Jackson County educators were recently part of a back-to-school technology workshop available via the district’s partnership with Dataseam, with each participant in the day-long training earning a new classroom workstation to begin the academic year.
Dataseam, an education and workforce development education organization based in Louisville, works with Kentucky K-12 schools, improving the state’s technology workforce as part of providing new classroom technology to schools, addressing advanced curriculum needs preparing students for next-generation workforce demands.
Training curriculum developed by Dataseam K-12 educators and technology professionals in conjunction with participating districts make local workforce investments relevant and meaningful to classroom outcomes. Since 2005, Dataseam has trained close to 10,000 K-12 educators and technology professionals, improving and upskilling the workforce of one of Kentucky’s largest employers, public education.
With the $61,160 earned by Jackson County educators this summer, district Dataseam participation has brought $298,202 of new classroom technology since July 2024 benefitting local students and staff.
“We are so thankful to the Jackson County team stepping up to make this happen”, said Superintendent Renee Smith “Districts like ours leave no stone unturned when it comes to being good stewards of available funding. Taking advantage of Dataseam offerings helps us better allocate and plan for instructional resources on an ongoing basis. The nearly $300,000 we earned during recent efforts amounts to almost 8 years of technology funding otherwise received to meet a variety of demands. These new classroom computers help us while we help Dataseam and the University of Louisville find new ways to fight cancer.”
Computers provided by Dataseam link across the state district-by-district assembling the DataseamGrid, a vital piece of Kentucky’s innovation and commercialization network. It helps the University of Louisville’s Brown Cancer Center develop more effective cancer drugs quicker and with reduced costs. The cancer computations run securely in the background without impeding daily classroom and Internet demands. Dataseam has worked in partnership for over 20 years with Kentucky K-12 schools advancing these efforts.
State Representative Timmy Truett (R), McKee shared, “As a General Assembly, we have made investing in Kentucky’s schools and preparing our students for the future a priority. Funding this effort through Dataseam is another example of that commitment, helping bring modern technology into our classrooms while giving educators opportunities to strengthen their skills. I see firsthand as an educator how much these resources mean to teachers and students. It is especially encouraging to see that investment reaching schools like Jackson County, where educators are turning those opportunities into nearly $300,000 in new classroom technology for their students and staff.”
Dataseam recently received a $6,000,000 state budget appropriation from the Kentucky General Assembly. The funding allows continuation and expansion of the organization’s workforce development opportunities to any of Kentucky’s 171 K-12 public school districts, including K-12 systems engineer training, teacher professional development, and U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeships in Information Technology for students grades 11-12.
“I appreciate Dataseam’s commitment to expanding computer access throughout Jackson County,” said Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester. “Finding ways to use computing capacity overnight, when those resources might otherwise sit idle, is an innovative way to turn downtime into an opportunity to advance education and research.”
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With workforce development efforts funded the U.S. Department of Labor, Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Kentucky General Assembly, Dataseam serves 62 K-12 districts representing over 45% of Kentucky’s 634,000 public school students.
For more information on the district: https://www.jackson.kyschools.us
Download the press release HERE.
