LHRIC Pioneer Awards - Past Winners 2008-2009 Pioneer Awards Ceremony Honors Diverse Group - Two technology directors, from Nanuet and Clarkstown, and two elementary school teachers, from  the Hastings School District were among this year’s Pioneer Award-winners honored for their commitment to education and their ability to successfully integrate technology into the curriculum. Dr. Bill Daggett, president of the International Center for Leadership in Education, described what must be done to prepare students for the 21st century.   2007-2008 More than 115 people attended the awards ceremony at the Rye Town Hilton on May 16, held to honor districts and individuals from Lakeland, Brewster and Mahopac as pioneers of instructional technology. Guest speaker Ian Jukes, author of “Understanding Digital Kids: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape," accomplished his self-proclaimed mission to give his audience “a kick in the assumptions” and provoke listeners into thinking about how kids think. More>> 2006-2007 Hawthorne Cedar Knolls, Pelham, the Tarrytowns and Somers were among the school districts whose educators were honored by the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center at its 14th Annual Pioneer Awards, held April 20 at the Westchester Marriott.   Dr. Rudolph “Rudy” Crew, Superintendent of the Miami-Dade Public Schools and former chancellor of New York City Public Schools, was keynote speaker. More>> 2005-2006 The Putnam Valley Central School District, the Ramapo Central School District's Superintendent of Schools, a library media specialist in East Ramapo, an English teacher in Lakeland and a technology teacher in South Orangetown were among the recipients of the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center's Pioneer Awards, which were handed out at a conference held April 21st in Westchester.The keynote speaker at the conference was John Kuglin. More>> 2004-2005 The White Plains School District was the recipient of the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center's Pioneer Award for their video-conferencing initiative. A new award, Distinguished Technology Leader was presented to Linda Brandon, Coordinator of Instructional Technology from the Lakeland School District. The keynote speaker at the conference was Robert Runcie, the Chief Information Officer for the Board of Education of the City of Chicago. More>> 2003-2004 The Lakeland Central School District and the Brewster Central School District were the recipients April 22 of the 2004 Pioneer Award for Innovation in Educational Technology, given at the 11th Annual Technology Conference sponsored by the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center. The conference, held at the Hilton Tarrytown and attended by approximately 140 school district administrators and teachers, featured demonstrations of work done in both winning districts that earned them the Pioneer Award. Twelve school districts competed for the award. More>> 2002-2003 This year, the LHRIC presented dual Pioneer Awards to the Haverstraw Stony Point/North Rockland Central School District and the Hendrick Hudson School District. The Haverstraw Stony Point Central School District was recognized for its commitment to bringing the Waterford Early Learning program to elementary students and for bringing web based communications to the middle and high school learning communities through eChalk. The Hendrick Hudson School District was recognized for its commitment to better instruction through an understanding of its student data. It was in early 1997 when the district came to the LHRIC with a request to collect as much data about students as possible and make that available to administrators and eventually teachers. > More>> 2001-2002 This year, the LHRIC presented dual Pioneer Awards to the Scarsdale Public Schools and the Mahopac Central School District. Scarsdale received the award for its work with digital media, redesigning curriculum using the technology to teach and learn in a more meaningful way. They were also recognized for their generosity in sharing their work with our region and throughout the country. Mahopac won the award for establishing the first home-school Internet link in this region, between parents and teachers. With the use of Parent Connect a web-based application, parents are able to access their children's up to date information from anywhere anytime, enabling them to be dynamically involved in their children's educational experience. 2000-2001 Byram Hills Central School District for providing a professional development program that integrates web-enabled activities into the k-12 curricula. Essential to their technology initiative is the idea of the "learning community" in which people - educators, administrators and staff - are dedicated to learning together in an environment that encourages dialogue, feedback, reflection and empowerment. The web-enabled activities that are created promote standards, higher order thinking skills, cooperative learning, and foster real-world situations in the classroom. 1999-2000 Pleasantville School District for providing an informational website helping teens make Clear Choices about drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, stress and violence. This project in conjunction with Jeanne Pirro's Westchester County Attorney's Office, continues to help teenagers all over the world with their insightful tips. 1998-1999 Pocantico Hills School for a thoughtful, imaginative and innovative Website full of learning for both the creators and the visitors. The Pocantico Hills School Website includes the award winning "Harriet Tubman & The Underground Railroad" site as well as the "Children's Encyclopedia of Women", the "Tibet-The Buddha's Art of Healing" site and the "Picture Book of Vietnam" -just to name a few. Each element of the Pocantico Hills School Website is a learning journey created by students. 1997-1998 White Plains City School District, for being the first metro school network in the three districts. Mahopac Central School Schools , for an innovative staff development program designed to help kids develop web pages. Ramapo Central Schools , for being a technology leader in passing a 10.6 million technology plan with 33% of that money used for staff development. Rye City Schools, for being a leader in technology planning. 1996-1997 East Ramapo Central Schools, for being a pioneering district in networking, technology planning and participating in the innovative Technology Activities Database.