Teasley Teachers Awarded Microsoft Innovative Educator Certification

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CANTON, GA -- Teasley Middle School recently celebrated becoming the nation's first middle school to have all its teachers achieve Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) certified.

The program requires 16 hours of training for teachers on Microsoft's suite of computer-based resources, including productivity, lesson planning and research-based programs.

A staff of 110 Teasley teachers explored Office 365 and how to integrate its many features, such as sharing documents and creating surveys, connecting classrooms through Skype for Teachers, using OneNote and Office Mix, as well as free tools that improve lesson delivery through creativity.

Instructional Technology Specialist Susan Dreschel led the team through the certification process, and the staff proclaimed March 16, their graduation day, as Susan Dreschel Day.

The graduation celebration featured a slide show of survey responses from teachers about what they learned, as well as a Kahoot quiz round with prizes, topped off with food and cake, which were prepared by the teachers from an online cookbook collaboration they created in OneNote.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower congratulated the Teasley educators on their dedication to using technology effectively in the classroom. The teachers were also praised by Cherokee County School Board Chair Kyla Cromer for going above and beyond for students.

Last spring, Holly Springs ES STEM Academy became the first school in America -- and the world -- to become 100 percent MIE certified and has since been named a Microsoft Showcase School.

The district now has six MIE certified schools (Holly Springs and Teasley, plus Avery, Ball Ground, Boston and Sixes Elementary Schools) and will have more than 1,000 MIE certified teachers by the end of 2015-16.

The schools within the Sequoyah Innovation Zone are currently in the program, planning to become the first MIE Zone for the system.

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Photo 1: Bobby Blount, Assistant Superintendent for Accountability, Technology, and Strategic Planning, presents Dr. Susan Zinkil with an oversized MIE certificate for the school.
Photo 2: CCSD School Board Chair Kyla Cromer commends TMS teachers for going above and beyond to serve students.
Photo 3: 8th grade language arts teacher Stephanie Dowst enters her answers during the Kahoot! quiz round for fun and prizes.
Photo 4: Teachers competed for prizes with an online Kahoot! quiz about MIE during the celebration.
Photo 5: Dr. Hightower speaks to the Teasley MS faculty at their MIE graduation celebration.
Photo 6: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower congratulates the Teasley MS faculty on their certification as Microsoft Innovative Educators.
Photo 7: Teachers submitted slides of what they learned and how they are using their MIE expertise, and those slide ran during the celebration.
Photo 8: Team Teasley with their MIE certificates.
Photo 9: Assistant Principal Dr. Ben Lester hands out program certificates to the Teasley teachers.
Photo 10: TMS Principal Dr. Susan Zinkil, center, and teacher Beth Watkins, right, issue a proclamation for CCSD Instructional Technology Specialist Susan Dreschel, left, for her hours of training and assistance during the MIE certification process.
Photo credits: Cherokee County School District