Navy Wife Trades Grading Papers for Helping Teachers Use Technology

Sharon St. Clair has served the District since 1997. Before assuming her current Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) role in 2011, where she helps staff use technology more effectively in their jobs, she taught 5th and 6th grade at and math at .

Were you one of those kids who took apart watches to see how they worked? No. But I became hooked when I took an undergrad Technology for Teachers course at Missouri Western State College and used PowerPoint for the first time. My professor told me, “You should go into educational technology.” I ultimately earned a Master’s in that very subject from SDSU.

What do you like best about your job? The immediacy of results. When someone contacts me, I generally can help them solve their issue right away. I can often remedy the problem or send them the resources they need. 

What gizmo can you simply not live without? My iPhone. It’s almost always in my hands.

What was your first car? A 1980 Datsun 210 yellow hatchback. It was very cute.

Where were you born? New Haven, Connecticut. I grew up in a few places. I was a military brat.

What do you like to do when you’re not working? Hang out with my kids. Matt, 18, now attends community college in Santa Cruz. Charlie is just over three years old. Jack is almost two. I email my husband, who’s deployed, a lot. A LOT! (Her husband is currently deployed on the USS New Orleans. He has been gone since mid-November and will be home in mid-June).

Tell us something people may not know about you. I was a Fulbright Exchange Teacher in Edinburgh, Scotland from 2002-03. During the year, I took my son, Matt, then nine years old, to 13 countries, including for mussels in Brussels!    

–Carlsbad Unified School District