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Speaker 2: Welcome to Mondays with Maria, brought to you by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. Here's OCPS Superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Hi everyone. Bri MacNaught from our Communications division is back with me with a few more questions submitted for our new segment called Ask Maria. Alright, what do you have for me today?
Bri MacNaught: We have some really good questions for you today. The first one is actually from a student. Take a look.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Oh great. Can't wait.
Thomas: Hi, my name is Thomas. I'm an eighth grader in Innovation Middle School. And my question is, how highly do you value PLTW and STEM classes in our schools?
Dr. Maria Vazquez: So, Thomas has a great question with Project Lead The Way and STEM and, you know, Project Lead the Way has been around for a long time. I think Orange County was ahead of the curve there, but I believe that those programs are vital for our students and the sooner we can give our children access to those programs, the better equipped they will be. So Thomas can look forward to more of STEM and Project Lead the Way.
Bri MacNaught: I'm sure he will love to hear that. Our next one is about new hires.
Wanda Cocco: Hello, my name is Wanda Cocco. I work in the District Information Office and my question is, how can we make the onboarding process smoother?
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Another great question. So, onboarding our employees is critical. They're coming into an organization, eighth largest school district in the entire country. There's a lot for us to get them to know how we work, what is our culture. So I think we need to take a look at how we use technology in a more meaningful way to help that onboarding process. And I also think that we need to talk more to our new hires maybe a year after they have been with us to see what are things that we didn't do that would've been helpful for them.
Bri MacNaught: Well, that's ironic because our next question is actually about technology. Oh. So there you go.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Here we go.
Matthew Fox: Hi, my name is Matthew Fox and I'm a teacher at Innovation Middle School. I was just curious, what is the process for rolling out new technology as the schools tend to get a little bit older every year and technology moves so fast? Thank you.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Yes. Another great question. Well, he's accurate that technology changes daily. We have just refreshed our new devices for our students and now we do have a plan to refresh the stations, the technology stations at the schools and see how we can make sure that all of the teachers have the most updated technology. So we actually do have a plan that the district put in place so that we refresh the smart boards the technology stations on a more frequent basis. And again, we are thankful to voters because that's where part of those dollars are, are coming from.
Bri MacNaught: Perfect. Alright. Your last one. It's more on the fun side. Go ahead and take a look.
Kathleen: Hi, this is Kathleen from the Foundation for OCPS and Dr. Vazquez. We were wondering what is your favorite holiday tradition?
Dr. Maria Vazquez: My goodness, that's probably the hardest question. I love Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday, but my favorite holiday tradition is Christmas Eve. And so we celebrate Christmas Eve, have a huge dinner, everyone's around and we have, we've had our children because we also incorporate Christmas into our traditions. We have them open just one gift on the 24th. And I love the excitement of opening those packages and then the following morning, getting up bright and early and opening the rest of them. My husband has a special Christmas breakfast that he makes. He makes the most awesome crepes. Everybody looks forward to having them. My favorite is with Nutella and strawberries. And so that, that is my favorite tradition .
Bri MacNaught: So it sounds like I'm coming over Christmas morning.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: You are more than welcome. They're awesome. It's such a great time to be around family. And now with grandchildren, being able to see the excitement and their eyes is they're opening gifts. It's such a wonderful time of year.
Bri MacNaught: Very special. It is awesome.
Bri MacNaught: It really is. Awesome. That's all we have for you this week.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Really great questions. Keep them coming. If you would like to send your questions, just send an email to ask
[email protected]. When you send the email, you'll receive instructions on how to submit your selfie question. Can't wait to see and hear more of your questions. I'll see you next week On Mondays with Maria
Speaker 2: Mondays with Maria has been brought to you by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, investing in our children today to strengthen our community tomorrow. For more OCPS news and information, visit theslice.ocps.net.