North Bellmore Teacher Selected For Prestigious Program

From North Bellmore Schools: Jenna Stack, a teacher in the North Bellmore School District, has been accepted into the Apple Distinguished Educators Class of 2019. She was one of only 550 educators from across the world chosen this year, and will attend a full week of workshops in the summer.

Ms. Stack teaches sixth grade at Park Avenue Elementary School. This is her fifth year in the
district and she spent the previous four years as a technology integration specialist, supporting North Bellmore teachers in incorporating instructional technology into lessons. She previously worked in the Westbury and New York City school districts.

Her sixth graders are immersed daily in a “technology rich environment,” Ms. Stack explained. In addition to providing them with digital resources for organization and studying, she allows them to express their creativity through video projects and augmented reality activities. She teaches technology seminar classes for all sixth graders at Park Avenue.

Students created iMovie book review trailers to help sixth graders across the globe select books to read. The projects were packaged together and shared on iTunes. Each paper book report included a QR code that when scanned would link to the student’s digital review. As an augmented reality project, students created pop-up scenes to show elements of the opening page of their favorite
books.

In her role as a technology integration specialist, Ms. Stack was instrumental in expanding
the use of iPads as a learning tool, and worked with her colleagues in the technology department to draft the district’s investment plan for its Smart Schools Bond Act allocation. She also spearheaded the creation of a teacher discussion group to share best practices and spark new ideas for technology integration.

As part of the application process, Ms. Stack had to showcase her work as a technology educator by featuring student projects, sharing her published works and creating a two-minute video. She regularly posts to her Twitter account about the technology-based activities in her classroom, and wrote a how-to book for other teachers about using memes — photographs with funny captions — as a writing activity to support the curriculum.

In addition to providing technology training within the district, Ms. Stack has presented at
numerous conferences. She facilitated a workshop on app smashing, which is utilizing more than one app to maximize the creative process, at a Suffolk County technology educators conference.
Ms. Stack said she uses her determination to become an Apple Distinguished Educator as a
lesson on grit and perseverance for her students. Although she wasn’t accepted to the program the
first time she applied, she didn’t give up her dream.

“This is something I really, really wanted,” she said. “It definitely will open up a lot of
opportunities for networking and growth. Talking to other like-minded educators is the way you
grow. I’m excited to learn and come back with ideas to incorporate into the classroom.”

Ms. Stack will travel to Maryland this summer for the weeklong relationship program, which
focuses on educational excellence and leadership. She will attend workshops, participate in
networking opportunities and be part of a team that will create an educational product to be shared on iTunes. Upon becoming an Apple Distinguished Educator, she will join a professional learning community of more than 2,400 people from 45 countries who have earned the distinction since the program’s inception 25 years ago.