S-W administrator wins award

SUSSEX BOROUGH — The Sussex-Wantage Regional School District's Director of Curriculum and Professional Development Patrick Higgins, received the Make IT Happen Award from the International Society for Technology in Education.

The award recognizes outstanding educators who are dedicated to improving digital learning opportunities for students. The award winner was announced at the annual conference of the New Jersey Educational Computing Cooperative (NJECC) held at Montclair State University on Jan. 13, which was attended by hundreds of educators from around the state.

Higgins serves on the NJECC Board of Trustees.

"We are very proud of Mr. Higgins and know that he deserves this award for improving technology education, not just here in Sussex-Wantage, but throughout the state," Superintendent Jeanne Apryasz said. "He has been instrumental in working with the IT department and teachers to implement one-to-one Chromebooks, digital tools, STEAM classes, and effective instructional practices to help students learn in a high-tech environment."

Higgins approach to integrating technology in the classroom starts with the student and sound instructional practices, not the hardware and software.

"This was quite a surprise, as I've always believed that learning should be discussed first, well before any technology is added to the discussion." Higgins said. "Technology has always been in service of learning, but now we've begun to see, in many cases, the technology will drive the learning, and we must be ready for that. Our teachers are preparing our students to be agile, independent, pragmatic and creative all at once. The work we've begun in Sussex-Wantage over the past few years is a testament to our whole community, parents and teachers alike, and their belief in the children and schools, and their desire to prepare them for the best future possible."