We missed a couple of rascals in our recent Flight Director spotlight, but they couldn’t hide forever.  Here’s the low-down on two more of our intrepid Flight Directors for the IKS Dreamcatcher.

Jeremy Rega, IKS Dreamcatcher at Penn Hills Elementary

Alias: Admiral Diamondstone

Jeremy Rega has been with the Penn Hills Schools for 17 years—10 years of that as a classroom teacher (4^th grade) and the past 7 years as a Head Teacher/Data Coach at the elementary level.  His job involves helping teachers and students use classroom and testing data to drive and improve instruction and learning.

Jeremy is excited to bring his students into the IKS Dreamcatcher to experience and interact with both engaging missions and an impressive classroom simulator.  He is very excited to be a part of the Penn Hills team and can’t wait to get started bringing this experience to more students moving forward.

Jeff DerVanik, IKS Dreamcatcher at Penn Hills Elementary

Alias: Admiral Osbourne Smith

Jeff DerVanik is a Flight Director of the IKS Dreamcatcher at Penn Hills Elementary School.  Jeff has worked in education since 1998, and has been with Penn Hills for the past 16 years. In his time with Penn Hills, Jeff has taught K-5 Health and Physical Education and 6-12 Alternative Education Physical Education, was an assistant coach for the varsity baseball team, and has been a Head Teacher / Data Coach for the past 10 years except for a half of a year when he served as the 5^th & 6^th grade Associate Principal. Since Jeff started in Penn Hills, he has worked in 10 different buildings.

Jeff is very excited about this new expedition as a Flight Director and can’t wait to see what it leads to.

As the momentous day speedily approaches when the IKS Dreamcatcher will be unveiled for the world to see, the Penn Hills shipyard is busily dotting every i and crossing every t on their pre-flight manifests.  Today we bring you news about a recent upgrade to the ship’s mainframe computer.

You see, all vessels in the Infinity Knights’ fleet are equipped with an AIU3000 Artificial Intelligent Unit mainframe that is capable of realtime spoken interaction with the captain and crew.  But before departing on any dangerous missions, it’s important to ensure that the computer is well versed in all ship systems, processes, and protocols.  When the crew yells “Computer, what was that?!” the computer needs to be able to respond quickly and accurately.  So, in went an intrepid crew of test pilots and technicians to give the computer a real-life calibration.

Here we see our intrepid crew.  Notice how intrepidly intrepid they are.  Also note how patient they are as they wait for the computer to process their spoken requests.  The mainframe computer processes 18 quintillion computations per second, so sometimes it needs to slow down when relaying vital mission information to the crew.

You’ll also notice that the Dreamcatcher has recently received a facelift in the form of beautiful metal paneling throughout its entire bridge.  The Penn Hills shipyard has really outdone itself this time!

We’re all excited for the maiden voyage and public unveiling of the IKS Dreamcatcher later this month on [CLASSIFIED].

A few weeks ago we shared a glimpse at the bridge of the illusive IKS Dreamcatcher, the brand-new simulator located in Penn Hills Elementary School, which is scheduled for launch in January 2015.  We’ve received word that select groups of test pilots are being fitted for their training uniforms.  There have also been reports of adventurous test flights, but as it turns out these reports were misinformed.  The truth is that there simply has been an unexplained concentration of swamp gas in the area that has caused refractions of moonlight that merely appear as if a high-tech futuristic vessel is landing and taking off.  Likewise, the recent surge in student excitement and cafeteria gossip is purely coincidental.

But enough with the rumors—let’s stick to the facts.  First, we know that the IKS Dreamcatcher is the keystone component of the “Imaginarium” room at Penn Hills Elementary School.

Next, we know that the Dreamcatcher has recently undergone a facelift to improve its overall aesthetic.  The walls have been painted with a nice metallic sheen, and the color scheme has been enhanced to help the Dreamcatcher’s intrepid crews focus on their missions.  Check it out, in all its beauty:

Stay tuned for more updates as the Dreamcatcher’s launch approaches.

We’ve talked a lot lately about the exciting new simulators that are popping up all over and rapidly approaching their launch dates, but today we want to step back and spotlight a few of our resident miracle workers—our Flight Directors—who are the wizards behind the scenes making the magic happen.

Heather Oros

Also known as Admiral Perseverous, Heather Oros joins Mike Penn as a Flight Director of the IKS Titan at Shaler Area Elementary School.  Heather has been teaching since 2001 and at Shaler Area School District since 2006. Over the years she has taught 5th Grade, Reading Intervention, and currently serves as the Teacher of the Gifted and the 5th Grade Chairperson.

At Shaler Area Elementary School her role is to develop and provide enrichment opportunities for 4th-6th grade students in the classroom. To enhance the learning experience some of her time is spent as Flight Director for the IKS Titan where students take an active role in their learning by being immersed in an engaging and exciting learning environment.

Melissa Tamburrino

Going by the alias of Admiral Yonce Summer Perry, Melissa Tamburrino is the Flight Director of the IKS Dreamcatcher at Penn Hills Elementary School.  Melissa has worked at the Penn Hills School District for 12 years, has taught a variety of grade levels, and is currently the gifted coordinator at Penn Hills Elementary. When she was in elementary school, her favorite subjects were science and social studies. As a child she enjoyed cooperative learning activities that involved problem solving and science experiments.

Now, as an adult she has the opportunity to be a Flight Director in the Imaginarium. In this role she will use her creative side and become part of a virtual world. Melissa is looking forward to this wonderful opportunity and is excited to share in these flight adventures with her gifted students. She is looking forward to what lies ahead as she embarks on this wonderful journey.

Three of Melissa’s colleagues—Jeff Dervanik, Matt Bilinsky, and Jeremy Rega—are still in hiding… but fear not, their secret aliases and photos will not elude us for long.

Brian Colgan

Also known as Admiral Octavius, Brian Colgan is the Flight Director of the IKS Buccaneer at Stewart Elementary School.  Brian has spent the last 18 years teaching in the Burrell School District, where he grew up and attended school. He spent the first 15 years of his career coaching high school baseball for the district. He started as a personal care assistant working with autistic children for 2 years, then taught Kindergarten -5th grade science for 12 years.

Brian is currently the Elementary Science Specialist at Stewart Elementary School, a 4-5 STEM building, where he models/coaches/instructs inquiry based education, teaches robotics using Lego Mindstorms, and organizes the school’s 4th/5th grade Science Olympiad.

Brian is also a K-3 Gifted Support Teacher for Burrell School District’s primary building, Bon Air Elementary. He feels honored to have been chosen to be the Flight Director of the IKS Buccaneer and is very excited to begin flying missions for his students at Burrell School District.

We’re thrilled to have these incredible educators on our team, bringing magical experiences to the students they serve.  Welcome aboard!