Chris Webb, an Adventist teacher from TAPA (Taipei Adventist Preparatory Academy) and currently known as TPCA (The Primacy Collegiate Academy) in Taipei, has been selected to attend the next Google Teacher Academy, to be held in Chicago, Illinois on July 24, 2013. Webb is one of only 50 educators from around the world selected for their passion for using innovative tools to improve teaching and learning. (You can view his winning application video on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGot2sYvgk0).
The Google Teacher Academy is a two-day intensive program that recognizes educators who are doing innovative and exciting things in their classrooms with technology. 50 participants will get hands-on experience with Google’s products and technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, and receive resources to share with colleagues. Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local regions and beyond.
Chris, the senior English teacher and Technology Coordinator, remarked: "This was actually the fifth time I’ve applied, and I almost considered not throwing my hat in the ring,” he said, “but I decided to give it one last shot, and I was thrilled to be chosen to represent my school and my church."
Google Certified Teachers are exceptional K-12 educators with a passion for using innovative tools to improve teaching and learning, as well as creative leaders and ambassadors for change. They are recognized experts and widely admired for their commitment to high expectations for students, lifelong learning and collaboration.
The Google Certified Teacher program was launched in 2006 with the first Academy held at Google headquarters in Mountain View. The program has since held several academies across the US, Australia, and U.K., expanding the ranks of Google Certified Teachers to over 800 educators worldwide. The Google Teacher Academy is produced by Google, in collaboration with Computer-Using Educators (CUE, Inc), an educational non-profit organization.
TAPA started as an English language institute but in 2003 it began to offer academic programs leading to a high school completion program in collaboration with Griggs International Academy (GIA), Silver Springs, Maryland. Its main purpose is to provide an education so that young people can further their studies in the United States with the hope that some of them may continue in Adventist tertiary institutions in the US. Its students are well accepted in Adventist institutions. Furthermore, many of them have also been admitted to Ivy League institutions in the US. Recently, TAPA changed its name to The Primacy Collegiate Academy (TPCA) and is offering the school leaving diploma through the distance-learning program of Atlanta Adventist Academy, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
This institution is not only reaching out to many non-Seventh-day Adventist students but also to parents who are from the upper echelons of the Taiwanese communities.Its students have made quite few mission trips to places such as China, India, Mongolia and Southeast Asia.
We congratulate Chris on his success. Hewill be happy to share his skills and expertise with any school that may be interested to learn more. You can contact him at: webb.chris@tapa.tp.edu.tw.
News article by Chek-Yat Phoon, NSD Education director