Mrs. Trudy Runge

My name is Trudy Runge and my story starts many years ago with a girl that had a thirst to learn. Computers are what fascinated me when I was a teenager. I was fortunate enough to have parents who insisted on 12 years of Catholic Education. I was born in Michigan and attended seven years at Our Lady of Refuge. When my Father was transferred to Maryland, I finished my Middle School education at Resurrection in Ellicott City. I then attended Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore (now called Seton Keough High School). This foundation prepared me to get a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science/Mathematics from Whittier College a nationally ranked Liberal Arts College located in Whittier, California.  I spent my post Bachelor of Arts years working for companies that needed a leader to direct and oversee employee training on the use of various computer software programs. I also spent a lot of time improving teaching methods and developing core competencies for job positions. In 2000, I received a Master of Science Degree in Instructional Technology; Instructional Design and Development from Towson University in Towson, Maryland. With the knowledge I gained with this degree I was able to further improve production and save time and money by incorporating computer based training and fine tuning the training process with the facilitation of quality improvement teams.

I took a break from the work world at the end of 2001, when my much awaited for daughter, Delaney, was born and I learned that with all of the knowledge I had gained in my lifetime my greatest challenge and learning experience was about to begin. With these challenges I sought support and companionship of other stay at home mothers, and joined the MOMS Club of Westminster.  As a member of this club and later as President I bonded with these women who lived in the same county, but not necessarily close. Much of our communication took place via e-mail and our own web site and calendar.

When I thought I knew everything I could know about baby girls, I had a son in 2005. With his birth the saying “every baby is different” rang true in our household and the learning continued. I enjoyed staying home with my children, but when my first child went off to Sacred Heart in Glyndon to attend kindergarten I reentered the workforce.

With my focus now on children, I decided to make use of my knowledge of Math and Instructional Technology and took a job at my former high school now known as Seton Keough High School as a Math Teacher. I soon found out that being a school teacher is one of the hardest but rewarding jobs. Unfortunately, in order to incorporate any “technology” into my classes I had to wait until another teacher took a sick day. There was just not enough technology to go around and the technology that was available to teachers was aging rapidly. It saddened me to see the school I loved and one that was so cutting edge with technology in the 80’s had fallen behind the times. I expressed these concerns to the school administrators who in turn asked me to come back the next school year in the position of Director of Technology.  

As the Director of Technology I worked with the Technology Committee to develop a technology plan that was used for the school and improved hardware including computer upgrades for students, laptops for teachers, ceiling projectors, interactive white boards, document cameras, projection microscopes, iPod/iPad language learning center just to name a few. I also had the school rewired with CAT5 and fiber for better speed, increased the internet bandwidth, replaced aging wiring switches and installed Wi-Fi for the whole campus. As for software, I upgraded much needed MS Office products and incorporated a consistent Office platform across the campus. I also implemented an online grading system, and “interactive classroom,” which includes online discussions, interactive assignments, online homework hand in, wiki’s, blogs, and online tests and quizzes allowed teachers access to many tools to enhance the school experience with technology.

Technology improvements made while I was employed at SKHS did not stop in the classroom. I facilitated the upgrade of the schools phone and intercom system. I oversaw the creation of a print management plan and revision of antivirus protection that would save the school thousands of dollars a year. During my employ I also was able to coordinate efforts to get the school over $24,000 in E-Rate reimbursements, and numerous donations to offset the cost of other improvements.

 Being in this position has enlightened me on the rapidly changing world of education and opened me up to the possibilities of how current and future technologies can be used to improve and enhance learning for all children. In the summer of 2011, I was delighted to be offered the position of Computer Teacher and Technology Coordinator at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH). This position joins my two loves improving technology for teachers to enhance classroom learning and actually being able to teach children about technology. One of my first tasks in this position will be to work with the OLPH community to develop a new technology plan to improve hardware, wiring and software, while teaching 1st – 8th grades about technology.

I currently reside in Westminster, Maryland with my two children, Delaney age 10 who loves to sing and act and Preston age 6 who loves the computer and tennis. They attend Sacred Heart School in Glyndon where we are parishioners. My hobbies include a variety of crafts, scrapbooking, writing poetry, lifting weights and running. In the spring of 2011 I ran in the Baltimore Woman’s Classic and finished a 5k in 27:19 a personal best for me.