Robertson County Schools’ Supervisor of Technology James
Marshall has been selected as President-Elect of the Middle Tennessee
Educational Technology Association beginning January 2019. Marshall has been the RCS tech supervisor for
the past 22 years and has previously served as MTETA president on two previous
and separate occasions.
The middle Tennessee group is one of three regions, which
collectively make up the Tennessee Educational Technology Association. Marshall is no stranger to either entity,
having helped start TETA more than two decades ago. At that time, the current need for school
districts was merely a means of providing electronic attendance records for
schools.
“I met with a group of colleagues from other districts to
work on this,” said Marshall. “The need
for technology growth was recognized and a group was formed to provide
networking and discussion. That was back
when we were taking typewriters out of schools and replacing them with
computers for word processing. We’ve
come a long way since those days.”
That small group of initial technology directors has now
grown to a statewide organization that sponsors annual conferences both for
teachers and for technology professionals.
Marshall says the benefits to RCS that are derived from the networking
and assistance of colleagues has been immeasurable and invaluable.
“Our Summer institute, for instance, is put on by us for us. It’s for technicians and tech directors from
counties across the state. That’s all
about looking at new products, sharing new ideas, etc.
“It’s hard to find the time to attend the institute, but
there is so much given each year that you can bring back to your district that
you’ve just got to go,” he said. “I couldn’t have survived without them.”
Referencing the district’s goal of placing a laptop computer
in the hands of each high school student, Marshall said, “All the people who
helped us start our 1:1 are a part of TETA.”
Marshall’s new position will involve serving on the
statewide board for a three-year stint as: President-Elect, President, and then
Past-President, consecutively. He’s
looking forward to the responsibilities, saying, “They’re my friends and
they’ve helped me, and I’m going to help them one more time.”
Congratulations Mr. Marshall!