Two Northfield educators were honored as “Exceptional Teachers” at the TIES Education Technology Conference in Minneapolis on Dec. 13. The TIES conference is one of the nation’s pre-eminent educational technology conferences. More than 3,000 educators from 22 states have been in attendance.

Northfield Middle School teacher Curt Mikkelson was honored for his work integrating technology into the middle school’s geography curriculum such as using Google Earth to provide interactive learning opportunities for his students. In addition, Mikkelson serves as the building’s webmaster and has been instrumental in its development and updating to keep parents and the community knowledgeable about middle school activities and events.

Sibley Elementary Kindergarten teacher Allison Otte was honored for her visionary work using SMART Board technology to design interactive lessons to engage her students. Otte is also a building leader in using the district’s data analysis systems to pinpoint areas of academic strength and challenge in order to develop strategies to meet the needs of individual learners.

Occupational Therapist Greg Sumner and Bridgewater Elementary Title I Teacher/Academic Coach Andrew Gilbertson presented a “poster session” called the “Livescribe Smartpen: Where Digital Natives and Immigrants Meet.”