Kathy Fredrick has been a diligent educator for about 30 years. She actually began her career in New South Wales, Australia, teaching English to children in grades 7-10. But for the past five years, Kathy has served as director of Library and Instructional Technology in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She is a member of the American Library Association, as well as the International Society for Technology Education. As one of the original SchoolRooms™ contributors, Kathy helped develop the High School Parent Guide, Library Guide and Study and Research Rooms.
 
Kathy was intrigued by the concept of SchoolRooms from the beginning. “The thought of a resource that would combine resources in one portal and provide connections to curriculum standards was a compelling one,” she said.
 
But developing a learning portal from the ground up is no simple task. “As we began to work, the enormity of it set in! But of course, the gauntlet was thrown and I was determined to meet the challenge,” Kathy said. She was joined on the SchoolRooms project by other determined educators. “I was delighted that some of our teachers and librarians were willing to give this uncharted territory a try," she said. "Seeing the full product today is amazing – I’m proud of the collective work we did as educators and I’m eager to spread the word about it.”
 
After participating in the initial development phase, Kathy and some of her fellow educators, along with some new recruits, returned this past summer to create more Rooms. “The second time around was a great time – hard work, but very fulfilling," she said. "And it was good to be able to offer help to those just beginning this summer. Having been through the first go-around, I had a better sense of what my mission was, and could concentrate on finding the very best resources for my Rooms.”
 
Now that SchoolRooms is a fully functioning product, Kathy is working to increase awareness of all that it has to offer in the Shaker Heights district. “We’re still getting the word out about SchoolRooms, and those who worked on the pilot have been great ambassadors for the portal. Our goal is to involve as many students, parents and teachers in using the project as possible. The more, the better.” For the Shaker Heights community, Kathy calls SchoolRooms “a successful project, and one we continue to grow.”
 
Kathy, along with the other educators, will continue to contribute content to SchoolRooms as part of the SchoolRooms Advisory and Maintenance (SAM) group. She said, “After the other phases of the project, SAM seemed like the icing on the cake – it’s fun to find great Web sites that will benefit other educators and students. I’ve always gotten so much from my colleagues in K-12 education that it’s great to have a very visible way of contributing back to them all.” And as for the future? “My expectations are that we’ll continue a good collaboration of finding good educational materials for our students, parents and teachers. What more could we ask for?!” she said.