Meet Kimberly Lane Clark: Pagers, Technology, Computer Science and Leadership

STEMming in Stilettos with Dr. Toshia

Empowering Women of Color in STEM
Natoshia and Kim discussed their professional connections and shared their enthusiasm for empowering women of color in STEM. Natoshia admired Kim's success and highlighted her dedication to creating a platform for underrepresented voices in the field. Kim, a blended learning specialist, shared her experience working on a project with the Flying Classroom, where she integrated technology into a curriculum focused on building a car and a plane with students. She reflected on her personal and professional experiences leading to this project.
Overcoming Fear of Computer Science Certification
Natoshia and Kim discussed the need for teachers to overcome their fear of computer science and obtain the necessary certifications to teach this course. Kim stressed the importance of teachers feeling comfortable and having sufficient resources to teach new initiatives, such as computer science and generative AI. She advised educators to take advantage of free online courses to familiarize themselves with these subjects. Natoshia mentioned that in Georgia, there was an initiative to have a certified computer science teacher in every school, though she was unsure if this applied to every grade. Kim also shared examples of other states, like Texas, that offer incentives and support for teachers to become certified in these areas.
Transitioning to Tech Company
Kim discussed her transition to a role as an educator advocate lead for a tech company, where she could use her experience of transitioning a school district online during the pandemic to benefit teachers, students, and staff worldwide. Natoshia shared her decision to resign from her current role at the end of 2023, a decision she had already informed her boss about. However, her boss initially disbelieved her, leading Natoshia to confirm her resignation and reveal that she had been training her replacement throughout her tenure. Kim expressed her admiration for Natoshia's thoughtful approach to her departure.
Team Leadership and Succession Planning
Natoshia praised a team member's leadership skills and suggested she should be considered for a higher role in the team, while Kim concurred with Natoshia's assessment and commended Natoshia's initiative. Natoshia also underscored the importance of having a successor and advised Kim to consider grooming a potential replacement. Kim then shared her journey from consulting to coaching other educators, while stressing the importance of living in the moment and learning from experiences. Natoshia confirmed that the show notes and links to the episode would be available for those interested in learning more about Kim's journey.

Bio of Kimberly Lane Clark
Kimberly Lane Clark, Ed.S. is an award-winning former 16-year educator and keynote speaker based in Texas. She is a Computer Science/STEM advocate focusing on crashing the digital divide for underrepresented groups, primarily women. She works to make an impactful change through innovative educational technology tools to provide access to learning for ALL and instructional design strategies. Kim is an experienced keynote speaker with excellent verbal and written communication skills.
She communicates effectively with internal management and external vendors. Kim focuses on a positive customer experience, attention to detail, and organization for every program she develops.
In her latter career, Kim has mentored and trained hundreds of educators face-to-face and virtually in Computer Science, STEM, Diversity inclusion, Edtech tools integration, innovation design, Blended Learning strategies, and Project-Based

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You can find out more information about Dr. Toshia here:
https://www.drtoshia.co
STEMming in Stilettos Youtube Channel: https://youtu.be/xAc25J7UH9A