Center for Digital Education Market Briefing: Houston TX 2015

Senior Manager Instructional Technology, Houston Independent School District

Beatriz Arnillas studied Education and Visual Arts at the Catholic University of Peru. She started her career in education as an English as a second language and world history teacher. She completed her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky. Arnillas leads the PowerUp Instructional Technology Team at Houston ISD. She is accredited in Instructional Systems Design, Online Instruction Design and Senior Professional in HR (SPHR, Adult Learning, Training and Development). Before joining HISD, she held various faculty, education administration and learning and development positions at Seton Hill University, Texas A&M, Blinn College, University of Houston and Halliburton.

Chief Technology Officer, Klein Independent School District

Karen Fuller has been in K-12 education for 23 years. She began as a classroom teacher teaching Micro Computer App on Apple 2es at Diboll ISD, and later became the technology coordinator. She then moved to become the technology manager for ESC VII, in Kilgore, TX. In 2004, Fuller became the district technology trainer and then the director of technology in Marshall ISD and, in 2006, became the director of information technology for Klein ISD. Beginning July 2008, she became the CTO for Klein ISD. Klein ISD has deployed six successful 1:1 campuses, deployed over 40,000 computers, opened ten new campuses with technology integrated in all classrooms and staff works with curriculum and instruction on a daily basis.

Frankie Jackson has worked in the technology industry for 35 years. She started her career at the NASA Johnson Space Center in software engineering supporting Space Shuttle and Station Operations. She moved to the K-12 education sector in 1994 when she became CTO at Goose Creek Consolidate ISD. In 2013, Jackson moved to Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and recently led the technology planning efforts that led to the passing of a $1.2 billion dollar bond with $217 million dollars allocated for technology. Her vision is to provide education technology with 24/7 access to digital teaching and learning, using blended and virtual models for instructional delivery. Students’ learning will be personalized with rich multimedia experiences that enable empowerment and creativity.

Chief Technology Information Officer, Houston Independent School District

Lenny Schad has been in the technology field for 25 years. During that time period, his career has taken him into many business sectors where he has established a very successful leadership and management track record. His range of business sector experience includes hospitality, government, oil and gas, investment banking and education. He is a recognized leader whose innovative and process-oriented management styles have led to highly effective Information Technology departments. For the past 12 years, Schad has worked in the K-12 education space and is the chief technology information officer for the nation’s seventh largest school district, Houston ISD.

Vickie Vallet has 26 years of experience in K-12 education. Her experience is a combination of classroom and technology administrator experience. For the past 14 years, she has served as a district-level technology administrator for medium and large school districts in the Houston area. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in School Administration. Her combined experience, passion for education and confidence in the power of technology makes her a strong activist for educational reform.

Chief Technology Officer, Pasadena Independent School District

Steve Wentz has been in the K-12 market for 31 years. He has worked 16 years at two Region Service Centers providing application and hardware services to school districts in the Victoria and Houston areas. Having been the director of technology services at a 23,000 student school district for 11 years, Wentz has now been the CTO at Pasadena ISD for the last four years. PISD is a growing district with 54,000 students. With a degree in Computer Science and experience in every position of a technology department, Wentz is a strong advocate in using technology to transform the way children are educated.