Kim Nidy, director of technology for North Canton City Schools, is all about North Canton. She lives in North Canton and graduated Hoover High School in North Canton.

She also graduated from the University of Akron with a bachelor’s degree in comprehensive business education and a minor in business management, then completed a master’s degree in educational administration. She is also designated a certified education technology leader through the Consortium for School Networking.

“I started my teaching career as a job specialist with Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates at Canton McKinley High School in 1993-94 and 1994-95,” Nidy said. “Then started teaching at Hoover High School in the 1995-96 school year and have been with North Canton City Schools since then.

“I have taught many business classes through the years and eventually created the business management career tech program at Hoover High School. During their senior year, students create and run their own businesses through the Junior Achievement Company Program.”

Since moving into administration, Nidy has served as a board member for Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio because “I strongly believe in the entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness programs provided to students through their programming.”

She left the classroom to become the innovation specialist for the district. Along with colleagues, she was part of a team that wrote and won a $5 million dollar Straight A grant from the state of Ohio. The grant allowed the school district to replace classroom furniture with flexible furnishings, create inquiry-based learning spaces and build a Fab Lab at the high school.

“After that, I served as director of instruction for two years before eventually being appointed to the director of technology role that I currently hold,” Nidy said. “I could not do this work alone. I have an incredible team that works with me to support our stakeholders.”

She and her husband Doug have three children: Jake, Kyla and Leah. Kim’s mother, Lee Grove, will be 96 in June and lives with the family.

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Share some of the duties involved with being the director of technology at North Canton City Schools.

The team manages and provides support for 4,500 student Chromebooks, 1,000 Windows devices, copiers/printers, phones, security and networking equipment, classroom technology, and pretty much anything else that has a plug and an on/off switch.

As the director, I manage the budget, purchasing, software systems and online platforms, student data privacy and cybersecurity, new initiative rollouts, and communication to staff, students, parents, vendors, and other stakeholders involving technology.

I participate in meetings within the district, as well as at the state and national level. There is never a dull moment.

What do you consider the proudest accomplishment in your life so far?

I am proud of the students who came through my classroom and went on to be the amazing people they are today. I like to think that I may have had a positive impact on them along the way.

I am proud of the work I have done since I left the classroom to help make the lives of our school community better by having access to the resources and technology tools they need to be successful.

I am proud of the fact that I am married to the best guy in the world and that my kids are awesome and still want to spend time with me.

What makes you laugh the most and what makes you cry?

I love to laugh. Humor is such a great way to celebrate joyful things and navigate through not-so-joyful things. I love spending time with my friends and family and being silly.

Things that make me cry are when someone else is hurting. I am very empathetic, so I find it difficult to watch things that show others in physical or emotional pain.

How has technology in schools changed over the past 10 years?

When I graduated from Hoover in 1986 I used an A.B. Dick word processor in my senior word processing vocational class. When I came to teach at Hoover, we had desktops running Windows 95 and dot matrix printers in my computer applications lab and we were still teaching typing on typewriters down the hall.

I was the first person to have the internet in North Canton City Schools. We paid $14.99 a month in 1996 for a dial-up internet connection and I taught my students about the World Wide Web without fully understanding how to use it because it was so new at that time.

In 2008, I started trying to figure out a way for us to go one-to-one, which is when every teacher and student has a device. I am a firm believe that technology is not a replacement for great teachers. It is there to help facilitate learning and productivity.

Having taught through the age of the internet, I am excited and optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and the impact it will have on education.

Do you use computers at your home after being around so much technology during the day?

We have laptops, tablets, smart watches, smart home devices, etc.

Even my 95-year-old mother has an iPad and uses her bank app to check her current balance, Cash App to send and receive money, Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, etc. We taught her how to use her Google Home to check the Cleveland baseball score, ask about the weather, set a timer or an alarm, etc.

Technology can be very helpful for many of our daily activities if you learn how to use it properly and stay secure.

Editor’s note: Five questions with … is a Sunday feature that showcases a member of the Stark County community. If you’d like to recommend someone to participate, send an email to newsroom@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: 5 questions with Kim Nidy, director of technology for North Canton