TxDLA Presents Awards at Annual Conference
Submitted by Linda Solis, UTHSCSA and Laurel Mayo, TCCD 

The Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA) annual conference was held at the Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center on historic Galveston Island March 26-29, 2007. This was the largest such gathering in the state of Texas. 

With a dynamic and diverse membership, it comes as no surprise to learn of the achievements and advances made in distance education by TxDLA’s members and partners. All of the award recipients honored at the conference were nominated by their colleagues within TxDLA.

TxDLA takes pride in recognizing the following individuals, institutions, and corporations for their outstanding contributions to the organization itself as well as the field of distance learning.

The Don Foshee Award for Outstanding Leadership goes to a TxDLA Board Member, Officer, or Committee Chair who has shown a strong personal commitment, given generously of their time, and provided vigorous support for other TxDLA members to become leaders in the Association. This award is presented to Jenny Jopling of the University of Texas at Arlington. Jenny has given thousands of hours of her personal time, effort, and energy leading and supporting TxDLA. This award recognizes that level of commitment. 

The Don Foshee Memorial Grant is awarded in recognition of exceptional ideas and talents applied in a thoughtful, fun and creative manner delivered through distance learning. Roxanne Glaser, Region XII, was the recipient of this award. Her project includes using Moodle and videoconferencing to allow Middle School students to discuss and share books online. The students will also have the opportunity to partner with several local entities, including staff from the Family Abuse Center, Mission Waco, Fort Hood, and local meteorologists. Interacting with these experts will allow the students to extend their understanding of various subjects including domestic abuse, homelessness, the Viet Nam era, and the weather. 

The John A. Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in K-12 Distance Learning is awarded to Allison Pierce, Spanish teacher extraordinaire from Education Service Center XIII. This award recognizes Allison’s commitment to excellence in teaching. Her belief in educating the entire person was noted in no fewer than five nominations! 

The Outstanding Commitment to Excellence awards honor the person, institution or corporation which has done the most to benefit and advance the applied practice of distance learning during the past year. There are two of these awards: Individual and Organization.

Gerri Maglia from Education Service Center XI is the recipient of the Individual award. Gerri’s commitment to distance learning is evidenced by the two Rural Utilities Services Grants awarded to her. She is a leader in finding organizations to provide virtual field trip opportunities. Thanks to this leadership more organizations in the Region XI service territory provide Virtual Field Trip opportunities to students than in the rest of the state combined. 

The Outstanding Commitment to Excellence award in the Organization category goes to The Virtual College of Texas, with Ron Thomson, director. VCT provides Texans access to quality instruction by facilitating the sharing of courses among member colleges. The largest collaboration ever attempted among Texas community and technical colleges, VCT first and foremost serves the needs of individual students. VCT has played a critical role in providing avenues for building collegial relationships among two-year colleges statewide.

The Outstanding Commitment to Service awards fall into three classifications: individual, institution and corporate. These awards are presented to the most committed individuals and organizations: those who “made things happen” for TxDLA in the past year.

Bennie Tschoerner is the recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Service – Individual award. Bennie is a constant in TxDLA, providing countless hours of service to the organization. His focus as the Chief Information Officer has been to make improvements in the area of information resources to help the TxDLA leadership and to better serve its members. 

Lamar Consolidated Independent School District receives the award for Outstanding Commitment to Service – Institution. The service that LCISD provided to the TxDLA over nearly two years is unmatched. During Ken’s tenure with the district, LCISD approved and supported his nomination and election as President-Elect in 2004 knowing that a great deal of his professional time and effort would be focused on TxDLA over his three year commitment. This allowed Ken to devote himself to his duties as President-Elect, then as President, of TxDLA. 

The Outstanding Commitment to TxDLA – Corporation award is presented to The New AT&T. The area that really sets The New AT&T apart from the many others who have graciously committed various levels of financial support to TxDLA over the past year is its level of personal commitment to TxDLA. The New AT&T boasts no fewer than four representatives in TxDLA, including Marci Powell, Vicki Allen, Katie Beedon, and Raymond Hartfield.