Southdown Primary School second grade teacher Valerie Murray was honored at the Association of Suffolk Supervisors for Educational Technologies “Bright Lights” luncheon at Timber Point Country Club in Great River for her “extraordinary contributions to integrating technology in our schools.”
“I am extremely honored and humbled to have received this award from ASSET,” Ms. Murray said. “I love teaching and I love incorporating technology in my classroom across all content areas. I believe the students in my classroom are the future and it is my role to give my students the technology tools they need for their future to succeed.”
Southdown teacher Valerie Murray has been honored for integrating technology into classroom education.
Nominated by Marybeth Robinette, Huntington UFSD’s director of assessment, instructional technology and elementary math, Ms. Murray is highly regarded by her faculty colleagues. She is a technology mentor for Southdown’s second and third grade teachers.
“Valerie provides professional development to staff that focuses on building each teacher’s technology toolbox,” Southdown Principal Scott Oshrin said. “She focuses on how teachers can successfully incorporate applications such as Nearpod, Flipgrid, Bunceee and more to help maximize student engagement. She has also provided professional development at the Long Island technology summit, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the ASSET conference.”
Ms. Murray studied at St. Joseph’s College where she earned an undergraduate degree in elementary and special education and a graduate degree in literacy and cognition. “I love finding new innovative technology tools to share with my colleagues and my students to promote their voices in my classroom,” she said.
ASSET strives to “enhance teaching and learning in Long Island and New York school districts through the use of computers and other educational technologies by encouraging the integration of technology into the curriculum and ensuring that our students are provided with the educational opportunities necessary to prepare them for careers and college.”
Huntington UFSD has made integrating technology into every classroom a priority. The district has invested substantial sums as it pursues its technological goals.
“Some of my favorite technology tools are Nearpod, Flipgrid and Buncee,” Ms. Murray said. “All of these tools empower my students and allow my students to take on leadership roles in my classroom. I am so thankful to be part of the Huntington School District, which makes technology such a priority and promotes technology integration across all grade levels. I want to give a special thank you to Ms. Marybeth Robinette for nominating me for this award and always making sure all the students in Huntington have the technology resources available to them. I also want to thank my building Principal Mr. Scott Oshrin for always supporting me on integrating new ideas in the classroom. Most importantly I want to thank my students because they are the reason I do what I do every day. I love each and every one of them and I learn from them each and every day. They are the reason I do what I do. I do it for the kids and I am excited to continue to find new ways and ideas to integrate technology into the classroom for my students.”
Southdown is on the cutting edge of using technology in daily lessons across every academic discipline and Ms. Murray is in the middle of that campaign.
“For as strong and competent as she is at incorporating technology into her lessons, Valerie is even better at creating positive relationships with her students,” Mr. Oshrin said. “Her students love her! She is an incredible asset to our school and district.”