VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Board of Directors

VSTE Announces Election Results 2025

by Leave a Comment

Congratulations to the three candidates who have been elected to the VSTE Board of Directors for the 2025-2028 term! You can learn more about each Board member below.

Region 5:

Rebecca "Erin" Comninaki, Classroom Teacher / Middle School English, Linkhorne Middle School / Lynchburg CityR. Erin Comninaki Schools

Your vision for VSTE in the next three years:

In the next three years, I envision VSTE expanding its role to support smaller and underfunded divisions that are losing access to edtech coaches and resources due to budget cuts. Many educators in remote areas can’t attend the annual conference or don’t have access to regional events. VSTE could serve as an umbrella organization to help connect and support these divisions by amplifying regional efforts and creating equitable access to professional learning. Additionally, a centralized resource hub with shared content would help ensure all educators and learners have access to high-quality tools and training year-round.

Region 2:

Kari Lomanno, Technology Innovation Coach, Chesapeake Public Schools

 Your vision for VSTE in the next three years:Kari Lomanno

In the next three years, VSTE can lead the way for instructional technology in Virginia by continuing to provide relevant and hands-on professional development opportunities. As schools across the state work to develop effective AI policies, VSTE should be at the forefront of this movement by providing sample policies and best practices for districts. With the growing uncertainty about federal funding in our schools, VSTE should be a leading advocate for funding initiatives and equitable access to technology in our schools. VSTE should continue to offer opportunities for educators to earn credentials and collaborate in an online community. Finally, the VSTE Annual Conference is a wonderful event that showcases the most innovative tools and resources available to our schools. We need to keep up this momentum by growing this event each year.

At-Large-Director

Denise Henry-Orndorff,  Instructional Technology Coach,  Frederick County Public Schools

Your vision for VSTE in the next three years:Denise Henry-Orndorff

I have been an active member of VSTE for several years and deeply value the sense of community it fosters among educators. My vision is to continue building on VSTE’s strong foundation by supporting current initiatives and exploring innovative ways to reach and empower educators across the Commonwealth. With experience as both a classroom teacher and instructional technology coach, I understand the challenges educators face and the transformative role technology can play in teaching and learning. I am committed to advancing professional development through high-quality training, hands-on support, and advocacy for equitable access to educational technology. If selected to serve on the VSTE board, I will bring a collaborative spirit, a strong focus on educator support, and a passion for promoting innovation and equity in education.

2025 VSTE Board Nominations Elections

by

VSTE Board Elections Opening on April 9, 2024

You are invited to nominate yourself or a colleague to be considered for election to the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) Board of Directors, for the 2025-2028 Board term (three years). This is an opportunity to become involved in the key decision-making group for the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. The online election, which will be held in April 2025, is for four seats on the Board of Directors for Region 2, 5, and an At Large Position.

Learn More About the VSTE Board of Directors

Nominations

VSTE members may nominate themselves or a colleague for a three year term who belong to VSTE and who live or work in Region 2 (Southwest) or Region 5 (North Central) or At Large (Any Region). This is an opportunity to become involved in the key decision-making group for the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. If you are interested and meet these requirements, please login to members.VSTE.com and complete the electronic form no later than April 7, 2025. If you are nominating someone else for the position, please be sure they are aware in advance and properly secure responses to the nomination form prompts.

Nominations open on March 17 and close April 7.  You must be a VSTE member as of  December 31, 2024 to nominate, to be nominated, and to participate in the online election.  Details for a complimentary membership can always be found at VSTE’s website.

 

Voting 

Voting will open on April 14, 2025 and close April 28th 2025. You must be a VSTE member as of December 31, 2024 to be eligible to vote. New board members will be announced May 1. 

 

Learning and Growing Alongside the VSTE Community

by

Dear VSTE Community,

As many of you know, my connection with VSTE spans over two decades, beginning with my first VSTE conference in 2001. What started as a valuable learning experience led to my election to the Board of Directors in 2015, and ultimately, my appointment as Executive Director in July 2022. It's been an incredible journey of growth and collaboration with my VSTE colleagues.

Following my “retirement” from Frederick County Public Schools in 2020, I briefly returned to work with VSTE and other organizations to support teachers at the onset of COVID-19 closures navigating the complexities of virtual, hybrid, and ultimately, a new normal in education. This experience, while rewarding, was a prelude to my second "retirement," which was then followed by my current role at VSTE.

These past two and a half years as Executive Director have been a period of significant progress and exciting developments for VSTE. With the support of the Board of Directors, we have refined our strategic direction, culminating in the development and release of the VSTE Strategic Plan for 2024-2027. I am particularly proud of the growth of the VSTE Certified Coaching Program, a collaboration with Forward Edge, which has seen over 300 coaches complete the program. We have also strengthened our partnerships, including the Power of Coaching Conference with VASCD/VATLL, an upcoming collaboration with GRAETC for EdTechRVA, and continued support for SVETC in the Shenandoah Valley.

However, at the top of the list is the VSTE Annual Conference. The Annual Conference Team has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with while Anchored in Innovation we have worked towards Illuminating the Future. Other notable achievements include VSTE's contributions to the ActiVAtED Learning Podcast, our popular Demo Slam Webinar Series, and our collaboration with Virtual Virginia on the Blended Learning Virtual Conference now evolving into the VITAL Conference, which is supported by our newly formed VSTE Professional Services Team.

As my third year with VSTE draws to a close, I am announcing my intention to retire as Executive Director and will not renew my contract. My last day as Executive Director will be June 30th. Over the next five months, I will work closely with the Board to ensure a smooth transition to a new leader and to continue preparations for our 40th Annual Conference in December.

I am deeply grateful for the support and camaraderie I have experienced within the VSTE community. I look forward to connecting with many of you in the coming months to share VSTE stories and revisit many VSTE memories.

Be well, make good happen, and keep in touch

Sincerely,

Rod Carnill, Executive Director

For inquiries about the position or to express interest in receiving updates on the application process, please email the VSTE Search Task Force at VSTE_Search@vste.org.

2024 Annual Report from the Executive Director

by

As the year draws to a close it is fitting that we look back on the months and milestones that have made 2024 a year of significant growth and advancement for VSTE. The highlights from 2024 feature many of the ways that VSTE has advanced and grown as an organization. Communication, Membership, Development, and Partnership are the four goal areas identified in the 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. Guided by our 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, we achieved the following.

Communication
Communication as a goal primarily focuses on showcasing the identity of VSTE, focusing on its purpose, and recognizing ways to strengthen involvement through awareness. Our strategic plan emphasizes a clear purpose and intentional decision-making. Developing the strategic plan provided many opportunities for the Board to discuss the values and vision of the organization. The plan has helped to solidify our commitment to our core values and utilize our organizational strengths. Communication is critical to our success. There is more to follow regarding the Communication Plan and gaining insight from our membership. We have restructured our regular meetings to enhance communication and encourage dialogue among the Board. Weekly meetings with the executive director have also increased the flow of information and the opportunities for said dialogue.

Membership
Engaging and expanding our membership is the focus of the second strategic plan goal. The adoption of an association management system and the creation of a membership portal will lead the organization toward better understanding and interacting with its membership. The membership portal has enhanced member engagement by allowing members to manage their profiles and keep their information up-to-date. The membership portal has also allowed the organization to better keep track of the roles and locations of our members, including those that support the organization as exhibitors and sponsors. This will lead to more effective and efficient dialogue with members and allow VSTE to effectively know and better understand our membership. Through these efforts, we have been establishing a foundation for enhancing the benefits of membership. Every attendee at this year’s annual conference is an active VSTE member with an updated profile including all of our exhibitors and our sponsors.
Our annual conference builds on our reputation for providing an outstanding lineup of presenters and featured speakers. Our presenters allow us to celebrate the success of the finest educators in Virginia and bring perspectives from those recognized for their impact on the national teaching and learning community. The efforts of our conference team have been focused on continuing this legacy through the enhancement of the overall conference experience.

Development
Continued development is important to any organization. VSTE has continued to build on the certified coaching program and has also begun to shape and develop the professional services team. The certified coaching program has grown significantly, with over 300 certified coaches and over 100 more in training. The professional services program has begun to recruit talent and has taken on its first series of content creation and delivery which will roll out in early 2025. Both of these programs bring together a network of talented individuals to support the ongoing innovation that is a hallmark of VSTE. These networks will also help us to better identify the needs of our community and also the expert and experienced professionals to meet those needs.

Partnerships
Partnerships with other organizations stretches VSTE in positive ways as the collaborations extend the reach and influence of the organization. Our partnerships with key supporters are essential to our mission and vision. Maintaining ongoing partnerships and seeking out new partnerships provides both structure and new opportunities to serve our community. We are pleased to continue the work we have done with the Virginia Department of Education, Virtual Virginia, the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD), CodeVA, the Greater Richmond Area Educational Technology Consortium (GRAETC) and the Shenandoah Valley Educational Technology Collaborative (SVETC), Blue Ridge PBS, WHRO, Virginia Ed Strategies, Forward Edge, Virginia's Training and Technical Assistance Centers (T/TAC), the Commonwealth Partnership for Learning, as well as our many sponsors and exhibitors. We also continue our memberships with national organizations like the Consortium of School Networks (CoSN), the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and the School, Health, Library Broadband Coalition (SHLB). We learned in 2024 that the merger of ASCD + ISTE will bring changes to the relationship we have with those organizations as ASCD + ISTE refine their partnership program. Continuing on with effective partnerships provides VSTE and its members with great possibilities in the future. An example of this type of collaboration can be heard and seen in season one of the ActiVAtED Podcast series and by subscribing to season two.

Strategic Planning
The recently adopted 2024-2027 Strategic Plan is one way the Board has focused on VSTE’s internal growth and development. We completed several necessary revisions to our guidance documents and standard operating procedures like the VSTE Webinar Protocols, Procedures, and Best Practices and the Finance Policy and Procedures documents. The development of a Communications Plan has helped us make improvements in the utilization of the VSTE Blog, VSTE newsletter and various social media platforms to keep our followers informed and engaged. Effective communication, emphasis on the value of membership, developing programs that respond to the changing needs of our community and engaging partners that can support our growth are the goal driven and strategic means by which VSTE can proudly enter into 2025 and toward our fortieth conference with pride in its past and hope for its future.

Be well, make good happen, and keep in touch.

#ThankATeacher

by

Written by VSTE Board member, Chanel Alford, chanelalford@vste.org, @cjamc80

When I was a child, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. As I grew older, I thought I would become a dentist. I soon realized that I did not like needles or blood, so that thought was quickly quelled. However, something was brewing in my parents’ backyard. Each afternoon, I would stand at the fence and play “school” with my neighbors. I would assist them with improving their math skills and help them with reading and grammar, which were my personal favorites. I began wondering if teaching was something I would like to pursue.

My first experience with a teacher was not a memorable one. My kindergarten teacher recognized that I had a speech impediment, and tried to separate me from the rest of my classmates with the belief that this somehow affected my cognitive abilities. My parents quickly stepped in and required that they test me. In astonishment, they discovered that I read on the fifth grade level. After this occurred, I was assigned to special teachers who would remove me from my classes throughout the day. We would read advanced books together, and I was enrolled in the S.P.A.C.E program with older students. As I think back, the experience with my kindergarten teacher was not a setback; I thank her for helping to propel me to where I was supposed to be academically.

For the remainder of my K-12 academic years, I was placed in additional classes in which I was challenged, but I am not sure that I always put forth my best effort. In high school, I met Mrs. Caperton, to whom I was assigned for Accelerated 12th grade and 13AP English classes. I can clearly remember Mrs. Caperton stating the following to my mom: “Chanel is possibly the brightest student in my class, but she has a grade of “B” because she is lazy”. I was appalled! However, I will share a secret with you all: I received a grade of “A” in English until I graduated from high school, and this continued throughout college. Yet another teacher had encouraged me to do my best. I also spent time volunteering in a classroom throughout my junior and senior years of high school to earn community service hours for my school’s Life Science Honors Program. The teacher was fresh out of college and was one of the most innovative I had ever seen. She encouraged teamwork through group activities, and had fun methods of learning math and science. I would like to thank this teacher, who happens to be my older sister, Carleen Alford, for inspiring me to be caring, fun, and excited about education.

As I salute the final teacher who impacted my life, I would like to note that she never served as my actual teacher, but I learned a great deal from her. Mrs. Hampton was my department chair at the high school where I taught Marketing and Fashion for seven years. On her final day of teaching, after spending forty-two years in the same school and classroom, she walked across the hall to my room and decided to spend the majority of that day with me. I was perplexed. She could have spent that day anywhere in the building. She asked for help with technology, and then stated, “I am spending the day with you because you are an excellent teacher, but you are in the wrong job”. She continued to discuss my technology skills with me, and we began discussing instructional technology. The next year, I left my teaching position, and I was quickly employed as an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT). It has been one of the best decisions of my life, and I thank Ms. Hampton for seeing a capability in me that I never would have.

Since becoming an ITRT, I have been able to train and assist students and teachers while doing something that I love each day. I have even won a national award for my work. However, what I cherish the most are the relationships I have cultivated. I have spent the last six years in a school district where I am now called a Technology Integration Specialist (TIS). I wake up every day to a new adventure, and I get to solve problems and help others. My supervisor, along with our CTO, completely support me in all my endeavors and are very encouraging. I also work with brilliant and fun TIS team members. I am sure you have guessed it already, but everyone I mentioned is also a former teacher!

So fellow educators, I will assign you a task as this blog reaches its culmination. Please close your eyes and take a moment to think of your favorite teachers. Then thank them for all they have done. #ThankATeacher