43
Technology teacher connecting with new students
Photo
Showing off the technological skills that got her the job, Mrs. Cramer made a nametag for herself using her computer and a projector.
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor.Carli Cramer looked at home in Watson Elementary’s technology classroom, which she uses to teach her students things like email and research on the Web.
By SARAH FOOR
One lesson at a time, new technology teacher Carli Cramer is helping the students of Watson Elementary become better connected.
The Austintown native didn’t have the easiest road to her Watson classroom, however. After attending Austintown schools all her life and receiving her degree from YSU, Cramer struggled to find a job after her graduation three years ago, until accepting a job in North Carolina.
“I had my baby, who is 10 months old, and I couldn’t face being so far away from home. Finding this job, teaching technology to Watson and Lynn Kirk students, at that same time was pure serendipity,” Cramer explained.
This year, Cramer hopes to teach the kids about email, so they can write to each other and pen pals, and connect to a video chat with her former students in North Carolina.
In the long term, she hopes to keep Austintown well connected, and is planning to apply for further technology grants for the new Austintown school buildings.
“Admittedly,” Cramer said, “I like the teaching part more than the technology part. For some reason, the kids are so much more excited about computers than about a sheet of paper. Although they’re learning most of the same things, being able to type it or draw a picture makes the subject come alive, and that’s what I love to see every day.”