Nominated by Karen Gonzales
Teacher Elementary/Primary (ages 5-12) at Hays CISD
, Texas, United States

Mrs. Rickert is key to the technology education of students and teachers in PreK-5 grades. She plans and organizes projects and virtual field trips for all grade levels. As the school she works at is one with many low socio-economic students, she has a difficult job. The majority of students do not have access to technology at home. Students create web pages, newsleters, and presentations as young as 2 grade. Mrs. Rickert organizes teachers to create a community of computer learning. Projects she has created and implemented connect students throughout the school, state, and across the United States. She makes all teachers believe they are able to successfully implement the technology. Presentations and workshops help her share her knowledge. Mrs. Rickert is a mentor to all who work to integrate technology in the classroom. There are not enough wonderful things to say about Mrs. Rickert. She is the reason Tom Green Elementary teachers and students are successful with technology. She is a leader and a friend to all.

The section below lists the testimonials that have been reviewed and approved by the candidate.

1. Testimonial from Marcia McClendon (1)
School Technology Coordinator at Hays CISD
United States

I would like to recommend Christie Rickert, Instructional Technology Specialist at Tom Green Elementary School in the Hays CISD school district for the Global SchoolNet (GSN) Online Shared Learning Award. She does a wonderful job of getting teachers and students excited about learning. I am the Instructional Technology Coordinator for Hays CISD and have enjoyed watching Christie ignite the spark of video conferencing in our district. Several years ago we had one videoconference setup in our district and it was located at one of our high schools, but this didn’t stop Mrs. Rickert. She wrote a grant and got funding to bus her students over to the conferencing equipment to experience the world outside the classroom walls. They went on adventures such as “Who Wants to be an Astronaut” with the Challenger Learning Center and “Native American Stereotypes vs. Realities” through the Indian State Museum. Because of her commitment in using the equipment, even though it wasn’t on her campus, she was granted a portable videoconferencing cart for her school.

Last year, she worked with the campus music teacher to arrange an interview with the Fort Worth Opera Company so the 5th grade students could ask specific questions about “What is an opera?” before the company came to perform in our district. Students got answers, which better prepared them for the upcoming opera performance. Mrs. Rickert also was instrumental in arranging a collaborative Science Seekers Academic Challenge between her school and another elementary school in Texas. Each class would be asked a question, and then would be given time to find the answer. Students worked diligently using the resources at hand to find the correct answer. Students then would share their answers with the challenging class to see if they agreed. It was energizing to see the students excited about sharing what they had learned.

This school year Mrs. Rickert has been instrumental in getting our district video conferencing off the ground. She is working with our schools K-12 to look for opportunities for students to experience shared learning “LIVE”. We now have another portable videoconference cart available at one of our middle schools and plans are to get several more under Mrs. Rickert’s direction. I have had the honor of being present during several of Mrs. Rickert’s videoconferences and the energy and excitement in the room as learning is taking place is amazing! This year Mrs. Rickert branched out by setting up her own collaborative learning experiences. Together with her teachers she designed the project: “Around the State in 60 Minutes.” What better way to learn about the regions of your state than to have the students that live in that region share about it with you! She also arranged an Invention Convention collaboration with 3rd graders in which students researched a given invention and then shared their knowledge using the video conferencing equipment.

In December 2005, Mrs. Rickert’s students were selected to participate in the state event Texas Connects: Sun, Moon, Earth a science based collaborative projects for elementary students. Their project was “The Heat is On” dealing with solar energy. The students did a phone conference with a woman that actually uses solar energy in her home. They created a video out of the phone conference, a power point over specific solar related words and definitions, and designed and built solar model homes to share with the other participants. I was present when the students presented. The students were very attentive and focused on absorbing the knowledge what was being shared.

Mrs. Rickert is presently working on getting together one of our 8th grade classes with one of her 5th grade classes to share the Cycles of the Earth. The 8th grade students are creating presentations and interactive activities such as games to describe the cycles they will be teaching to the 5th graders. The 8th grade teacher shared with me that her students are taking extra pride in their work and are excited about the opportunity to videoconference with some of their past elementary teachers and their present class. This is just a start of the collaboration activities that we will begin building right here within our own district with Mrs. Rickert’s support. Mrs. Rickert as you can see has taken her spark for video conferencing and turned it into a flame of knowledge here at Hays CISD! She continues to branch outside the school walls to make education “Come Alive!”.

2. Testimonial from Ninfa Gonzalez (2)
Teacher Elementary/Primary (ages 5-12) at Tom Green Elementary
United States

I have known Ms. Christie Rickert since the fall of 2002. I believe that her greatest impact on our campus, within our district and within our state has been her insatiable drive to train and encourage other teachers and students to become proficient (but more often excellent) in utilizing technology to advance and enhance their learning and their lives. She has played a crucial role in ensuring that a great percentage of the teachers on our campus have completed or made great strides in the Technology Proficiencies set forth by our district. This effort alone is invaluable. She personally led me through all of the mandatory Proficiency levels in our district and helped me to earn a digital camera, a wireless keyboard, mouse, and a printer/scanner/copier for my classroom and my students, while helping me and my students advance our knowledge of technology applications, hardware, software, the internet and the possibilities open to us with the use of technology. With these tools and her expertise and guidance in this area I have been able to consistently and successfully utilize technology for the last 4 school years with my bilingual and ESL 3rd and 4th graders. The students have created Power Point presentations, newsletters, web pages, movies, graphs, and charts. In addition they have participated in distance learning and multimedia projects. Through technology she has encouraged work across grade levels and within bilingual and monolingual students. Her work ethic has ensured that our Title I campus is as well equipped, our faculty and staff as well trained and our students as knowledgeable as any other student on a non-Title campus might be. Her ability to juggle several projects at once ensures that every teacher and student on our campus has her attention and assistance. In addition to her regular duties she seeks out opportunities for campus. During the 2004-2005 school year she was awarded a Hewlett Packard Innovative Teaching Grant. She supervised a group of 4 teachers and 4 classes of students on our campus. The students worked on year long science projects and created multimedia presentations for our school’s first ever science fair. While her goal was to successfully fulfill the requirements of the grant she had written which integrated science, technology and the language arts, she managed to excite students and teachers throughout the grade levels (Pre-K through 5th). She encouraged everyone on our campus to submit a science fair project. The science fair was an overwhelming success. The students who created multimedia presentations showed their work off with great pride. She has given a great gift to her students. The great majority of the students on our campus have few opportunities outside of school for exposure to the types of experiences Mrs. Rickert has given them. Because of her, students can now utilize tools their parents could not even think or dream of using. Many of my parents have spoken to me about the many times that their 8, 9, or 10 year olds have amazed them with their technological competence. These students have been able to help parents navigate web pages while looking for jobs, fill out online information, print documents, create flyers and make greeting cards. Her impact on our school community has been tremendous.

3. Testimonial from Kelly Stockwell (3)
Teacher Elementary/Primary (ages 5-12) at 512-268-8438
United States

To whom it may concern,

My name is Kelly Stockwell, and I teach 3rd grade at Tom Green Elementary in Hays CISD. I am writing you to inform you of the wonderful job Christie Rickert has done as our technologist. Not only has she helped me as an individual grow to understand the importance of technology in my classroom, but she has also helped my school develop a sense of urgency in teaching students about technology.

Mrs. Rickert is a very hard working, dedicated teacher, who is always finding new and exciting ways for teachers to incorporate technology into their classrooms. Not only does she keep an updated set of lesson plans pre-made for teachers to use as needed, but she also leads all technology trainings and teacher development meeting on our campus. On top of that, she meets regularly with each grade level team to discuss their technology needs and how she can help them individually.

As far as my class goes, Christie Rickert has been very helpful in assisting my students as they lead videoconferences, complete web quests, create power points, and generate spreadsheets. Mrs. Rickert has been especially helpful with my videoconferences. Not only has she brought to my attention videoconferences that align perfectly with my TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), but she has been there every step of the way teaching my kids all the steps of videoconferencing and how the technology works. The students from beginning to end controlled the last videoconference we completed. Both her and I were simply mediators of the process. Had Mrs. Rickert not been involved with me, I would never have had the courage to allow my students to complete such a task.

The students in 3rd grade a Tom Green Elementary adore Mrs. Rickert. They know that if Mrs. Rickert were not teaching here, they would not have such a wonderful understanding of technology. All of the hornets here at TG strongly recommend Mrs. Rickert for this prestigious award.

4. Testimonial from Karlie Lemos (4)
Teacher Elementary/Primary (ages 5-12) at Tom Green Elementary
United States

February 1, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

My fourth grade class worked on a videoconference project this year with Christie Rickert, our school technologist. The project was called “Around the State in 60 Minutes.” My students had to research the Texas Hill Country and prepare and perform a mock newscast for other students in different regions of Texas. In return, the other students presented their research for us. With the help of Ms. Rickert, our “newscast” was well done and ultimately very professional! The response that both myself and my class received was overwhelming. All of the student’s parents were so impressed at the outstanding job that their children did. My students were recog`nized by the school district and even received a personal card from our school principal. It is so great that forms of technology, like videoconferences, can motivate students to work so hard and have fun at the same time!

Sincerely,

Karlie Lemos 4th grade teacher Tom Green Elementary

5. Testimonial from Denise Hinojosa (5)
Parent at Tom Green Elementary
United States

I have known Mrs. Rickert for several years. Not only has Mrs. Rickert been a Technology teacher for both my daughters; but I also worked closely with her while I served as Vice President of PTA.

Mrs. Rickert always goes above and beyond to lend a helping hand. She is always trying to incorporate new and innovative ways of catching and holding the students interest in the ever growing area of Technology.

One of her most recent accomplishments was coordinating the “Around Texas in 60 minutes” video conference. She came up with a “mock” newscast segment for the Tom Green 3rd Grade Students that was not only outstanding; but made her students “shine” with the BEST performance of all the schools involved. Her professionalism as the coordinator and then moderator of this event truly placed Tom Green Elementary on the map having one of the best Technology programs in Texas.

I am very happy that Mrs. Rickert has been a part of my daughters education.

6. Testimonial from Joyce Phillips (6)
School Technology Teacher at Hays CISD
United States

I have worked with Christie Rickert for several years as a campus and district technologist. She has worked tirelessly to bring technology and learning possibilites from outside the walls of her campus to the students. She has been a major influence on teachers and technologists in the field of distance learning. I confess, that I had no experience with distance learning until I got involved with a project that Christie was doing at her school. The project was called “Around the State in 60 Minutes.” The students had researched the Texas Hill Country and prepared and performed a newscast for other students in different regions of Texas who had done the same thing. The newscast planned and executed by Mrs. Rickert, was by far the most professional appearing one of the presentations. She even developed a green screen and used a mixer to provide backgrounds and transitions. The video conference, which was iniated by Mrs. Rickert, was a huge sucess and a mamimum learning experience for the students. Video conferencing is being supported in our district, with Mrs. Rickert as the designated lead in this effort. She has truly made a difference for kids and for teachers.

7. Testimonial from Karen Gonzales (7)
Teacher Elementary/Primary (ages 5-12) at Hays CISD
United States

Mrs. Rickert has helped me expand my technology proficiency and knowledge. This allowed me to be a better teacher to my fourth grade students. With Mrs. Rickert's help, my students were able to take a virtual field trip to a zoo, video conference with a class in New York, and meet with a professor to learn about Native American stereotypes. Approximately 70% of my students live below the poverty line and the majority speak English as a second language. Mrs. Rickert was able to help them experience things that would not otherwise be possible for them. Now I am confident in my ability to use the technology and I seek out opportunities for my students. I no longer need Mrs. Rickert's help, as she has made me proficient. Though, I know I can always call on her if I need a suggestion or help.