Whitten earns tech association award

Tommy Whitten has received the Sally Moore Award from the Alabama Educational Technology Association. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Tommy Whitten, who works as District Technology Coordinator for Madison County Schools, has been honored with a state award from the Alabama Educational Technology Association (AETA).

Whitten received the Sally Moore Award at the technology association’s 2016 Fall Symposium in Orange Beach. Moore was a beloved technology coordinator who passed away too soon, an AETA spokesperson said. AETA officials decided to honor her memory by establishing the Sally Moore Award.

Each year, this award is presented to an active AETA member who has shown a long-term dedication to promoting technology in K-12 education and has gone ‘above and beyond’ in supporting technology in their school district and in Alabama.

“Tommy Whitten exhibits extraordinary leadership qualities, while willing to share personal successes (and failures) with others,” the spokesperson said.

For 17 years, Whitten has served as District Technology Coordinator for Madison County Schools. During his tenure there, the school district has implemented an updated VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system, has migrated the district to a Google Apps for Education site and has integrated a learning management system for the entire district.

Whitten has participated as a feature presenter at several education conferences and to a number of industry-related webinars related to wireless access, E-Rate and VoIP rollout.

Whitten is a member of International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE), Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) and a longtime member of AETA. Currently, he serves as treasurer on the AETA board.

In other achievements, Whitten holds a Certified Education Technology Leader certification issued by the Consortium of School Networking and has received several other awards, including the “Marbury Technology Innovation Award” from the Alabama State Department of Education and the “Making IT Happen” Award from International Society for Technology in Education.

As part of the award, Whitten will receive a $1,000 scholarship, which will be awarded to a deserving student.

His wife Paula Whitten retired from Madison City Schools after 30 years in public education. Paula continues to teach at St. John the Baptist Catholic School.

The Whittens have lived in Madison since 1984. Their son Thomas and wife Natalie of Nashville two daughters, Kennedy and Audrey.