WCS Teacher and Volunteer Receive NTC Awards

Published February 4, 2016

In a ceremony January 28, two women affiliated with Williamson County Schools earned special recognition at the 2015 Nashville Technology Council Awards.

WCS teacher Stacey Kizer was named the NTC’s Educator of the Year for her work at Centennial and Franklin high schools.

“It’s an honor to have others recognize and applaud your efforts in any field, but I think in education it’s especially meaningful,” said Kizer. “The NTC states that educators who are recognized with this award have demonstrated an ability to develop next generation technology leaders who have the ability to make a difference in Tennessee’s technology community. I am confident that the students who are in my classes are just that: future leaders in the Williamson County technology community, and I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to teach them such interesting, fun and relevant material every day.”

Nashville Technology Council’s 2015 Volunteer of the Year is Meg Chamblee who serves on the WCS Technology Advisory Board. The board facilitates new initiatives within the community and schools to expose students and parents to technology opportunities at an early age.

“The Nashville technology community is full of people who volunteer significant amounts of their time to increase STEM awareness in schools and grow our local IT talent,” said Chamblee. “In this community in particular, it is such an honor to be named NTC’s Volunteer of the Year, and I share it with all of the 50 plus volunteers who have helped with the Middle School Creative Coding Program in Williamson County.”

In the Middle School Creative Coding Program, students learn web programming languages upon which to build a great foundation for their future IT skills.

“Students learn web programming languages, primarily HTML and CSS, in a lab setting to create personal web pages,” said Chamblee. “We encourage the students to use their creativity to develop their web pages and have fun with it. Our goal is to spark an interest in technology for these students and give them the resources they need to build on the knowledge gained in this program.”

Kizer is excited about what this award, and a growing IT field, mean for the future of IT programs in Williamson County Schools.

“It’s incredibly meaningful for all of the IT programs in Williamson County Schools,” said Kizer. “I think these awards demonstrate that we’re doing things right in Williamson County and are committed to finding, developing and retaining highly qualified teachers. It also brings a lot of recognition to the hard, remarkable work that all of the IT teachers do in our classrooms every day to ensure that our students are prepared for college and for successful careers.”

Both women were nominated by their peers and completed a questionnaire to become finalists. A panel of judges put together by the NTC evaluated the questionnaires to determine the finalists and winners for each award.