JULIE SCHULTZ

WHEELING — Wheeling Park High School teacher Julie Schultz — a music teacher for much of her career — reports she puts in “anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 steps” assisting teachers and students at the school with technology and learning while pursuing the future of education.

She is the director of WPHS’s Innovative Learning Center (ILC), and serves as graduation coach at the school. In addition, she is the WPHS “residential liaison” at the school — a role that sees her interacting with students placed in Ohio County Schools for alternative education.

Along the way, Schultz still finds time to teach one class each day in fine and performing arts to special education students.

“In terms of the ILC, I am the innovation coach,” Schultz explained “I work with students and teachers to use the innovative spaces.”

Teachers reserve labs in the ILC where students can do math problems on dry erase boards, take virtual field trips or review for tests.

The ILC also has a makerspace where students can use equipment provided for 3-D printing, engraving or cutting into wood or acrylics. It makes an ideal lab for creating a set for the theater class or a diorama for a history project, she noted.

“It does [get heavy usage],” Schultz said of the ILC. “Last year was my first year, and my goal was to increase by 25 percent. Since then, we have doubled the usage.

“We invite more people in with their classes to get out of the traditional classroom and use the space.”

Part of Schultz’s duties is to write grants for the ILC. This year her efforts brought in $10,000 for resources to assist the school’s science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) programs.

That led to the development of an animation lab at the school. Schultz’s next goal is to receive funding to purchase an additional suit for the animation lab and purchase more sensors for it so two students can use the lab at one time.

“My motto is never stop improving so I work on grant writing,” she said.

Schultz often wrote and received grants for her music classroom over the years.

In 2018, she went on to receive her masters in technical integration.

“I was a music teacher, and people thought I had lost my mind,” she said. “Then COVID happened.”

Colleagues began to ask Schultz how technology could be used better to help students learn when they couldn’t come to class in person.

“Then when they created the makerspaces I provided suggestions,” she added.

Schultz said she keeps trying “to make things better by adding things” to the ILC.

“We are trying to keep up with the latest technology, then we look at what are the down sides to using it,” she explained. “There are some things that look good online, and we have to take a look at whether it has educational value or not.

“There are so many resources out there now. I just like staying on the cutting edge,” she said.