Daniel Ibanez
Digital Painting: Confluence of Art and Technology
Daniel began his art career at 14 when he apprenticed with renowned artist, Ray Vinella. His grasp of painting developed quickly. By his early twenties, he was represented in top galleries in Taos, Denver, and Colorado Springs. Daniel was featured in Southwest Art Magazine as one of America’s most talented artists. It was a dream moment in the young artist’s life.
In spite of his success, he became bored with painting still-life, landscape, and traditional subject matter. Mostly, he became disillusioned with the way he understood painting. It was at that moment he stopped showing his work and instead invested in other passions. Having been a professional artist since age 17, he needed new insight about the nature of his work. His break from painting anticipated the most dynamic period of his career.
Daniel has since returned to art making with a renewed passion. His current work explores the meeting between painting, technology, and education. That relationship has been fruitful for Daniel. For him, there is a vibrant energy at confluence of art and emerging technology. Forbes magazine recently interviewed him on this topic, exploring why he is currently followed by 1.6 million viewers online. The book publishing deals and collaborative opportunities that have followed from this collision of art and technology are shaping the way he approaches and understands art.
Digital painting is an outgrowth of Daniel’s exploration. This new medium is dramatically changing the way he creates and teaches art. The technology will be a central part of the talk he is giving at the 2013 TED Front Range lecture series. Daniel is excited to share this knowledge with the youth in Poudre School District.
PATTY DORLAC: Teacher for the “Can it Fly “ elementary class.
I love flight and things that fly! As a chairman at the World’s Largest Airshow: AirVenture, I have a great background to share my experiences in aviation with children.
As a 6th grade teacher for 3 years and current kindergarten teacher, I will share a great deal of historical and geographical information and provide PLENTY of hands on experiences!
HOLD on as we head into a great class about what can fly…what makes it fly…and, CAN YOU FLY IT!??
Dr. Laura Sample-McMeeking
Laura Sample McMeeking is a Research Scientist II in the STEM Center at Colorado State University. Laura works with faculty and staff at CSU and others outside of CSU to develop and implement high quality research and evaluation in STEM education. Before she joined the STEM Center she did research in Meteorology and Atmospheric Chemistry. Her love of all things weather-related began when she was young, living in south Texas where she experienced severe weather every year. Now, she hopes to spread that passion for weather to others by investigating how people learn STEM concepts while having fun at the same time.
Dr. Matt Rogers
Matt Rogers is a Research Scientist II at Colorado State University, where he works for the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), a joint CSU-NOAA program. Matt splits his time between satellite remote sensing and numerical weather prediction of cloud properties for use in the solar power sector and education and outreach tasks on behalf of CIRA. Dr. Rogers previously served as the education and public outreach lead for the NASA CloudSat mission and served on the science team for the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission. His primary objective is to make staring out the window at clouds into a real, paying job, and to encourage others to do likewise.
Amy Schmer
Amy has taught 5th and 6th grades in Poudre School District for 14 years. She continues to teach EDU 340, Literacy and The Learner, at Colorado State University. She also organizes and teaches an Eco-Experience class to her peers at Pingree Park in the summer. Amy was Eyestone Elementary 2008 Teacher of the Year and Preston Middle Schools Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011 school year. Amy comes highly qualified in Science and has a Masters degree in Technology. Amy is married and has two children, ages 10 and 6. They love the outdoors and boating in the summer is a weekly activity. “I am thrilled that I’ll be bringing my passion, energy and fun spirit to the STEM program again this summer! Last summer was a blast and I learned right along with the kids. I plan to do the same this summer!”
Mike Viney
Melissa Vigil
Mary Hunter-Laszlo
Mary Hunter-Laszlo is a middle school science teacher who spent the last year on sabbatical helping with research on how students learn science. She enjoys teaching scientific practices where students get a better understanding how scientists actually work. She has participated in Research Experience for Teachers (RET’s) several times, traveling to the Arctic, on the north slope of Alaska to help with data collection in the Arctic tundra. Volunteering as a robotics coach for the past 11 years and teaching robotics classes has lead to an interest in engineering practices and promoting both science and engineering as future career choices in young people.
Rob Deakin
Dawn Dupriest
Dawn teaches seventh-grade math at Preston Middle School. Before finding her way to teaching, she was a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies for nine years, writing programs to test cell phones and fiber-optic devices. As a college student, she taught computer programming courses and really enjoyed the logic, problem-solving, and mathematics involved. She looks forward to the STEM institute each year and loves to see the creative ideas that students put into their programs.
Martha Cranor
Martha graduated from Baylor University with a degree in Mathematics in 1977. She earned a Master of Science in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1983. After completing the coursework towards a PhD in Statistics at CSU, she stayed home to work on her “mother degree” instead of finishing the PhD degree. While earning her degrees, Martha taught Finite Mathematics, Calculus I, Calculus II, and Statistics at the universities where she studied. During her public school teaching years, her expertise has always focused on gifted math education. She taught Accelerated Connected Math 3, Integrated Algebra 1 and Integrated Algebra 3 at Preston Junior High for eight years, and currently teaches at Fossil Ridge High School, where her class assignments over the past five years have included AP Calculus, AP Statistics, College Algebra, Precalculus, Algebra 2, and Geometry. She was the coach for Preston’s highly successful MathCounts teams from 2002 through 2009. She has coached the Fossil Ridge Knowledge Bowl team since 2010, and this team has won first place for the state of Colorado in 2012 and 2013. The team just returned from a national contest in Washington DC in which the JV team placed first! In 2006, The Colorado Council of Teachers of Math named Martha as the Outstanding Math Teacher for Region IV. She also was named to Who’s Who Among American Teachers by former students and has been the subject of essays to the American Women in Mathematics biography contest. In 2011, Martha was selected to be one of fifty classroom teachers from around the United States to be named a Siemens STEM Institute Fellow. Martha counts as one of her proudest moments the honor of being nationally recognized in 2007 as a Math Hero by the Raytheon Corporation because she LOVES helping people see the beauty that she sees in mathematics! On a personal note, Martha wants readers to know that none of her accomplishments in the sphere of spreading her love of mathematics would have been possible without numerous mentors along the way, especially her incredibly supportive husband and sons – Dave, David, and Matthew.
Becky Knips
Game On! That’s the motto Becky Knips lives by every day in her classroom at Lesher Middle School. Becky has taught Web 2.0, Game Programming, Web Design, and Yearbook to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders for the past 6 years. Her days of geeking out started back in kindergarten when she would load the 5.5” floppy disk onto the Apple IIe computer and play Oregon Trail. Since conquering the Oregon Trail, Becky has moved on to get an undergraduate degree in Computer Education from Dakota State University and a master’s degree in Educational Technology from the University of Northern Colorado. When she’s not glued to her tablet, phone, and/or desktop computer, Becky enjoys being outdoors at her family’s log cabin in Pingree Park and attempting to complete all of her projects on Pinterest.
Joel Peterson
Shane Edler
Rich Johnson
Kevin Murray
Science and technology inspire, engage and excite Mr. Murray. As a biology and earth science teacher at Fossil Ridge High, he engages students in technology-driven activities that involve more than just computers. At the STEM institute Mr. Murray teaches the green technology course, that surveys the biotech fields, and green technology that investigates green building designs as well as wind and solar energy production. He went to Westfield State College in Massachusetts and Walden University and has earned a M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership. Mr. Murray has been teaching for eight years. He is looking forward to the stem institute and the summer; when he will be exploring the mountains with his kids and wife.
Ryan Martine
Math is a part of so many things in our daily life and Ryan is dedicated to show his students how math applies to their everyday lives. He uses technology on a daily basis in his classroom and is an example to other teachers on how to use the advances in technology in all subjects. His dedications to his students help them strive to look deeper into math concepts. He is not only a math teacher at Preston; he is also the department chair.
Tracey Winey
As the Media Specialist at Preston, Tracy has been instrumental in making sure the school and the staff has all the tools needed to teach in this technological age. She has a love of books as well as technological and brings the world to the school through video conferencing. Her passion for teaching is evident in all her contacts with the students.
Scott Sandell
Scott is the Technology and Engineering Teacher at Boltz Junior High School. In his 15 years of teaching, he has taught all the Science and Technology classes offered at Boltz. Before teaching, Scott was an Electrical Engineer at Woodward Governor Company. As an Engineer, he spent 10 years designing, testing, selling, and installing jet engine controls in power plants. His goal is to bring this real world experience to the STEM institute so the students will get a taste of Engineering as a career while having fun designing unique vehicles.
John Howe
John graduated from the University of South Dakota and received his masters in administration from the University of Wyoming. He was awarded the Secondary School Assistant Principal of the year award in Wyoming. As the assistant principal at Preston Middle High he inspires student on a daily basis to achieve more than they think possible. One of his great loves is flying. He is a pilot and an officer in the Civil Air Patrol. He has taught Flight Simulator for over 20 years and has motivated countless students to continue on with aviation in their adult lives.
Alice Arbogast
Alice grew up in California within miles of the Pacific, and her enthusiasm for the ocean and for ocean life began early. She pursued her passion at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology, summa cum laude. After working for several years in marine education, aquaristing, and scuba diving instruction, Alice obtained her Colorado Teacher License through the University of Northern Colorado. She currently teaches at Preston Middle School.
Dan Lowndes
Dan Lowndes has worked at Preston Middle School for the past twelve years teaching Adventure Ed, Outdoor Living, and P.E. While at Preston Dan has helped to start and run the outing club which offers students the ability to try outdoor experiences outside of school. The outing club has taken groups Mtn Biking, rock climbing, hiking at Horsetooth, Greyrock, and Arthurs Rock, backpacking, Skiing/Snowboarding, and night hiking. Dan has attended Eco week as chaperone for students since Preston has become a Middle School and focuses on teaching map and compass skills while there. Dan has coached football and has run our intramural program for sixth grade students. Prior to Preston Dan has worked as a program manager at Foothills Gateway as well as teaching at Trailhead Wilderness School.
Heidi Olinger
Heidi Olinger is an award-winning educator, writer and speaker who lives in Colorado. For teaching excellence, she has been honored by the Boettcher Foundation and others. She is the founder + CEO of Pretty Brainy, creator of educational materials to support teachers in exciting students about learning and in preparing them, especially girls, to pursue the broadest of career options. In 2012 InnovatioNews named Pretty Brainy “An educational leader for STEM education.”
Ryan James
Ryan grew up in Fort Collins and is a proud product of Poudre School District and CSU. He spent five years traveling around the world and teaching SCUBA diving to kids aged 10 to 85. He is proud to have been to over 40 different countries and hopes to see many more in the future. Ryan is now back in Fort Collins and is a teacher in Poudre School District. He is looking forward to bringing his positive energy to the STEM institute.
Shane Edler
Shane Edler graduated from University of Northern Iowa with a degree in Secondary Technology Education and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at CSU. Shane has taught Technology Education at Preston Middle School since 2001, including classes such as Robotics, Aviation, 3D Design (Solidworks), and Media Technology with a live broadcast every morning. He has been teaching at the STEM Institute since its inception, including Video Production, Robotics, Advanced Robotics and 3D Design. He enjoys demonstrating cutting edge technology, where the students are able to build and program their own robot. Shane Edler also enjoys coaching Football in the fall semester and Track in the spring semester. In his spare time he enjoys hiking and biking in the outdoors with his wife and two young daughters here in Fort Collins.
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