A New Audience

Educational technology has been a passion of mine since the very beginning of my teaching career, back when I was handed an original Promethean board and an iPad simply because "none of the other teachers wanted them." I took them and ran with it.

Fast forward through nearly 20 years in education: as a classroom teacher, that room was my second home and my absolute comfort zone. Now, as a Technology Director, my audience is usually my own district’s teachers and staff during PD and inservice days—still very much my home territory.

Then came late last spring. With the AMAZING support of a friend and colleague, I was introduced to the ways of "vibe coding," and my world hasn't been the same since. We’ve managed to save our district tens of thousands of dollars by replacing bloated subscriptions with custom-built tools that do exactly what we need them to do—usually without any extra fees or fluff.

So, when a colleague approached me a month ago to suggest I apply to present at USA Kansas's AI & Innovation Conference, my first instinct was to laugh it off. But as I thought about everything we’ve been building lately, it hit me: MAYBE I actually do have something valuable to share outside of our district lines.

I won't lie—the thought of stepping out in front of a brand-new statewide crowd is a little unnerving. Hopefully, I have a fresh prescription for my anxiety meds before December rolls around! But I’m excited to share what we've learned and show other educators what’s possible when you take control of your own tech solutions.