April 5, 2006

WISD Schools Recognized as America’s Top Schools for
Supporting Student Voices in Technology 

WEATHERFORD – NetDay, the national education technology nonprofit group, announced the selection of four WISD schools as a SPEAK UP 100 school at the 11^th Annual Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) Conference for business and education leaders. 

Curtis Elementary, Mary Martin Elementary, Hall Middle School, and Tison Middle School have been designated as four of the top 100 schools in America for encouraging student voices in education technology decision-making.  They were chosen from elementary, middle and high schools in rural, suburban and urban communities from 25 different states, plus an American military base in Japan.  The selection of the SPEAK UP 100 schools was based on participation in the annual Speak Up online surveys and demonstrated commitment to engaging students in local technology planning and decision-making.   

As a designated Speak UP 100 school, Curtis, Martin, Hall and Tison will be prominently featured on www.netday.org and will receive special recognitions from NetDay including a unique SPEAK UP 100 logo to use on the school and district websites.   NetDay will share the SPEAK UP 100 schools and their impact stories with their national partners and other organizations and agencies interested in student voices in education and technology.   

This is the first time that NetDay is honoring America’s top schools for participating in Speak Up and for encouraging student voice in education technology decision-making.   NetDay has championed student voices in education technology by hosting the Speak Up online surveys and by publishing national reports on their data findings for the past three years.  

NetDay helps schools engage and empower students to be more involved in local technology discussions by facilitating the annual online Speak Up surveys and through the Student Voices Resource Center, NetDay’s website for students (www.NetDay.org/SVRC).   

Weatherford ISD is also being honored as one of the top seven districts in the nation for having the most SPEAK UP 100 recognized schools.   

The 2005 Speak Up for Students and Teachers online event was made possible through the generous support of Dell Inc and BellSouth Foundation. 

NetDay Speak Up is a national initiative of Project Tomorrow, the new nonprofit organization formed with the merger of NetDay and Project Tomorrow in September 2005.  The mission of the new combined organization is to support and promote the effective and appropriate use of science, math and technology resources in K–12 education so that every student has the opportunity to fully participate in today’s global economy and community.  Weatherford ISD is dedicated to preparing today’s students to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens.    

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