What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

One of my first jobs as a teenager was selling hot dogs at a stand in Tiger Stadium. I learned a lot from the venders and enjoyed metting people from a variety of neighborhoods and different walks of life in Detroit. The strongest memory of the job was not the Tiger's near miss of the World Series pennant in 1967, but the day the Detroit Riots broke out. We were trapped at our booth in the stadium, wondering if we should lock ourselves in the (unplugged) freezer for safety. We could hear sirens wailing and could smell the smoke of the burning city. I convinced the older women that we should try and head home. We witnessed looting and vandalism. When I got home the house was empty. I called my family at the cottage and warned them against traveling through Detroit that evening. I called my older sister at college and told her about the riots. She cried.

I learned to trust my instincts and judgement that day.

Who is your hero, mentor or person you most admire? Why?

I don't have a mentor in the traditional sense. Mentor implies guidance with someone more experienced and possibly older. I like the use of the word Muse: any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences 2: a source of inspiration; especially: a guiding genius

I view my students as my collective Muse. Each year there is always a group of 12-15 students that are creative, smart and willing to take risks. We jell in the first few weeks of school and then we are off and running. Some of the students Muses in the past include Doug Blush, Alexis Vennard, Brad Stanley, Peggy Pasternak, Angela Zimmerman, Kyle Houchens, Sue van de Ryt, Jason Krause, Barbara Schweitzer, Dan Eller and Tommy Chen. Some of the Muses were international students from Germany and France: Helene, Moritz, Thomas, Anja and Guido. I don't dare list this year's Muses. I don't want infighting to break out! If any students of the class of 1998 ask me, the answer is Yes, you're on the list.

These students were my colleagues and believers as I wrote courses to integrate technology into the curriculum. "We" have been successful in bringing Advanced Placement Studio Art, Advanced Placement Art History, Photography II, Video Production, Global Village Project, Atlas and The WebMaster School to Rochester Community Schools. The students were always willing to go the extra mile whether it was make a presentation to the School Board or work beyond the school day to put in the sweat equity needed to have the creative classroom/lab they wanted.

What are you most proud of (either professionally or personally)?

I feel a great sense of accomplishment with the establishment of The WebMaster School. The project called on all of the skills I'd developed over 25 years in education. Developing business partnerships, developing community support, aligning administrative "buy in" and the most essential component- a high interest from the students themselves. The course is entitled The WebMaster School and covers Web site design and file management. It allows visually creative kids to develop the skills needed to enter the 21st century marketplace. I feel it was a great accomplishment to write the $89,000.00 grant for the implementation of the course.

I have witnessed a number of projects that receive national funding that have spent too many dollars buying cell phones, laptops and luncheons for mid level administrators in temporary federal/ state programs. Too few of those dollars reach the students and teacher. I am a strong advocate of educational reform. Reform will leave the drawing board and impact students when funds are properly allocated to allow the classroom teachers to develop programs. The practitioners know what needs to be done. I hope the WebMaster School is a model for this type of empowerment.

Personally I am proud that I have learned to manage the rheumatoid arthritis that I have had since I was 27. It has been a struggle at times, and I have had to a pass up jobs and opportunities, but the disease had made me prioritize my goals and learn to keep on going through pain and fatigue. My husband Jim has been my tether through all of this.

What advice would you give to young women who want to enter your field?

Depth of Knowledge
The programs I have witnessed as the most viable integration programs all have a teacher at the helm that has a wealth of experience and a depth of knowledge outside the field of technology. Be the best science teacher, language arts teacher or visual arts teacher you can be, and look for ways to link it to other subjects and colleagues via technology. Also, learn how technology works. Be able to install memory and an Ethernet card, troubleshoot addressing problems and transfer files and configure your software. Knowledge of the basics will keep you from being hoodwinked.

Global Faculty
Women who are going into education today must be prepared to see themselves as part of a global faculty. The Internet allows us to communicate and collaborate with schools worldwide. You might find more in common with teachers half way around the globe then down the hall. Maximize this potential. Educators are beginning to use the phrase K-16. I advocate the day when there is less division between the K-12 and university faculties and educational institutions. Easing this division would be a long-term goal. It will be a slow evolution, but one that technology will demand.

Technology Integration
As a young teacher, do not implement technology for technology sake. Select it as an educational resource when it is the best choice. Technology is not just the computer. I have witnessed video, audio and multimedia as powerful learning tools when the students have been able to create with the medium. Avoid drill and kill prepackaged software.

Nay sayers
Be prepared for the naysayers. We know who they are! They are the folks symbolized at the end of the technology integration charts that want to continue using the purple dittos from 1972. These are the colleagues that want to teach to their own needs (comfort zone) and not the needs of students who will live their life in the 21st century. Hopefully early retirement or buyouts are in their future. The push toward block scheduling and year round school will demand changes in the delivery of instruction.

Work With Administrators
Take a leadership role in building committees. Learn the workings of your district. When you have a project that you would like to implement, you will know where it fits in the district plan. You will also know whom to contact for support and initial planning.

I can think of a handful of administrators who always supported technology integration: Bev Geltner, Marcia Gibbens, Caye Randolph, Jim Steeby and Bev Stone.

What is your favorite book?

Can a laptop be a book? I ask this hesitantly because neo-Luddites fear the passing of books as we know them.

I respect the content of books as well as the craft of bookbinding. Favorite books include "The Book of Kells," and Leonardo de Vinci's sketchbooks. I like the author George Sand, more for the chutzpa that lead her to write then for her actual storyline. I found empathy in A. S. Neill 's account of wrangling with educational bureaucrats ("Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood"). Howard Gardnier's writings on multiple intelligences are relevant to my work. I'm also interested in the concept of Artists Books.

My computer sits on my lap and as a good book allows it gives access to ideas and people beyond my immediate geographic area. Like A.S. Neil's book I can find kindred educators online. I can save information, make notes and write reflections. It is my electronic sketchbook. I sketch with my Wacom tablet and import digital images and share the work by "hanging a show" electronically. It has replaced the stack of periodicals I bought each month. They are now delivered electronically, in a format I can readily use. My laptop allows me to go beyond the book; I can become a publisher myself. The middleman is eliminated Ébut as many Internet critics warn, so is the editor!

What is your favorite Web site?

My first choice is the work of my students at our three Web sites:

• The WebMaster School
• Global Village Project
• Atlas

I also like sites that freely share information about Web site creation. WebMonkey and Microsoft Site Builder come to mind.

What do you see as the single most interesting element of your work?

I think the blend of my areas of study and experience with technology: visual arts, art history, world history and electronic arts. I attended a conference in Argentina several years ago and it was apparent that most colleagues involved with educational telecommunications were text-based. This observation gave me the confidence to continue to explore the multimedia aspects of technology and it's implementation into core curriculum.

What was your darkest moment (professionally) and what did you learn from it?

I sought out a partnership to expand the delivery of the online courses I had written. I entered the partnership to have a larger educational institution help deliver the curriculum. The institution was reluctant to sign contacts, outline duties and acknowledge service marks and intellectual property rights. The institution took the author's, students', school's and district's names off the curriculum work and submitted it as their own grant material to a national leader in technology. I became aware of it by accident and had to get copies of it by requesting them via the Freedom of Information Act. I hired my own attorney to file a cease and desist order.

I have become more skeptical, I get it all in writing before anything begins and realize many in "high places" don't have the vision or creativity and don't want peers to have recognition. They unfortunately are very disconnected from the actual act of instruction. I am happy to say that after this experience those who witnessed it have nominated my work for grants and stipends.

What do you do to relax?

My husband and I relax with our labs Thor and Whitney. We enjoy walking them on The Paint Creek Trail, a rails-to-trails path in our community.

We both like researching genealogy. I hope to put the Wendt family tree on the domain my husband gave me for Christmas: ceil.com

We also like to travel. We have traveled to all the continents except Antarctica. When I need a quick moment of relaxation I take a mental journal back to the Great Wall of China, The British Museum or whale watching in Porto Madrin in Argentina.