From: Vose, Steve <Steve.Vose@state.me.us>
To: "'edutech@informe.org'" <edutech@informe.org>, "'dldiscuss@informe.org'" <dldiscuss@informe.org>
Date: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 1:53 PM
Subject: Endowment Task Force Members Named!
August 15, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LEARNING TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE ANNOUNCED, READY TO BEGIN WORK
AUGUSTA - The Task Force on the Maine Learning Technology Endowment was announced today with appointments from Gov. Angus King, Senate President Mark Lawrence, and Speaker of the House Steven Rowe. The Task Force, created during last spring's legislative session, is charged with the responsibility of recommending the best use of the $50 million technology endowment established in the last session of the Legislature. Gov. King's six appointees include:
Robert Edwards, President of Bowdoin College;
Seymour Papert, a Blue Hill resident and Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
Doug DeCamilla, a teacher at Longfellow Elementary School in Brunswick;
Mary Alyce Higgins, Vice President for Human Resources for Interface Fabrics Group (Guilford of Maine);
Bette Manchester, principal of Mt. Ararat Middle School;
John Lunt, the computer coordinator at Freeport Middle School and the President of the Association of Computer and Tech Educators of Maine.
Senate President Mark Lawrence selected
Senator Sharon Anglin Treat (D-Kennebec);
Senator Carol Kontos (D-Cumberland);
Senator Bruce McKinnon (R-York);
Charles "Wick" Johnson, President of Kennebec Tool and Die, Inc. to serve on the task force.
House Speaker Steven Rowe made the following four appointments:
Neil Rolde of York, author, educator and chair of the board of trustees of Bigelow Laboratories and Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation;
Representative Michael Brennan of Portland, House chair of the Education Committee;
Representative Richard Mailhot of Lewiston, Appropriations Committee member;
Representative Irvin Belanger of Caribou, retired educator and Education Committee member.
In announcing the task force Gov. King remarked, "We've assembled a tremendous group of individuals to study this important issue. In selecting our task force members we sought to have a highly diverse group that could bring a range of perspectives to the task force's deliberations." "Doug DeCamilla, Bette Manchester, and John Lunt all work directly with students on a daily basis and understand what students at the elementary and high school level require in terms of technology and how the concept of learning technology can best be integrated into the classrooms." "As the president of one of the nation's top colleges, Robert Edwards can lend his experiences of seeing where Maine students stand on technology when they enter college and the areas where they need improvement." "Mary Alyce Higgins who is one of the catalysts in Guilford of Maine's partnership on technology with the Guildford schools can help us understand how the use of technology and computers by students can better prepare them as they enter the workforce. Guilford is an example of an "old economy" company which has maintained its competitiveness by embracing technology in its business."
"Maine is fortunate to have a resource such as Seymour Papert to tap in cases like these. He's not only known around the world for his work in utilizing technology to enhance education, but he cares deeply for the students here in Maine and wants to see them excel to their fullest potential."
President Lawrence said of the task force members, "I have great confidence that the people that have been chosen to work on the Maine Technology Endowment Task Force. They are all dedicated and experienced professionals in the fields of education and/or applied technology, and bring to the table the experience and enthusiasm to make the most of this opportunity." "The Internet and technology advances are creating a new economy. In the past four years information technology has been responsible for more than a third of our country's economic expansion. The challenge to Maine is clear: Our children must have the computer skills to excel. And our schools must have the technology resources needed to provide quality education," said House Speaker Steven Rowe. "This task force has a critically important job. It must develop a plan for integrating new technologies into the educational process. This technology can be a powerful learning tool, but only if our children have access to it. Therefore, our goal must be to ensure that every child in every Maine school becomes technologically literate at an early age," Rowe said.
In addition to the appointees from Gov. King, President Lawrence, and Speaker Rowe, the task force will include Education Commissioner J. Duke Albanese, Commissioner of Administrative & Financial Services Janet Waldron, and Public Utilities Chairman Tom Welch (non-voting). The first meeting of the task force will occur by August 31st with their report to the Legislature due by December 15th.
Contact: Tony Sprague (Governor's Office) 287-2531, David Bragdon (Speaker's Office) 287-1300, and Mary Beth Stuart (President's Office) 287-1500
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