Fifth-grade teacher Kari Ringgenberg-Pingel led the staff at Harris-Lake Park Elementary School in designing the school's StART (Student Achievement in Reading with Technology) program. It has increased reading fluency and accountability while giving teachers instantaneous assessment of their students' reading progress. A National Board-certified teacher, she attended a NASA Educational Workshop at Johnson Space Center, after which she created a cross- curricular "Humans in Space" unit that includes use of the Internet and presentation software. Mrs. Ringgenberg-Pingel recently designed the Pella Elementary School Distance Networking and Assessment (D.N.A) Project, which has transformed the 5th grade science curriculum into one that is project-based and technology-supported. She also received grants from the state related to Iowa's connectivity initiative, providing Pella Elementary's science students with instant access to state-of-the-art technology and real-time information.
1997 Drake University, Masters of Science in Education
1991 Central University of Iowa, B.A.
