Technology Manager is Always Learning and Implementing

• Name: Austin Thomsen, 27
• How Long in Montville: Born in Towaco, Thomsen is the oldest of three siblings. His youngest brother currently attends Montville Township High School. Thomsen continues to reside in Montville Township, having recently purchased a house. 
• Position: Thomsen is the District Technology Manager. The MTHS graduate began working for the Montville Board of Education’s technology department part-time while still a sophomore at the high school. “I used to help different teachers with technology items,” said Thomsen. After working part-time for three years, Thomsen explained that he was then “hired full-time as the webmaster while I was starting college. And then I got hired full-time while in college to fill a tech position. And then I got promoted to Network Administrator, and then I was promoted to District Technology Manager a few years later.” In total, Thomsen has been in the district’s technology department for 11 years.
• Goals: “To continue to make teachers more effective. That’s what our job is,” said Thomsen.  Heading a staff of five, Thomsen and his team support all technology for the board of education. Phone systems, smart boards, grading software, desktops, laptops, data lines, software licensing and all hardware and software needs, both in and out of the classroom, are implemented and maintained by the district’s tech department. Thomsen, who is responsible for the department’s annual $950,000 technology maintenance budget, always looks to save money while improving services. “We want to put into place better systems’” he said. “Streamline current systems. If we can streamline a system so it takes [teachers] less time to do something then they have more time to do educationally geared things. Whether it be how discipline forms are filed or how a computer is used in the classroom.”
• Initiatives: Thomsen is most proud of the audit he has done to upgrade the district’s phone system. The project has taken more than three years to complete, but has steadily been reducing the annual phone expense for the district. When fully implemented, at the end of the summer, “That project will have reduced our phone bill from around $150,000 down to $9,000 per year,” Thomsen explained.
• Why Technology: “Mostly because I like to learn,” Thomsen said. “With technology things change so fast. Mostly what we do is we learn new things and then put them into place and we implement them. So, I think that is the biggest draw for me.” He is looking to the future for in-class applications that will “untether teachers from their desks,” allowing them to use technology while moving among the students.  
• Favorite Thing about Montville:  “I guess the people,” said Thomsen.
• Most Memorable Moment: “Finding out that you’ve affected a student in some way,” said Thomsen. “When they come to you for advice or you help them find direction. That is probably the most memorable or most rewarding thing about being in a school.” The district’s technology department still hires students, just as it did when Thomsen was in school. “Some of them you can just tell that you’ve made a difference. It’s rewarding.”
• Hobbies: “Hiking, biking, and ballroom dancing,” Thomsen said. He also is an avid Geocaching.com fan. “Basically you go treasure hunting in the woods. So it always helps you find new little parks. There’s a lot more little county parks than you would think there were.” Thomsen travels as much as possible. Recently he hiked ten miles into a Havasu Canyon and camped and hiked for a week living out of his pack. “It’s a trip to get there, and it’s actually a pretty amazing trip.”
• Philosophy: “Live every day.”

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