Fall 2024 Conference Featured Speaker
Jen Manly
Jen believes that kids deserve to do BIG, meaningful work and that all students are worthy of learning that is fun, challenging, and fulfilling. She is passionate about helping teachers maximize their planning time to make time for what is most important while still providing an incredible learning experience for every student. She is a current college instructor, former high school and middle school computer science teacher and middle and high school curriculum developer. She is a skilled facilitator and has presented to thousands of educators at the local, state, and national levels, including at CSTA, Project Lead the Way Summit, ISTE, and International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA). She is a coauthor of the Agile Educator Guide, a 2018 ITEEA Teacher Excellence awardee, and a 2021 CS Teaching Excellence Honorable Mention.
Donnie Piercey
Donnie Piercey is the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and teaches fourth grade in Lexington, Kentucky. After graduating from Asbury College and earning his master’s from Auburn Montgomery, he has been teaching in Kentucky since 2007. Donnie specializes in using technology to promote student inquiry, learning, and engagement.
Over the past eighteen years of teaching, these interests have given him the unique chance to represent Kentucky and his students around the world. He runs a podcast called Teachers Passing Notes that is produced by the Peabody Award winning company, GZMShows. He was the recipient of a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship to Antarctica, and he also represents Kentucky on the inaugural National Geographic Teacher Advisory Council. He is the North American lead for the Google Earth Education Experts Network, and he was the first teacher in Kentucky to become both a Google Certified Innovator and a Google Certified Trainer.
Donnie’s recent work in AI and Edu has not gone unnoticed, earning him multiple appearances on Good Morning America, the Associated Press, and PBS. His book, “50 Strategies for Using AI in the Classroom,” published by Teacher Created Materials, is written for educators looking for practical classroom approaches to using AI to revolutionize their teaching methods and enrich their students’ learning experiences.
Donnie has been invited to keynote and present at schools in thirty-three states and on five continents. In 2017, he co-authored The Google Cardboard Book: Explore, Engage, and Educate with Virtual Reality based on virtual experiences he created for his students. The Bluegrass always calls him home, however, and he regularly leads professional development at school districts around the state.
Dr. Adam Phyall III
Dr. Adam Phyall III is the Director of Professional Learning and Leadership for Future Ready Schools and former Director of Technology and Library Media Services for Newton County School System in Covington, GA. A former high school teacher, he has been hooked on the fantastic things that technology can add to education since getting his first laptop in college. Throughout his professional career, Dr. Phyall has worked extensively with Title I and urban schools in Georgia and Missouri to improve technology integration for economically-disadvantaged students. Dr. Phyall currently serves as a Director of Professional Learning and Leadership at All4Ed, as well as serving as an ISTE Board Member and ASCD Board Member. His philosophy on teaching is “if you’re having fun teaching it, then your students will have fun learning it.”
