When Terri Egleberry took over running Nadaburg School's technology lab in 1998, it was a far cry from what it is today.

Egleberry was instrumental in upgrading the lab to 30 student computers.  Along with maintaining the nearly 200 computers on campus, she also set up and maintains a school wide network.  Every classroom and the lab have Internet connections, much faster since a T-1 line was installed last year, which Egleberry also maintains.

Egleberry's days are long and busy, yet this energetic young woman finds time to build and maintain over a dozen Web sites (school related) and participate in seminars, constantly adding to her large stack of technology related certificates.

For three years now, Egleberry has been an instructor for the Savvy Cyber Teacher workshops in three school districts.  These workshops provide an intensive 30-hour course to certified and classified staff on integrating the use of the Internet into curriculum.  The workshops are sponsored by the Stevens Institute of Technology, administered by the Office of Learning Technologies of the U.S. Department of Education. 

Egleberry and second grade teacher, Nancy Heath, co-instruct Nadaburg's Enrichment Class, using guidelines from the USDE's Alliance+ program.  This year's program called "Stowaway", requires students to choose a real-time ship and using the Internet, track it across the oceans to its destination.  They must keep a journal, chart maps, and make a storyboard presentation.  All work is then put on a Web site designed by the student.

Egleberry's work has attracted the attention of Mario Yepes-Baraya, PhD, of the Educational Testing Service, part of a joint effort with the Stevens Institute, which participates with school systems in Cleveland, Miami, and Phoenix.  Ten teachers have been chosen from each of the three sites to participate in a Child Impact Study.  Egleberry is one of them.  She was recently informed that Alliance+ would like to use her Stowaway project as a national model.

The 10 students involved with the Stowaway program will give a public presentation on March 6 at Nadaburg School.  As a reward for their hard work, they will be treated to an actual Carnival Cruise in May.

The Stowaway project can be seen on the Web by going to www.im4kidz.com. Scroll down to the "Stowaway Program" (still under construction).