Jenann Wakefield, Web Developer, Mesa County Valley School District, Colorado

Jenann Wakefield was recognized for the development of “Parent Bridge”, a secure web application providing access to parents without computers in the home to login through computer kiosks in grocery stores. These kiosks allow parents to access their children’s information, including posted messages, grades, assignments, attendance, lunch transactions, standardized test scores and other student data. They also provide a way to easily communicate with their children’s teachers. In her podcast (MP3, 10MB), Wakefield discusses the increase in parent involvement in their child’s education, citing a survey that found 80 percent of parents who use Parent Bridge initiated conversation with their child because of something they read on Parent Bridge. Within the last two academic years there have been over one million logins.