Making It Happen Award
The Florida Council of Instructional Technology Leaders' first “Making It Happen” awards were presented at the annual membership meeting at FETC 2000. The award had resulted in a tie. Winners of this distinguished international award have also been named at other national conferences. FCITL member winners are listed below.
2018 Winner
Making IT Happen Award
Sponsored by ISTE
Shelley Ardis
Executive Director of Technology Services
Florida School for the Deaf and Blind
St. Augustine, FL
at
FETC, Orlando, FL
Year | Name | Conference |
2017 | Dr. Traci Kohler Collier County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2016 | Shawna May Okeechobee County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2015 | Matt Frey Bervard County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2014 | Gary Weidenhamer Palm Beach County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2013 | George Perreault Orange County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2012 | Chris Bress Charlotte County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2011 | Ken St. James Monroe County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2010 (Tie) |
Dr. Mel Pace Osceola County Dr. George Vensel Manatee County |
FETC, Orlando, FL FETC, Orlando, FL |
2009 | Dr. Jeanine Gendron Broward County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2008 | Don Manderson Escambia County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2007 | Jay Feliciani Pasco County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2006 | Randi Zwicker Coller County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2005 (Tie) |
Tina Barrios Manatee County Jorge Ortega Leon County |
FETC, Orlando, FL FETC, Orlando, FL |
2004 | Chris Yahn Monroe County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2003 | Gary Becker Seminole County |
National School Boards Association, Anaheim, CA |
2003 | Eileen Pracek Brevard County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2002 | Melinda Crowley FL DOE |
National Leadership Institute, Atlanta, GA |
2002 | Donna Baumbach UCF Instructional Technology Resource Center (ITRC) |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2001 | Judy Ambler Pinellas County |
FETC, Orlando, FL |
2000 (Tie) |
Dr. B. R. Black Polk County Alice Ray-Overstreet Polk County |
FETC, Orlando, FL FETC, Orlando, FL |
1994 | Dave Brittain FL DOE |
CCSSO Technology Conference, Atlanta, GA |
You can browse the prestigious group of past international recipients on the ISTE Making IT Happen page.
The Making It Happen program highlights the dramatic role educators are having on the learning process by using technology and rewards those individuals for their commitment and innovation. To date, more than 100 educators have been awarded this recognition. The impact of this program has been felt at numerous conferences around the country. The focus of the Making It Happen program is on current practitioners, highlighting their significant contribution and encouraging them to continue their work. The program highlights the dramatic role educators are having on the learning process by using technology, and rewards those individuals for their commitment and innovation. Making It Happen recipients are in our classrooms, districts and the state making it happen for learners everyday.
Successful integration of educational technology requires a common passion, initiative and pledge that can best be summarized by the Making It Happen Formula of Success. Nominees should exhibit these qualities.
- Educators who apply available technology now,
- Move forward and don't look back,
- See students as real people,
- Teach through relationships - inspire, encourage, nurture,
- Recognize that further change is necessary, but understand that it is a process,
- Realize that teacher empowerment is the key element to technology integration,
- Expect success and,
- Motivate through awareness and access to information.
About 1994, Kathy Hurley, Pat Walkington, and Deb deVries got together at a conference and began sharing perceptions of conference activities. All three were disappointed in the commercial aspect of most of the presentations made at conferences by vendors or companies. While they felt it important to focus on products and their impact in the classroom, they also felt strongly that teachers and administrators using the technology should be featured and recognized for their grass roots leadership in integrating technology in the classroom. They made a commitment to work with state organizations and conferences to identify individuals who have really made it happen within their respective state or region and recognize them publicly. The resulting "Making It Happen" awards have been a wonderful way to recognize key educators around the country since 1995. This year, ISTE has taken on the sponsorship of the "Making It Happen" awards. Each award recipient receives the now famous “pink satin jacket.” Initially winners were female. When males began sharing the spotlight, a black satin jacket was selected for their award.