TIPS Volume 3, No. 2
October, 2002

     Grade Level Key 
     = Elem,  = Middle
     = High, = Teachers

Mary has been with the Department of Education Technology for two years after making a mid-life career change from healthcare office and billing management to technology. Mary served for 1½ years as district technical support for Southern Middle, Southern Elementary, Tates Creek Middle, Tates Creek Elementary, and Millcreek Elementary Schools, as well as the Springhill Drive complex. She enjoys a can-do technology reputation in her recent assignment as district technical support for virus protection and network security (among other things).

Mary is a native of Lincoln County Kentucky ("...because those first two years in Indiana just don't count!"). She is a University of Kentucky graduate, with a Bachelors of Science in Mathematical Sciences, and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

Mary's husband, Sasan, is a web programmer for the Commonwealth, an avid sports fan, and struggling golfer. They have a 10 year old son, Kayvan, who is a 5th grader at Veterans Park. Many weekends during spring and fall you will find the Fakharpour's at Masterson Station where Kayvan plays for the LYSA U-12 Sting soccer team. When not attending a sporting event or working on home remodeling, Mary reads, bikes, gardens, and travels.

People starting out in this post-modern era will look forward to changing their career (not job, mind you, career) an average of seven times before they retire. Mr. Jones has statistically provided the opportunity for some lucky person to just change theirs once, without affecting the average a bit! In his adult life, Jeff has been a mason's assistant, a landscape worker, an auto mechanic, a store manager, a professional computer programmer, a web master and publisher, a club  musician/recording artist/producer/session instrumentalist, as well as a teacher of mathematics, computer science, and music theory at both the secondary and college levels.  He holds a Bachelor's in Music Theory from Eastern Kentucky University, a Masters of Science in Education from the University of Kentucky, and has also done graduate work in mathematics and music. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Instructional Systems Design at UK.

The son of a secondary English teacher and music professor cum college administrator, Jeff was born in Oregon and raised mostly in southern Wisconsin, coming to central Kentucky as a college sophomore to attend UK. He is happily married to a Lexington native, Dee, whom he met while teaching at Bryan Station High School. Jeff has three children, the oldest of whom made him a grandfather for the first time two years ago. His youngest son is a fresh graduate of Bryan Station, and hence the nest is empty enough to allow Dee and him to pursue their advanced degrees. The University of Kentucky and Lexington Community College now serve the educational needs of four Jones's, three of whom are pursuing degrees in education. With such a massive contribution of tuition, this year the UK College of Education breaks ground on a new wing for Dickey Hall, which will be called the Jeffrey L. Jones Memorial Tool Shed.

Mr. Jones's Fayette County responsibilities currently include editing TIPS (where he has mastered the ability to discuss himself in the third person), scheduling professional development offerings at the Lab at Ambrose, managing the Fayette County Video-Linked Classroom initiative, supervising the new LISTSERV discussion forums, supporting math teachers in the use of technology, as well as helping with the use of video and other multimedia in classrooms across the district. He also supports Henry Clay and Bryan Station High Schools in their use of educational technology. When Jeff isn't working (which, according to Dee, is never) he likes to travel, sail, perform as a guitarist and vocalist (he is a member of the classical Lexington Chamber Chorale as well as the pop/jazz/folk combo Tall, Dark and Handsome), ride his motorcycle, and write and record music in his home studio. (Most of his self-produced CD The Long Way 'Round can be heard streamed from his TRT website.) Dee and Jeff live in a modest, networked bungalow within a stone's throw of Lafayette High School. His retirement plans will include at least three more career changes.