Jane Soung, a journalist based in the Chicago suburbs, has the inside scoop on the world of elementary school education. Her husband is a music teacher at a suburban public school. A graduate of Indiana University with degrees in journalism and cello performance, Soung wrote about CDW•G’s fourth annual Education Contest (“Talented Teens Take Off With Tech ,” p. 64) for this issue. When she isn’t writing, Soung likes to bike, run, travel and play chamber music.

Kathleen Beck Schrock is the administrator for technology at Nauset Public Schools in Orleans, Mass., where she is in charge of infusing technology into the curriculum. A former library media specialist, Schrock wrote “Closing the Gender Gap ” on p. 22, a column on approaches that encourage girls and boys to develop technology skills and interests. When she’s not busy at school, Schrock lives in a geodesic dome and watches Days of Our Lives. She has written six books about the Internet.

 

Susie Sullivan, a senior editor for Ed Tech magazine, recently interviewed soccer star Mia Hamm at the Chicago launch of the NikeGO Head Start initiative. (See “Girl Power ” on p. 72.) A former attorney, Sullivan is relatively new to the world of publishing, but already loves it. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two teenagers and four dogs.

 

Matthew S. VanderVen is the director of computer technology at Ramapo Central School District in Hillburn, N. Y. VanderVen is featured in “PCs and Macs Unite ” (p. 59) and wrote the article’s accompanying sidebar, “Students Get the Best of Mac and PC Worlds” (p. 62). “Understanding computer technology is a requisite skill in the 21st century,” VanderVen says.

Charles B. Flynn, featured in “A Second Tour of Duty ” on p. 25, wrote “History of a Teacher ” on p. 18. He brings more than 20 years of U.S. Navy experience to the classroom. Flynn is one of more than 7,600 retired military leaders who have joined Troops to Teachers, a program started by the Department of Defense to place veterans in schools. He teaches technology in Lee, Mass. The classroom is a very different world from the military, but Flynn enjoys reaching out to and motivating students.