Students and teachers appreciate Cheryn Ridge and her technology skills. Cheryn is an ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Educator Champion for Christel House South Africa (CHSA). The role is proudly sponsored by Dell Technologies, one of our long-standing partners, and an integral part of the school’s mission to help its students become future proof. With evolving remote learning needs, the past year has presented plenty of challenges for this tech expert.
“I supported the educators with on-the-job training, one-on-one coaching and provided dynamic, curated resources that they could use,” Ridge says. She also worked closely with the school’s IT Manager and Principals in the rollout of tablets and data packages for virtual learning, part of the Christel House “Bridging the Digital Divide” effort. “The entire CHSA team played an integral role in keeping our students learning. The pandemic highlighted the strength of this team.” According to Ridge, Covid-19 actually worked as an accelerator for one of the CHSA strategic imperatives – the development of future-ready skills for students. To that end, as ICT Education Champion, Ridge was instrumental in CHSA becoming one of only four Microsoft Showcase schools in all of South Africa. Microsoft Showcase Schools are part of a global community of K-12 schools. As a Showcase School, CHSA enjoys Microsoft product support, digital guidance and access to Microsoft resources and research. “Developing future-ready skills in our students is something we feel very passionate about. Becoming a Microsoft Showcase School helps us achieve this.” For Cheryn, supporting teachers as they support children is the most satisfying part of her job. “It’s knowing that every day I am making a difference to the education landscape in South Africa,” she says. We are extremely grateful to Dell Technologies for sponsoring this exciting new role at Christel House and taking our education into the 21st century.