Teacher given honor for technology by Microsoft

Bryan Ahrens

Vincent Interrante, a science teacher at Mineola’s Jackson Avenue School and Mineola Middle School, was honored by Microsoft in November as a leader in bringing technology to the classroom.

Interrante was one of 100 in the county and 800 worldwide to be acknowledged as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2015, which is given to teachers who show they can incorporate technology into the learning experience, he said.

“I’m glad to be able to collaborate with students and teachers using these kinds of technologies,” he said.

Interrante said he started a project with his students this year that involved renewable energy and wind turbines. Through the use of programs like Microsoft Office 365, he said, he was able to collaborate with his students more closely.

“I could be working on a document and they could be working on a document at the same time,” Interrante said. “We could reference what each other has.”

The program will begin in 2015 and runs for a year, he said. During the year he will be working to create projects both locally and internationally with teachers from around the world.

In 2011, Interrante started an Acer Netbook program for the district and had students design and create model rockets using netbooks. He also participated in the United States Educator Forum, where he was able to collaborate with other educators from around the nation.

Interrante said he is looking forward to the opportunity to be able to help Mineola further grow in its use of technology in the classroom this year.

“Collaborating with like-minded educators and being able to bring a plethora of information back to the Mineola community to enhance learning is really great,” he said.

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