Nomination+Statement

Bridget Belardi is currently the Library Media Specialist at Foster Elementary School in Mt. Lebanon School District. She is a state-level Keystone Technology Integrator, the chair of Pennsylvania School Librarian Association ’s Curriculum Committee, and the Events Coordinator for the Discovery Education Leadership Council. As the chair of the Curriculum Committee, Bridget is working on creating a state-wide “suggested ” curriculum to include digital resources and lesson plans to encourage all PA librarians to embrace the value of 21st Century Learning. As the Events Coordinator, she hosts events like the American Film Institute and day long technology workshops at Fallingwater for all teachers in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. She presented at Discovery Headquarters at the 2008 National Teacher ’s Institute and the 2009 Discovery National Institute in San Francisco and the state librarian association on utilizing GPS units, Geocaching and Google Maps in the classroom. This summer she will travel to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for an intense science and technology study with some of her students.
 * __Outstanding Teacher of the Year __**
 * Bridget Belardi **

Within her own district, Bridget paired with her Director of Technology to create the first “Administrator 2.0 Academy ” during the summer of 2007. They went one-on-one with every administrator to show them a personalized view and set the value of utilizing 2.0 tools in the classroom. Because of those sessions, all schools (including administrators, teachers and students) now have access to the blogs established for discussion, wikis used for collaboration and numerous Web 2.0 tools that were previously blocked and/or not used due to a lack of education on the benefits for students. Bridget and Chris presented this concept at the PA Educational Technology Conference in 2008 and many statewide Intermediate Unit events and continually hear of other schools now reaping the same benefits and increased student achievement.

Within the building, Bridget has written grants to acquire 15 GPS units for the school and 35 handheld computers and serves as the school web master. She has organized professional development days dubbed “Tech Tuesdays ” where teachers come to learn and practice a new tool after school. She also organized lunch clubs for students for filming web shows and podcast shows and/or participate in the Computer Club where students can expand on the ideas learned in class and collaborate and incorporate creativity. She enjoys team-teaching with the classroom teachers to expand the boundaries of student learning.

Bridget was awarded the “Outstanding Student of the Year ” in the University of Pittsburgh ’s Library and Information Science program in 2007 and was recognized as one of Western Pennsylvania ’s 50 Teachers of Excellence in 2008.