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Brenda’s first teaching assignment was in her native Raleigh County. The field of education was of so much interest to her she decided to join the West Virginia State Department of Education in the area of business education and became the executive director in the Office of Technology. Here she became involved with software implementation for different levels of education in the state, from basic skills K-6 to federal educational technical programs.
Her latest accomplishment and challenge is the implementation of the new SAS inSchool Program, award-winning educational software that is a part of the Curriculum Pathways and supports the No Child Left Behind program.
“We had heard about SAS because we deal with instructional software,” said Brenda. “SAS leads the way by finding donors for programs. In this case, SAS contacted Selby Wellman, former senior vice president of Cisco Systems Inc. and a major supporter of Marshall University. When Selby expressed interest, he and SAS representatives contacted our office.”
SAS provides interactive lesson plans, activities for students and ways to integrate technology into the classroom. Any teacher and school in the state is invited to use the online digital content, which focuses quite a deal on the areas which are the most difficult to teach. “The SAS Curriculum Pathways delivers interactive, 21st century learning through quality lessons engaging high order learning skills,” explained Brenda.
“Selby was very thorough in making his decision to support the program,” added Brenda. “He wanted to make sure the software program was both appropriate and would make a difference. We also wanted to make sure it fit the state’s Content Standards and Objectives. Once this was all worked out and we knew this was what we needed, we moved ahead with training through the expertise of SAS, Mark Moore and Donna Landon, staff development trainers.”
The program began during the 2004-05 school year in grades 8 through 12. The next step will include the first two years of college. Marshall University participated last year and now the program has been expanded to other colleges.
“Mr. Wellman has been such a wonderful business partner,” said Brenda. “He really ‘gets it.’ He understands how our economy in West Virginia will depend on the quality of education.
“Professionally, I owe a great deal of my success to several of my Marshall professors,” said Brenda. “Nellie Maude Dailey was my advisor for teacher education and her teachings have withstood the test of time from my student teaching to the present. I have also admired Dr. Robert Alexander. They both were very knowledgeable in their content and knew how to deliver the message for student comprehension.”
For Brenda’s success and interest in providing these state-of-the-art programs, Brenda was one of “Ten Educators of the Decade” in instructional technology as named by Electronic Learning Magazine. She also earned the national 2003-04 SETDA (State Educational Technology Directors Association) Leadership Award, the first award given by her peers.
Brenda is quick to point out that these and other instructional technology program accolades are due to the work of the Office and Technology staff and educators at the county and classroom levels.
In addition to her professional duties, she enjoys participating in church and listening to Southern gospel music. Her husband, Clacy, is a member of the Gospel Harmony Boys out of Huntington. Their son, Chip, is an attorney in Beckley and her daughter, Myla, is in real estate in New York City. |
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As
a child growing up in Sophia in Raleigh County, Brenda Smith
Williams always wanted to be a teacher, just like her next door
neighbor. Brenda’s academic career was geared toward that
profession, beginning with earning a degree in comprehensive
business education from Marshall, then going on to earn two
master’s degrees, one in educational administration from West
Virginia Graduate College in 1982 and another in vocational
education from Marshall in 1983.     |
