WOMAN OF many talents

BELINDA SNYMAN, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

A woman of many talents, Martha Cunningham P’21, has come to her current role through some interesting twists and turns. Her path took its first diversion in college where she was studying English and found herself drawn to technology along the way. From the outset, Martha’s career was firmly fixed on education, whether teaching network design and management, creating custom curriculum for a corporate project, or showing kindergarteners how to give instructions to a robot. Teaching, inspiring, and helping others are at the heart of all Martha does.

A technology field professional for over 20 years, Martha holds Microsoft, Novell, and Cisco certifications, and has worked as a certified trainer, systems architect, and systems engineer. Looking for a career change, Martha made the switch to independent education, becoming the Director of the Annual Fund at Sandy Spring Friends School in Maryland. Her love of technology prevailed and she seized the opportunity to become the school’s Director of Technology, introducing a 1:1 iPad program, a learning management system, digital citizenship as part of the advisory program, and creating a schedule and capital budget for infrastructure maintenance.

Martha’s move to Maret School in Washington, D.C. presented her with an opportunity to build a technology education program that encompassed computer science, digital citizenship, and digital literacy. She also authored a Technology Strategic Plan for Maret, and introduced a MakerSpace in the curriculum with an eye toward infusing technology in an intentional manner. With the family’s desire for a change in lifestyle, Martha found and began the next phase in her professional journey: Director of Information Systems at Rocky Hill School.

It is not without some irony to learn that Martha is not a fan of the cold (especially when we consider Rhode Island to have experienced its most frigid winter in years!) and that her first purchase was a snowblower—a fortuitous move, indeed. The family have enjoyed their roles as tourists, are amused at the proximity of almost everything, and have learned an entirely new vocabulary that includes doughboys, quahogs, rotaries, and wicked, just to name a few. One of the greatest joys of her move is her home with a view of Greenwich Bay.

What drew Martha to Rocky Hill School, in particular? Enticed by the offer to play a role in the School’s innovative vision, and team up with a like-minded group of leaders and faculty in preparing students for a complex and unpredictable world, Martha found a niche for her distinctive skill set and experience. She is committed to preparing students for tomorrow’s technology and has identified cybersecurity, an essential life skill for adolescents and adults alike, as a priority.

“Just as everyone needs to manage their bank account, managing one’s online identity and profile is important. While cybersecurity has been viewed as a world of technological spies and hacks, it is more about privacy and protection. Teaching students how to manage their online profile, the services they use, and their online data is a task that I take very seriously. Building upon this foundational knowledge, we can help students see the importance of their role in managing our technologically dependent world. It is their insight and moral leadership that will make a positive difference for all of us.”

Martha, like her partners in education, finds herself reflecting on the unknown that is our future, questioning the role of artificial intelligence and robots, and the evolving definition of work:

“How are we equipping our students to walk into the mist of the unknown? There must be a willingness to undertake a project or lesson not knowing how it will proceed. Given this notion, how, then, are we preparing our teachers to walk into the mist of the unknown?”

This generation of students is eager and unafraid, while adults often exhibit misgiving and reserve.

“It is the vigor of youth that blazes onward and the caution of adulthood that makes us pause. It is the intersection of these approaches that can facilitate deep, intentional learning and discovery, leading to the application of knowledge to areas and fields that don’t yet exist.”

As Rocky Hill School embraces technological change, our community is privileged to have Martha leading the way.