Today my students held a Smartboard demonstration for teachers after school. They have become good Internet Researchers, can do some maintainence and love showing others how a program works. Even better, they love sharing ideas with teachers about how the programs can be used in the classroom with the teachers.
Lori Deininger
Timber Ridge Middle School
2101 Bronk Road
Plainfield, Illinois 60544
Digital Media Center, Illinois Institute of TechnologyLucy.. Hello, my name is Joy Robinson and I work with the Digital Media Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a technical university located in the heart of Chicago (http://www.iit.edu).
Our department is heavily involved with community outreach especially where it involves digital divide issues in our urban environment. We are already heavily engaged in the local schools that surround our main campus, the Bronzeville area, where we perform a variety of outreach activities. Through our main workforce, the highly technical students we produce, we have been providing services to the Bronzeville area for the past several years. Through this innovative series of programs and the collaborations they have produced, we were introduced to SWAT. We are in the process of setting up multimedia computer clubs in the Bronzeville schools. Our goals were obvious; SWAT spelled them out very clearly in all of their materials. As a result, we have decided to utilize the SWAT model to assist us in further meeting our goals. We should have 10 SWAT clubs up and running in the beginning of February.
Keep up the excellent work.
Sincerely
Joy Robinson
Digital Media Center
Illinois Institute of Technology
3300 S. Federal St., Rm. 503 MB
312.567.8858 voice
630.202.4283 cell
312.567.3243 fax
robinsonj@iit.edu
SWAT Charleston SCDear Lucy,
I am definitely going to continue SWAT. It has been so successful in my elementary school. (Orange Grove Elem. Charleston, SC) The students are great and the teachers really appreciate the help. Orange Grove's SWAT recently presented at the Lowcountry Instructional Technology Conference in Charleston, SC.They developed the Power Point presentation and wrote their own speeches. My principal brought them to the conference for me and stayed to take pictures. I have a lot of support for my team. I am also planning to present at South Carolina's EdTech 2001.
Thanks for the great program!
Angie Pitts
IT Specialist and Teacher
Orange Grove Elementary
Charleston, SC
St. Paul Catholic School-Highland, IL
We are still in our first year with a SWAT team and loving it. We use the Computer Buddies the most. We have buddies in Kindergarten-Second grades. They help with Accelerated Reader tests and educational software. Next year, I will try to get more buddies as I am always in need of more. Our web design group has been working hard on a web site for the school. We are waiting for our web server to be built then will post our web site. Having your materials helped me a great deal in getting this group started and I appreciate all you have done. I look forward to continuing with our SWAT Team the rest of this school year and next year.
Earlene Ash Technology Coordinator for St. Paul Catholic School, 1416 Main St., Highland, IL. 62249 We are a Pre-K - 8th grade school of approximately 400 students
A heart warming story- SWAT in Virginia-Chuck Drake
One of our SWAT kids, a senior named Chris, has been working with SWAT for two years at Forest Park recycling old computers for the special ed department. He works also with the Learn and Serve and each day spends hours working the special needs kids. He worked outside of school as well to buy a laptop and was very proud of it. His dad just kicked him out of the home and took the laptop. He has no home and no computer to do homework etc. The SWAT program is going to pay him back with a super computer we all are going to build. One less thing he has to worry about.
SWAT in TexasHere's our link to our SWAT Web Page: http://schools.sisd.net/roe/S.W.A.T.%20Team%20Webpage/swatindex.html
Also, on our school web page we have a little area devoted to talking about our SWAT Team, here is the link: http://schools.sisd.net/roe/tech.html
Last year our 4 schools that are sponsoring the SWAT Team took the students down to our MIS department for a half-day fieldtrip. They got to see the District's servers and talk to many of the MIS Personnel to learn about our network and how technology is used throughout the district. They also learned safety tips.
Our school's name is Robert R. Rojas Elementary located at 500 Bauman, Socorro, Texas 79927. Tel:915-832-3900
SWAT in TennesseeMy name is Karla Elliott. I am the high school computer teacher at Davidson Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. I went to the NECC last summer and learned about your SWAT concept. It is working great. We formed a team and would like to remain a part of the SWAT community.
My contact information:
Karla Elliott
Davidson Academy 1414 Old Hickory Blvd
Nashville, TN 37207
615.860.5311 ext. 350
kelliott@davidsonacademy.com
SWAT Teams in Southern CaliforniaI am one of the contact people at our school. I am in charge of the buddies that go into classrooms. Pam Kester is in charge of our Web Masters and another teacher handles the cleaning. I am writing my Masters thesis on the use of Computer Buddies and the influence it has on the student's home classroom not the classroom they are going into. At our school, as with many across the state of California, teachers are locked into blocks of "Literacy Time" and have very little technical training and lots of soon to be outdated computer equipment. We have 24 classrooms that have computers that our district will not even service after Sept. 2001. My goal is to increase the student's dependence on their computers in their own classrooms so that their teachers will
1. Turn them on daily.
2. Give all students access to the computers.
3. Learn more about the hardware and software that we have at the school.
4. Support our computer program financially through budget allocation.
Right now we are just working on #1 and I am seeing a change in attitude with some of the teachers. I am proud of the kids and what they can do and thought that you would like to know about our new focus. We have had computer buddies for three or four years, but this is the first time we have one in every primary classroom and we have had a training program for them. I read about a school in California that through some Special Education litigation was required to teach all of their teacher to sign to communicate with one student. When the teachers objected, the district sent teachers to teach the kids. In the end, the teachers who were unwilling to learn were forced to do so, not by the administration, but by the fact that kids signed all day long and the teachers had to figure out what the kids were saying to each other. I Here's hoping the kids can do it again.
Sincerely, Maureen Blackhall
More about Teacher Feedback on the SWAT CD, see Manual and Resources link for ordering information.
© 2001 SWAT. Students Working to Advance Technology, Inc.
Lucy Miller. All Rights Reserved.