Candidate included that she survived a bite from a deadly aquatic animal. - Jacquelyn Smith - Forbes

Candidate included that she survived a bite from a deadly aquatic animal. - Jacquelyn Smith - Forbes

Jeanifer Tsukamoto

My name is Jeanifer Tsukamoto. I am a product of the Cupertino school system starting with Eaton, Collins,Hyde and ending with Cupertino High. I'm going on my 10th year teaching at Stevens Creek Elementary School. Mainly, I've been teaching 3rd and 4th grade.
On my spare time I enjoy reading and golfing. However, as of last June, I joined a dragon boat team. It has been occupying most of time outside of work. This summer, I'm looking forward to learning about cutting edge technology and how to integrate it into my class, meeting new people, and my trip to Peru.

Stephanie Chang

Hi Everyone,

I am currently teaching 2nd grade at Faria. Before that, I taught 4 years at Blue Hills, making a total of 6 years. I have not used technology very much directly with the students (once in a blue moon). I personally do use a lot of it for the classroom (worksheets, picture sharing) and home use. One of the reasons I am taking this tech class is to become more familiar and comfortable with using tech stuff for the class. And...... to get some great inspiring ideas!

When out of school my husband and I enjoy watching movies. We like watching romantic comedies, sci-fi, and action movies mostly. We can't handle horror movies though.

I also enjoy baking, arts, crafts, photography, and playing with technology. I am by no means an expert at any of these things, but very much like to play. :) I learn by trial and error. I am looking forward to playing with more computer stuff with all of you! See you soon! :D

Sally Lehrman

Hi. My name is Sally Lehrman and I just finished my second year at Kenney Middle School teaching sixth grade. This fall I will be moving to Lawson Middle School.

This picture is of my family on vacation last summer. My husband, Gary is a software enigineer. Brandon graduated from Monta Vista High School earlier this month and will be leaving for college in September. Spencer will be a sophmore this Fall.

I hope to learn some new things this week that I can use in the classroom.

Winnie Jiang

Hi everyone! My name is Winnie and I just finished my third year of teaching at Meyerholz. I've taught grades 3, 4, and 5. I feel very fortunate to be working with such a great group of people at Meyerholz.

I am an English teacher for the Cupertino Language Immersion Program (CLIP), which means I have two groups of students. I have double the workload (double the report card) and half the time to teach everything that a regular teacher has to teach in a day. I look forward to the training so I can integrate more technology into my teaching.

I am also looking forward to the last day of training because I will be picking up my Shih Tzu puppy from her breeder. I am very excited about having my first puppy =).

Pam McLean

Yikes! This is the first time that I have ever been on a blog much less contribute to one. That gives an indication of my level of experience and need for this class! I had to really search for a picture because I am usually the person taking pictures rather than being the subject of them.

I have just completed my 10th year of teaching in CUSD after 23 years working outside of education. I have taught K and 1 and love my job. Since being in Cupertino I have been at Faria and would like to be able to be able to incorporate technology into our daily routine. I am hoping this is a good start. I am happy to find that there are other primary teachers coming so I can find out what other teachers are doing with technology in their classrooms.

I am married with a stepdaughter and a son. My stepdaughter just earned her MBA from Mills College and my son is at San Jose State. My husband retired from teaching in 2003. Our newest family addition is "Shrek" a miniature dachshund. Without children, he is our new hobby. I enjoying walking/hiking, camping, reading, sewing/knitting, live theatre and photography.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone next week and feeling a little more competent with my computer next Saturday.

Julie Davis

Hi Everyone,
Well, the end of the year is always so hectic, but I am looking forward to the summer! I just returned from New York City with my mom, and I am looking forward to some road trips!

The end of this year marks my twelfth year of teaching 8th grade Core. This is my first year at Lawson, and before that I spent 10 great years at Cupertino Middle, then I regrettably moved to the Desert for a year. I am so glad to be back in Cupertino Union! I am very excited about learning news ways of integrating technology with my curriculum. I have a long way to go!

I live with my boyfriend, Jason, our dog Shamus and our cat, Otis My Man. I love walking, and gardening, but you may find me doing home repairs and painting. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and spending a week gaining new skills. Blogging seems like a great place to start, and it has been an adventure! See you soon.
Julie

Shirley Miller

Hi everyone! I look forward to meeting those of you I don’t know and to seeing, again, those of you I do know.

As several of you know, I teach seventh grade language arts at Hyde. I was with the EETT program for three years, so one would think I would know all the technology I would ever need to know, but I don’t. There are always new gadgets coming out and I like to keep on top of the learning curve as much as I can. I’m hoping to learn more about using iTunes, an iPod, and podcasting this summer.

I love to garden, read, and travel. I live in Santa Cruz, and I will be going to Australia in August!

Heather Aldama

Hello all!

I am currently teachering at Dilworth Elementary. I will be completed my 2nd year in 2 1/2 days. (not like I'm counting) Next year I will be teaching first grade. Although I'm still new to the district and teachng, I'm amazed with the amount of technology that is used in the schools. Most of my students know how to do more things than I do. Thanks to Kathleen Erikson, I have started using iMovie in class and all of our second graders (3 classes) made an iMovie about the Ocean.

About me.... I am getting married this summer, which I'm thrilled about. My fiance, the one in the picture, and I will marry on August 4th. We're so excited. So after our week of class, I will be in full planning mode. We will be traveling to Boston and Italy on our honeymoon and arriving back in town the day before we all have to be back to work. AGHHH!!

I look forward to meeting all of you next week.

Jay Martino

I must admit I usually do not look forward to more school in the summer. But I am looking forward to this class. It sounds like fun and we all should gain some valuable tools.

I am finishing up my 7th year of teaching after 20 years in the software business. The last 4 years have been at Cupertino MS, while prior to that I was at Stevens Creek.

I'm recovering from a broken collarbone that has taken way too long to heal. But it's getting there. This summer I hope to follow my kids around for one last adventure. They are 17 and 14 and it is just hitting me that this part of my life is closing. I hope the new one that opens will be as fulfilling.

I hope to finish the "top 25 hikes in the bay area" this summer and get back on my bike (which is directly related to my broken collarbone).

Looking forward to meeting all of you.

Jay

Kathleen Erikson

Hello all, My name is Kathleen Erikson. I currently teach second grade at Dilworth Elementary. I've been a teacher for the past 19 years, the last 14 in Cupertino. I have always taught primary K-3, mostly combination classes. I have loved learning about technology since entering this district. The opportunities I have had here are incredible. I am looking forward to getting some new ideas to integrate into the classroom. I currently use iMovie pretty regularly, editing and producing the news program DDTV at my school site. I am eager to learn some other ways to integrate iMovie into the curriculum.

I've been married for 18 years. I have two kids which you see in the picture above, my daughter is going to Miller next year, sixth grade. I'm only partially freaked out about that. My son will be in the fourth grade at Dilworth. I've been lucky enough to have my kids with me at Dilworth since they were in kindergarten.

I look forward to meeting and working with you all next week!

Susan Holtzapple

Hi there! Well -- lesson learned. Things work VERY differently on a PC versus my MAC. This is easy!
I am finishing my seventh year of teaching math at Cupertino Middle. In that time, I have taught all of the different math levels in both seventh and eighth grade. I am currently the department chair as well as the coach of the math competition team. We had an awesome year!
Last week, my younger daughter, Alison, graduated from Homestead High School, hence the up-to-date picture of my family. Ali will be attending the University of Washington in the fall. My older daughter, Steffi, is finishing her sophomore year at UCLA and made a quick visit home for the special occasion. I am looking forward to having an empty nest with both joy and trepidation. Tom is an anesthesiologist at Kaiser, Santa Clara, and is in San Antonio this week for a medical conference (really).
A little about me . . . in my former life, I graduated from medical school and completed one year of residency in family practice before starting a family. I always intended to return to medicine, but it just never happened. After twelve years of volunteer work in the preschool, elementary school classroom, PTA, lice checks on 500 kids, and so on . . . Steffi started middle school at CMS and I needed to think about the rest of my life. I needed to start over again, and figured teaching would be easier than medicine -- HA! I really am having a good time!
This summer, I am looking forward to spending the month of July at a math camp in Colorado as a volunteer math coach (google me). Should be interesting.

Grace Yen

Hello Everyone,

I teach 8th grade math at Cupertino Middle School. This is my second year of teaching. Besides math, science and dogs, I also like music, arts and crafts. Since my children refused to have their photos posted, I had to choose this one to put on the blog. My dog's name is CoCo.

I have been happily married for almost 27 years to Sidney. I have two wonderful children, the older one, Sean, is going to college this Fall, and the second one, Vivian, will be a Junior at Lynbrook next year.

As a novice blog user, I think I have nothing else to say at this point. I am looking forward to meeting everyone in the tech summer institute.

Dave Villafana

I am currently teaching at Miller Middle school. I have been with the district for 19 years. I was at Lincoln and moved when they moved all the 6h grade over to the middle schools. I work with a great staff and awesome principal. I cannot wait to see how I can use technology better in my classroom!

Khadija Iyer

Hi, My name is Khadija Iyer. This is my 13th year of teaching Eighth grade science at Kennedy Middle School. I love to read about new discoveries in every branch of science. I am looking forward to the Summer Institute workshop and incorporating what I learn in my classroom. I have been married for 22 years and have a daughter who will be Senior at UCSD this fall. My husband and I love to travel and go hiking on weekends. Our most recent trip was a marathon drive through three national parks and Mono Lake during the Memorial Day weekend. The picture above with my husband was taken in Los Cabos earlier this year.

Brian Davenport

Hi guys and gals,

My name is Brian Davenport and I am a teacher at Hyde Middle School. I am finishing up my ninth year of teaching overall and seventh at Hyde. Over the years I have taught a plethora of subjects ranging from History, English, ELD, and craft and keyboarding. As for the personal life, I have been married for nearly a year. We recently bought a house in San Jose and have two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, but now things are going pretty swimmingly. I can't think of much more to add right now except that I am looking forward to learning how to better bring technology into my classroom.

Donna Axelson

My claim to fame has nothing to do with technology. My family (husband and two sons) had Saint Bernards as part of our family for many years. We raised 3 litters of puppies. The third litter of 8 puppies was in the movie Beethoven’s 2nd. Having a dog that gives birth to 8 or more puppies is an experience in itself, but to have those puppies grow up to be movie stars is a very special treat.

Speaking of movie stars, in May my husband, daughter-in-law, and myself were guests of Tim McGraw at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. Another special treat.

I began working for CUSD in 1984. I’ve taught K through 7th grade and grown through each and every experience. This is my second year as the Technology Resource Teacher for CUSD and there is so much to learn. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. I consider myself to be a life-long learner and I’d like several more lifetimes to learn all I want to know.

Ronit Weinstock

Howdy everyone! My name is Ronit and I am a science teacher at Cupertino Middle School. This is my 10th year teaching, and my 2nd year in CUSD (although I am a former CMS student). I am really excited about the summer institute and I can't wait to learn some great tips for bringing more technology into my classroom. That has been a goal of mine for a few years, so it will be nice to finally make it a reality!

I have been married for 10 years to Ryan. We met in college waiting in line for student tickets to a basketball game. We still head down to Santa Barbara for a game or two every year, although we now sit in the more comfortable (not to mention more expensive) seats. I enjoy seeing musicals, scrapbooking, and reading. I already have the calendar cleared for the weekend of July 20th so that I can read Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows.

When I'm not grading papers or supervising labs, you can find me working in my other job as a chauffeur. Oops, I meant, driving all over and taking my children to their various activities. I have 2 sons, Bailey (7) and Jared (5). They both take ice skating lessons and it's amazing how quickly they learn to do some pretty impressive footwork! Jared will stay in his pre-K class 2 days a week over the summer because he is "just not ready to say goodbye to [his] friends yet." This summer Bailey is participating in his first production with Children's Musical Theater of San Jose. He has been cast as a Horse in Charlotte's Web. So, my vacation will include many hours in the rehearsal studio. In my opinion, that is time well spent.

This photo is 6 years old, but as I said, I scrapbook..so I'm usually the one BEHIND the camera!

Mark Bowman

I'm a 7th grade English and history teacher at Hyde Middle School, who has eleven years teaching experience. I have a wonderful wife, darling daughter, and lovable dog. I've been an EETT teacher for the last year, but still consider myself a computer novice. This, by the way, is my first-ever blog. I'm looking forward to learning more ways to incorporate technology into my classroom during the Summer Institute. During the summers I love to read and watch baseball. I'll be sequestering myself for a few days when Deathly Hallows comes out. I've been known to wander the world's beaches in search of spiritual enlightenment, and big, ugly lizards.

Julie Stewart

Hello Everyone,
I am excited to be a part of the Cupertino Summer Technology Institute. I have worked for the Cupertino school district for 7 years and find this position to be so rewarding. When I accepted this new position I was new to the use of technology, myself. Now I find I am able to give tech tips to even the most veteran user. Every day I discover something new and amazing within the tools we have available to us. The world becomes your teaching partner and your friend.
Now a few tidbits about me personally.
I have two children, a son and daughter. I also have one grandson. It is hard to believe but he has only one year before he will start high school. I guess I should feel old but to the contrary, I am energized by him. I enjoy almost anything life has to offer. There are so many new adventures to share. But, we do some things in repeat. My family and I will head to Disneyland for a short vacation this summer.
I am actually going to take the entire month of July to play and hopefully get ready for my high school, 40 year, reunion. Turning back the clock and seeing old friends.

Jacob Headley

Hey all! My name is Jacob Headley and this is going to my first time working over the summer related to my job. I have been teaching for four years and have been at Miller Middle School for the past two. I hope to spend much of my time at this institute creating ways to involve more technology into my physical education class. I have a website but would like to improve upon it. The most important things in my life are my wife Debbi and my two little girls, Maddie (2) and Isabel (3 weeks).

Pat Gregory

I figured out how to get here, so I guess that means I can take the class. My name is Pat Gregory and I have one husband and one grown son. I was a software engineer for many years, got caught up in the 'workforce reduction' at Hewlett-Packard and decided to do something useful so became a science teacher at Kennedy Middle School. I love my job! (I teach 8th grade science and 'shhhh').
Outside of school I enjoy flying my Cessna airplane where ever I want to go for lunch and I also play the fiddle with the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers. Do a bit of Scottish Country dancing as well. My life is pretty full, so I don't ever get bored.

I'm hoping to gain some good ideas on how to do more to integrate technology in my classroom. Right now it seems like too much work, although I do use our MacLab and laptop carts on occasion. I'd like to be more organized about it and have some ideas at my fingertips to help make the kids more self directed in their learning.

(what's the difference between the title at the top and the label at the bottom of this post?)

Stephanie Byers

Hi, I'm Stephanie Byers. I've been a teacher at Eaton for the past 7 years. I can't imagine ever leaving the Eaton staff. They are the most supportive fun loving people I've ever met! I am currently teaching a 1st/2nd combo, but have also taught 3rd and 1st.

I married my amazing husband in 2005. The picture above is from the day after our wedding. It pretty much captures our whole relationship. Laughing together is our favorite activity. We also love to watch movies, go on trail walks, read, go to the snow, and eat!


I'm excited about the institute. It'll be great to take back new technology skills to my classroom. And the projector will be a cool tool also!

Chris Heumann

Hello there CUSD teachers. My name is Chris Heumann and I've been teaching at Kennedy since 1986. The students in our district are truly amazing and they make the job challenging in the best sense of the word -- I have enjoyed every minute! As educational technologies has emerged over the past 20 years I have taken advantage of many new tools in order to live up to the potential of the students. In addition to my teaching, I have also become a program director for the Krause Center for Innovation and am looking forward to hosting the Cupertino crew.

My most important job, of course, is to be dad and hubby to my wonderful family, Amy, Hannah, Abby, and Olivia. This photo captures us amidst the constant reconstruction of our house and garden in the mountains behind Lexington Lake. With every new kid has come the addition of a new bedroom to the tiny house and now, with 4 girls around, an additional bathroom is a must! Hopefully I can get that under way during those lazy (ha) days of August.

I'm looking forward to working with each of you!