
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 17, 1994                   TAG: 9409200022
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: CURRENT   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

GILES SCHOOL CHIEF NAMED ON GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE|

Giles County School Superintendent Robert McCracken will be the only representative from Southwest Virginia on a governor-appointed Education Advisory Committee. The committee is one of four that make up the Council on Information Management, designed to promote planning, acquisition and development of technology in schools and colleges.

McCracken, one of nine members, is the only school superintendent to be appointed to the committee. Six members represent higher education institutions but none of those members comes from Virginia Tech. The other two members are Wes Batten, Technology Instruction leader for the Virginia Department of Education, and a primary school teacher from Fairfax County.

"My main goal is to make sure what we do, we are able to convert to the layperson," McCracken said Thursday at a Giles County School Board meeting. "I want to be able to translate what transpires at these meetings and make it easy to understand for someone who is not a 'technology person.'"

McCracken, 43, was approached about the committee position last summer by a colleague he knew from a previous job in Prince William County. At the time, McCracken said, he didn't understand much of what the Council on Information Management hoped to accomplish, but he agreed to be considered for the position by Gov. Allen. Since then, McCracken added, he has learned more about the role he would play on the committee and hopes to bring positive results back home.

"We are disparate in a lot of ways - and I don't just mean Giles County," McCracken said. "We are disparate because of [geography] and you simply can't get many places from here. Technology training for teachers is needed and it is available ... but you can't afford the training if you have to drive all that far."

McCracken, who is in his fifth year as superintendent for Giles County Public Schools, will not leave his position with the county to serve on the committee. Meetings will be held every other month, and in the spirit of technology education, many additional meetings may be held via teleconference or electronic mail, he said.

School Board members presented McCracken with a plaque Thursday, commending him for his service to the county and for being appointed as a state representative for the area.

by CNB