Three Prince Edward County Public Schools employees have been selected as division winners for the 10th annual Southside Regional Technology Consortium Awards Program (SVRTC) that will recognize award winners at a banquet March 23 at Longwood University.  The PECPS nominees were nominated and selected by their peers. 

Daniel Adams has been nominated for the Technology Support Award.  He is the newest addition to the PECPS Technology Team. Adams’ nomination states, “He possesses a strong skill set, seeks to learn something new each day and freely shares information with others.  Daniel is a strong communicator and works well with others. He consistently takes initiative in difficult situations and finds resolutions to difficult problems, always keeping in mind the best interests of the division. Daniel has shown initiative and good judgment by solving problems associated with our technology department, such as working and developing an understanding of group policy, and managing the new support ticket system and the Google Accounts.  He has created a Facebook page and seeks out and arranges for professional development.”

Adams, who resides in Farmville, is a graduate of Randolph-Henry High School and Hampden-Sydney College.

“This award makes me feel that I am representing myself and my tech team very well and in a professional manner, based on the views of my peers,” Adams said. 

Suzanne Smith-Tucker has been nominated for the Instructional Technology Support Award.  She is an ITRT at Prince Edward County High School and Prince Edward County Middle School.  Smith-Tucker’s nomination states, “She is an exemplary resource who helps teachers create lessons that incorporate technology. She consistently promotes the use of new technology in classes and helps with administration of new technologies. She played an important role in development of the Rural Math Excel Project and helped teachers as the division transitioned to a new website. She also performs the behind the scenes job of SOL testing. Smith-Tucker mentors new teachers, helps with data disaggregation, and serves as the lead teacher for the After-School Remediation Program.” Smith-Tucker lives in Blackstone with her husband and two children. She holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Paul’s College and a master’s degree from Walden University.

”I am very honored to be selected by my colleagues for this award,” Smith-Tucker said. 

Lisa Cortazar is an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher at Prince Edward County Elementary School.  Her nomination states, “An expert at the school in incorporating technology into the Early Childhood Program, Cortazar starts each day with interactive activities involving a morning song, letter of the week and letter recognition activities.  She has participated in the iPad cohort, utilizing iPads in her curriculum and as a means of communication with students. Cortazar recently instructed her colleagues on how to utilize a monitoring tool to observe student progress on key concepts in pre-kindergarten.” Cortazar resides in Farmville with her husband and four children.  She received an AAS degree from Southside Virginia Community College, a BA degree from Neumann College, and a MEd degree from Lynchburg College.

“I believe in the abilities of my students, and it makes me feel good to know that my co-workers thought of me for this award,” Cortazar said. 

PECPS Director of Accountability and Research Dr. Tammy Donahue coordinated nominations for the school division. 

“We are proud of each of our recipients,” Donahue said. “They go above and beyond what is expected to bring technology to our students. We are especially proud that they were voted upon by their peers, further demonstrating that their work extends beyond their office or classroom and reaches many people.  Prince Edward County Public Schools thanks each recipient for their contributions to our division.”