Sometimes it happens that the Russellville City Schools Board of Education votes on measures to improve RCS schools but doesn’t get to actually see the benefits in action. The board decided it was time to rectify that.

“We determined the board needs to be more informed about things that are going on in our schools,” Superintendent Heath Grimes said.

With that goal in mind, three RCS technology employees presented before the board last week at its regular meeting, to give the board representatives an insight into the system’s technological endeavors.

JJ McCormick, a 2016 RHS graduate, is a part-time technology assistant and broadcasting sponsor for Russellville High School.

“I have an awesome relationship with a lot of the teachers. They love seeing me back, and I really love my job,” McCormick said – a job that includes all manner of troubleshooting, as well as getting new technology set up and establishing sports broadcasting at the school. Having McCormick onsite at Russellville has allowed teachers to reach more immediate aid for technological problems in the classroom – some of which could derail a whole class period, if not remedied swiftly, as McCormick is able to do.

As at West Elementary, Monica Moon has seen her responsibilities grow and change. In the last two years, she coordinated students’ learning keyboarding skills and digital citizenship, as well as some basic coding. Now, she focuses on “helping teachers with the vast amount of technology we have available” and aiding them in developing dynamic lesson plans incorporating technology into their curriculum.

At Russellville Elementary, instructional technology facilitator Cassie Goodwin fills a similar role to both McCormick and Moon. “Anything teachers need in regards to technology, they know I am a text or a phone call away,” Goodwin said. “Last year at RES we focused on Google Drive, Google Calendar, social media and Chromebooks. This year one of the things I would like to do is focus on Google Classroom and showing the teachers how to use that.”