CHICAGO (December 9, 2002)

Scores of educators from around Chicagoland are doing some extra credit work at St. John Fisher School in Chicago’s West Beverly neighborhood to keep up with the many ways they can use technology to enhance their student’s classroom experience.

St. John Fisher began offering the hands-on technology workshops to teachers earlier this spring to provide continuing education in technology for its own faculty but quickly expanded the program to offer the opportunity for other teachers in the Archdiocese and public and private schools in the area to earn continuing professional development credits (CPDU’s) required for teachers to maintain their state certification.

“The response has been incredible,” said Pat Reed, technology coordinator at St. John Fisher who, together with Kim Darche, another technology coordinator at the school, facilitates the workshops. “We’ve had to continually add workshops because of the high level of interest from teachers.” Both Darche, who works with students in grades K-3, and Reed, who works with grades 4-8, are recognized by the State of Illinois as approved instructors of CPDU courses.

Reed said that a majority of participants in the St. John Fisher workshops are from Catholic schools on the south and southwest side of Chicago, but some teachers have traveled from schools in the western suburbs to attend the sessions. Reed also said that she and Darche have conducted the workshops at Catholic schools on Chicago’s north side.

“Teachers in the Archdiocese are extremely interested in continually learning new ways they can integrate their computer software applications and the Internet into classroom activities,” said Reed, who joined the faculty of St. John Fisher seven years ago after teaching at Morgan Park Academy on Chicago’s southwest side. “The workshops are tailored specifically to meet the needs of teachers by showing them how to use various software applications and online programs in the classroom rather than giving them an overview of all the various home and business uses of a particular software package. Participants leave the workshops with great technology-based lessons, activities and ideas they can use in a variety of subjects the very next day,” Reed said.

The high-tech teacher workshops offered by St. John Fisher include: virtual field trips; Internet scavenger hunts; arts and crafts projects using various software applications and the Internet; Web-based science lessons and lab activities such as virtual dissections; how to integrate social studies and current events Websites and projects into the daily curriculum; how to design and create a school or class Website; and

Internet-based, inquiry-oriented student projects that combine research, teamwork and creativity.

“Computers, software and the Internet are amazingly effective and exciting teaching tools, but it takes more than high-tech equipment for students to succeed in the classroom – it takes a clear understanding by teachers of how these tools can be used to improved academic performance and enhance learning,” said Dr. Nicholas M. Wolsonovich, superintendent of schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “The success of the technology workshops at St. John Fisher is a brilliant example of how schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago are continually focusing on implementing best practices to integrate technology into the process of teaching and learning in all disciplines.”

Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools
The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago play a critical role in the life of the community by providing academic excellence and faith formation for 117,229 students of many races, faiths and backgrounds in the 290 elementary and secondary schools in Cook and Lake counties. There are more than 6,400 teachers in the Catholic school system who instill values, teach discipline and achieve strong, consistent academic results in the Archdiocese of Chicago's 248 elementary and 42 secondary schools. Visit the Archdiocese of Chicago Website at http://schools.archchicago.org