Greetings!

Let me tell you how excited I am for the future of NCCE. Leadership from the NCCE Board of Directors is stronger than ever. Last spring the membership placed two fantastic additions on the board. Randa Froebel is our newly elected Elementary Representative and also serves as the Technology Director for Target Range School in Missoula, MT. Sally Brewer is a long time NCCE member, former board member for NCCE and ISTE, and is our Higher Education Representative as an Associate Professor at the University of Montana.

In addition to these elected representatives, the board also appointed three additional members. David Walddon is the K-20 Network Program Manager for the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Susan Brooks-Young is an ISTE author, and former board member of CUE. Betsy Goeltz is President of the Idaho Educational Technology Association and Technology Director of the Blackfoot School District, in Blackfoot, ID. Together, along with the existing board members, this group has dedicated itself to establishing a clear vision for the future of this organization.

A great deal was accomplished at our first board meeting this past month. Most notably, we finalized our establishment of a set of governance policies that set a clear path for the future and defines how the board of directors, in close collaboration with our Executive Director, will work to serve the organization’s most important asset…you, the members. A great deal of work has gone into building our policies, and many thanks need to go to all of the board members, past and present, that contributed to its development.

Additionally, a sub-committee has been at work for well over a year examining the organization’s By-Laws and has recommended changes that make it consistent with policy. At the previous meeting, the board reviewed these changes and recommended they be presented to the membership for a vote. In the next few weeks, members will be receiving information on the proposed By-Law amendments and you will have the opportunity to vote on these changes.

We have also had a number of other successes in the past year.

The Seattle 2005 Conference was arguably one of the best ever! Many thanks need to go to Becky Firth, Anne Allen, Debbie Thompson, Glenn Whitcomb and the dozens of committee members and volunteers that helped make it such a success.

This past summer, NCCE partnered with Puget Sound ESD, in Burien to put on the Digital Photography Boot Camp at the Pack Forest Center in the Cascade Mountains. This event drew nearly 100 educators from all over the Pacific Northwest who spent 3 days in the woods learning and having fun.

Another success was the US Congress’s decision last spring to maintain funding for the Title ll, Part D, Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program in the federal budget. In many districts throughout the nation, this is the sole source of funding for technology and teacher professional development. NCCE collaborated with the Ed Tech Action Network (ETAN) to coordinate letter and email campaigns to congress, helping them understand the importance of this program. However, our work is not done. With the high costs of military actions abroad, and relief efforts on the Gulf Coast, congress is once again looking at making cuts in federal programs, including the potential elimination of EETT. Your voice needs to be heard, please join ETAN (www.edtechactionnetwork.org) and share with your representatives in congress that continued support for the effective use of technology in schools is vital to meeting the education needs of our students. Your letters and emails will have an impact!

Preparations for NCCE 2006: Technology in Education…Reaching New Heights, February 8-11 in Portland, are well under way. Heidi Rogers and the conference committee are putting together a program that will once again inspire, enlighten, and inform. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Also, in the next few months, you will see some significant changes to the NCCE website and a resurrection of the NCCE Newsletter. Clancy Wolf (Webmaster) and Anne Allen (Newsletter Editor) are hard at work designing a website that will inform you about issues around using technology in schools and give you an opportunity to contribute. Let us know what you think of the changes.

The future for NCCE is indeed bright! NCCE’s brightest star is our Executive Director, Heidi Rogers. All of the great things I mentioned above would not have happened without the tireless efforts of Heidi. She is doing great things for this organization and the board appreciates her hard work and dedication to the membership.

Through this page, I will be regularly keeping you posted what’s happening with NCCE and my thoughts about teaching and learning with technology. If you have any thoughts to share, please feel free to email me. And don’t forget the shades!

Jeff Allen
President – NCCE
jallen@oesd.wednet.edu