Dr. Caposey Earns ‘Making IT Happen’ Award

Caposey earns ‘Making IT Happen’ Award from METC
On Feb. 12 at the Midwest Education Technology Community’s (METC) annual conference in St. Charles, Missouri Dr. PJ Caposey will be awarded the Making IT Happen – Outstanding Leader award. As the EdTech program of EducationPlus, a non-profit, membership driven organization, the Midwest Education Technology Community (METC) is dedicated to assisting the education community through support, promotion, and leadership in the effective use of educational technology. The annual conference has been taking place for over 35 years and draws educators from throughout the Midwest.
Caposey was nominated for this prestigious recognition by his peers including neighboring superintendent, Dr. Thomas Mahoney.
“PJ has shown tremendous commitment and vision in bringing relevant educational technology to his district. It takes courage to ensure technology remains a priority in times of economic uncertainty and he did that through both traditional and creative methods. His district is much better for it,” Mahoney stated.
Dr. Caposey’s statements indicate that he is tremendously honored by the recognition, but also notes his district still has work to do.
“I feel like we have done a tremendous job of ‘catching up’, but we are certainly not ahead. We have gains to make and plans on how to get there. I am just exceptionally pleased that our students now have the tools of the day in their hands and therefore we have made our schools a much more relevant place to be for our kids.”
Caposey credits his Board of Education for believing in technology as a priority and his faculty and staff for being both patient in waiting and open-minded to new programming and resources.
Notable technology improvements under Caposey’s leadership include:
• Total district re-wiring for improved connectivity
• Wired capacity for increased cameras and security measures
• Purchase of over 2,000 new devices for student use
• Ubiquitous access to Chromebooks and WiFi in every classroom in the district
• Added firewalls, security, and redundancy to all major technology systems
• Partnered with OCUSD 220 to share Technology Director services in order to share expertise and save money from 2014-2018
• Leveraged many software partners including MyOn, Renaissance, PearDeck, and Prodigy among others to compliment the use of the Google suite
• Incentivized Google Certification programs for faculty