Meet the Community: Introduce Yourself

Hello, everyone!  My name is Tammy Fry Ware (the Ware was recently added when I was married December 12 :-)).

I am an adjunct professor in the Department of Education at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas.  I have also taught classes at the University of Kansas and at Kansas State University.  I made the jump to university instruction a couple of years ago after being a founder of and Teacher Education instructor at the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) in Overland Park, Kansas.  This was a career center for high school juniors and seniors who are interested in careers and perform internships and other career-related projects. My students worked in classrooms but also worked on projects with companies such as Indigo Education, Sprint, AMC, and more.  Prior to CAPS, I worked as a Technology Integration Specialist in a large suburban district high school and led a career as a Language Arts instructor.

I live in Overland Park, (a Kansas City suburb—GO CHIEFS!) with my husband, John, and I have four grown children, a son in San Diego, a daughter in Las Vegas, and two sons in the Kansas City area. I also have a stepson in the Kansas City area and a stepdaughter in Castle Rock, CO, and we have three granddaughters!

My passion is developing “teacherpreneurs” and training.  I spend time presenting at local, regional, and national conferences.  My favorite educational technology conference is the Future of Educational Technology Conference or FETC.  I also am currently co-chair of the AACE S.I.T.E. Technology Leadership Special Interest group, but I will be passing that position off to another this year after a two-year term. I am also a state board member for our Educators Rising Kansas organization and serve on the Education Advisory Council at MNU.

I am really excited to be a part of the Goosechase BETA group.  I have used Goosechase quite a bit since I discovered it years ago.  I used it even before there was an “education” edition, and I remember, early on, talking by phone with Goosechase, discussing ways that I wish it could work for my classes and students.

Here are some of the ways I have used Goosechase in my life: :-)

• Elementary student scavenger hunt to learn concepts and learn how to research topics
• Post-Secondary online conference used as a competition within my presentation
• Leadership Training Modules to develop strategies and knowledge for our Kansas state Educators Rising officers
• Get-acquainted activity for students new to our CAPS program
• Onsite conference scavenger hunt with questions over presentations, speakers, and vendors
• Interactive video activities including one on Dr. Yong Zhao’s “Every Child is a Rudolph”
• Integral part of my conference presentations to provide audience interactivity

The only problem I have ever encountered with Goosechase (and it is not really a valid problem) is the limitation of using only mobile devices.  While that totally makes sense, sometimes it just doesn’t mesh with educational practices…ie. Students not allowed to have cell phones, etc.

Overall, I have been a Goosechase evangelist, even devoting time at conferences and in my post-secondary courses, to train teachers to use it with their students!

Super strong intros from both @JRErickson and @drfry2! Glad to have you both with us in The Nest!

And special congratulations to @drfry2 on your recent marriage! Thanks for sharing with us!

@RetChaser All respect to you for taking on the Stay At Home Father role! It truly is a full time job and I’m sure your kids are super appreciative of that time (whether they realize it or not). 

I’m also on the PTA (fundraising side of things) and I’ve been wracking my brains on how to use Goosechase to help our school community out.

@RetChaser would you be open to sharing your process, mission types, how your experience is structured (aka all the deets) in the inspiration and connection area of the site. I know this would be super inspiring to me in my planning and would totally benefit others as well! 

Thrilled to have you on board with us in the 🪺

Hi, all! My name is Kristen, and I am a Youth Services Librarian at the Alvin Sherman Library in sunny South Florida. I have been using Goosechase for about a year to supplement our programs for families by providing them with experiences they can do at home and at the library. I believe I’ve run about five Goosechase experiences so far, and the feedback I’ve received has always been positive. I hope I can continue utilizing Goosechase in the future and look forward to sharing ideas with everyone. 

Hi, everyone! 
 

My name is LaDonna Hawthorne and I am the Student Events Coordinator at Concordia University Ann Arbor in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

I use Goosechase to increase student engagement on campus. Recently, we used it during Homecoming Weekend and our next experience will be over a major basketball tournament we have coming up at the end of this month! Before this, I use to run TEDx conferences at my last job which really sparked my interested in creating interactive experiences for audiences. Goosechase definitely elevates event experiences when used and communicated properly! 

I’ve run 4 Goosechase experiences so far and am looking forward to learning how other users are utilizing the app as well!

Hi everyone!
My name is Carrie Willis and I am the STEAM & Technology Director at Valley Preparatory School in Redlands, Ca. I am an EdTech nerd, and I love to learn and try new things.

I have been using Goosechase for quite a few years (don’t make me do math to figure it out) and I have created and participated in a lot of games during that time. I was first introduced to the competitive nature of Goosechase by Discovery Education at their Day of Discovery and DENSI PD events. I have quite a few golden geese under my belt. 

At my school I work with our teachers to develop cross-curricular hands-on STEAM projects and activities for all our students in grades preschool through 8. 

When I am not teaching, I love to nerd out at EdTech conferences, and you might even catch me presenting. I will be presenting at STEM CON, CUE and I am hoping to attend ISTE this summer.

Can’t wait to “meet” you all! 

Hi Everyone!

My name is Ashley McBeth and I am a K-5 Gifted Resource Teacher in Hanover County, VA. I am originally from WI (Go Badgers!), but moved to VA about 15 years ago for my husband’s job. I have taught grades 3, 4, and 5 for 12 years and have been in my current role for 5. I have 2 sons who are 8 and 5 and an 8 month old Norweigan Elkhound. 

I enjoy using Goosechase with my math classes. It is an engaging way to review math content! I’ve run Goosechase experiences with my first, second, third, and fourth graders on concepts like patterns, geometry, computation, and graphing. I look forward to learning new ways to incorporate it into the state curriculum. :)

Hello,

   My name is Angela Schneider and I teach Health and English in Idaho. I have been teaching for over 15 years. I am always interested in finding new and exciting games to enhance the curriculum that I am teaching. Every since I was introduced to Goosechase, I have loved the collaboration that has developed between the students and staff. Goosechase is a wonderful resource. 

Angela

Hello!

My name is Catherine (Cat) Rushton.  I am an Instructional Designer at Jacksonville University in sunny Florida!  (Before Ju, I was the Director of Forensic Science Program at Marshall University.)

I am interested in helping professors increase their use of active learning methods in their courses in order to make them more engaging for students without making more work for themselves.  I am especially interested in using scavenger hunt as an alternative assignment.  Professors are partnering with me to transition assignments into hunts using Goosechase.  It has been incredibly well received by the college students.  The students have requested we make their assignments longer when using Goosechase!

Hey everyone!  I am late to this party as I was on vacation in France and England the past two weeks.  (And, ironically, I saw a corporate group doing a digital scavenger hunt in York, England on one of the days I was there!). I am an avid traveler and photographer.  I have two labradoodles...one is 14 and one is 3.

I co-own a company that does experiential team building and learning/development; it’s called True North Team Building.  We are based in Ridgefield, CT (about 1-½ hrs from Manhattan and 3 hrs from Boston).  We are in our 13th year of business.  We work with corporate groups, universities and schools. 

I tend to be the person who comes up with new ideas and events for our company.  Before the pandemic we did only in-person events.  Like many others, we had to pivot quickly and find other solutions to keep our business going during the pandemic….Goose Chase became one of our solutions.  I have primarily run Goose Chase scavenger hunts (both virtual and in-person).  I believe there are many other potential ways for my organization to use Goose Chase and that is what I am trying to get a better handle on now.  I have probably run less than 50 events with GC so far, however, I am a big proponent of it!

Hi everyone!

My name is Fred. I seem like an outlier with most of the use case here. I work at the home office of a large company based out of Milwaukee. I have been an avid Goosechase user (for a few years now, wow!) for events put on by my company to help increase foot traffic and technology adoption, on an enterprise level. It’s be fun and challenging (in a good way) to be able make engagement fun with all of the people we talk to at our industry conferences.

Hi there,

My name is Diane Dame. I am a fourth grade teacher in Myrtle Beach, SC. My husband and I relocated to SC a few years ago after a lifetime in the Adirondack Region of upstate New York. I changed professions and became a teacher 10 years ago. I absolutely love getting up and going to work everyday. I love the energy, the possibilities and the developing personalities. 

I first used Goosechase during the pandemic as a means to keep my students and their families engaged and active with our online learning times. I have been hooked since. I have introduced my colleagues to Goosechase as well. 

I use Goosechase in the classroom for academic and social engagement. An example would be text feature missions and during Kindness Week we did a kindness challenge with a ton of fun missions. As our adult children all live in separate cities, we also have Family Goosechase Sunday’s from time to time. 

I am looking forward to being part of this gaggle and learning with and from you all. 

Happy Day.