Infrastructure, Talent Development, and Community Collaboration with David Azar
Presented by:
David Azar, Systems Administrator at Pingry School, explores the unique transition from corporate IT to the "white-glove" service model of independent schools. He discusses strategies for developing internal talent, the critical importance of reliable infrastructure like Wi-Fi, and how collaborative leadership programs like the ATLIS Leadership Institute (ALI) foster essential professional networks.
- The Pingry School
- Pingry’s Values for AI Use
- Pingry Hall of Fame
- Pingry Archives
- Loom, free screen recorder for PC and Mac
- ATLIS Leadership Institute, education and networking program designed to prepare and support technology leaders in independent schools as they grow into their positions and expand their influence
- The Lawrenceville School, private, coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in NewJersey
- Preservica, active digital preservation software
- Bynder, digital assets management
- Coquito recipe, popular Puerto Rican holiday drink
- Rockefeller Center Holidays
- Marathon movie watching in PJs
- Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas
Transcript
Peter Frank:
Matt, welcome to Talking technology with ATLIS,
Peter Frank:
the show that plugs you into the important topics and trends for
Peter Frank:
technology leaders all through a unique Independent School lens.
Peter Frank:
We'll hear stories from technology directors and other
Peter Frank:
special guests from the Independent School community,
Peter Frank:
and provide you with focused learning and deep dive topics.
Peter Frank:
Welcome to Talking technology with ATLIS. My name is Peter
Peter Frank:
Frank, and I am the Senior Director of certification and
Peter Frank:
operations for the Association of technology leaders in
Peter Frank:
independent schools.
Bill Stites:
And I am Bill Stites, the Director of
Bill Stites:
Technology at Montclair Kimberly Academy in Montclair, New
Bill Stites:
Jersey, and I'm Hiram
Hiram Cuevas:
Cuevas, the Director of Information Systems
Hiram Cuevas:
and Academic Technology at St Christopher school in Richmond,
Hiram Cuevas:
Virginia.
Peter Frank:
All right, so this is one of the first episodes, if
Peter Frank:
not the first episode of the new year, 2026 How are you feeling
Peter Frank:
about that? Are we ready for 2026
Hiram Cuevas:
No, not quite there yet.
Peter Frank:
When this airs, it will actually be 2026 Do you
Peter Frank:
think we'll feel differently when we listen to this? Do you
Peter Frank:
think we'll be running and gunning?
Bill Stites:
I hope so. I've said this multiple times. I look
Bill Stites:
forward to the winter break, because it's the only time of
Bill Stites:
year that the school officially like shuts down. There's no
Bill Stites:
summer camps, there's no people in offices.
Hiram Cuevas:
Is it really completely shut down? No.
Bill Stites:
The only people that are here at that point are
Bill Stites:
generally our buildings and grounds
Hiram Cuevas:
guys and your advancing team closing out the
Hiram Cuevas:
year.
Bill Stites:
No, some, but I'd never really hear from them.
Hiram Cuevas:
You said some that's not all gone. All right,
Bill Stites:
Hiram, no one asked you. My opinion is the only
Bill Stites:
opinion that it matters on the podcast. So you can just zip it
Bill Stites:
and we can move on. Wow, I'm not feeling well, and you're picking
Bill Stites:
on me. I'm still sick.
Peter Frank:
This is how we're launching the year. We're off to
Peter Frank:
a great
Bill Stites:
start here. I blame Hiram.
Hiram Cuevas:
You can't ask me Father Time. And you know, Bill
Hiram Cuevas:
is showing his age.
Bill Stites:
I'm done. I'm out. We need Christina here. I
Bill Stites:
understand he needs mom exactly because Dad's not doing it.
Peter Frank:
I understand, well, speaking of things going awry.
Peter Frank:
So we've also got, like, snow shutdowns. All of that has
Peter Frank:
begun. So Hiram, this is the first time you've been home this
Peter Frank:
winter.
Hiram Cuevas:
This is day two of the current snow storm. And then
Hiram Cuevas:
we were off one day last week for snow as well. So we've
Hiram Cuevas:
already had three snow days, right?
Bill Stites:
And Bill, not for you, though. No, it's pretty
Bill Stites:
nice here. I mean, it's cold, but it's sunny and pretty nice.
Bill Stites:
It will be on at 18
Hiram Cuevas:
last night. So when any melting was supposed to
Hiram Cuevas:
happen, it wasn't gonna
Peter Frank:
happen, right? Pretty cool for Virginia, too.
Peter Frank:
I'm here in Erie, Pennsylvania, so we do not shut down. If our
Peter Frank:
schools shut down, that means, like the city shut down.
Hiram Cuevas:
As a former New Yorker, I do get a big chuckle
Hiram Cuevas:
out of this, but I intentionally stay off the roads, because
Hiram Cuevas:
people around here just do not know how to drive.
Peter Frank:
Well, we've got a great guest to start us out this
Peter Frank:
year, speaking of keeping things going amidst strife and
Peter Frank:
challenges, we have David Azar, and he is a long time system
Peter Frank:
administrator at the pancreas School.
David Azar:
Welcome David, thank you. It's fun watching the boys
David Azar:
act up. I'm happy mom's away.
Peter Frank:
That's good. I'm glad you welcome it with
Peter Frank:
enthusiasm. We appreciate that. So David, tell us a little bit
Peter Frank:
about yourself. Tell us what it's been like to work at
Peter Frank:
pengree for
Unknown:
so long. So it's shocking. Actually, you know,
Unknown:
when you look back on it, I'll be there 11 years at the New
Unknown:
Year. So I started January, 5, 2015, I had worked corporate it
Unknown:
for about seven or eight years in New York City. I was raised
Unknown:
in Brooklyn, worked in the city, and then I moved out to Jersey
Unknown:
with my then girlfriend, now wife. The opportunity at Pingree
Unknown:
came up, and I'm like, Oh, this is nice. I take a break from
Unknown:
commuting for a year or two, see what the education sector is
Unknown:
like, and then go back to the city. You know, 11 years later,
Unknown:
I'm still here and no plans to leave anytime soon. Nice.
Peter Frank:
I understand, reliable and secure IT systems
Peter Frank:
is actually pretty seriously baked into pinger's mission. Is
Peter Frank:
that true? Can you talk a little bit about that? Absolutely.
David Azar:
So pinger was founded, and in the last 100
David Azar:
years, we've really pride ourselves on having an honor
David Azar:
code, and that kind of guides the mission internally. But we
David Azar:
can't be naive and assume everyone's gonna follow that
David Azar:
same honor code. So for a very long time now, we've had network
David Azar:
access control, which was we were very early adopters in the
David Azar:
education space with that, and then a number of other policies
David Azar:
and procedures and regular it audits to ensure. Sure what
David Azar:
we're doing is at the forefront of security. It is a cat and
David Azar:
mouse game. Making sure you stay ahead and current is always a
David Azar:
challenge.
Peter Frank:
And is your focus more on day to day? Or there's
Peter Frank:
also a lot of strategy and long term as well.
David Azar:
I don't manage the strategy personally. My boss,
David Azar:
Steve France, leads that with operations and the school as a
David Azar:
whole, where the schools going tech kind of leads the way,
David Azar:
right? So what their mission is becomes our mission. But the day
David Azar:
to day, I try to focus on with our team.
Bill Stites:
Dave, you and I know each other fairly well,
Bill Stites:
given the proximity and everything. But can you give
Bill Stites:
everyone an idea of Pingree size, your makeup, you're
Bill Stites:
similar to MKA, and you're multi divisional. But what's the staff
Bill Stites:
look like? You've mentioned Steve's name a few times, which
Bill Stites:
I generally try to keep out of the conversation, given it's
Bill Stites:
Steve, but just give everyone an overview of how Pingree set up,
Bill Stites:
what you guys look like from that staff. Because the one
Bill Stites:
thing I'm particularly interested in is you co opting
Bill Stites:
someone out of your buildings and grounds department as well.
David Azar:
Sure, absolutely. The bigger schools, a K to 12
David Azar:
independent day school, we have approximately 11 150 1200
David Azar:
students. It's really hard to nail down an FTE, but we
David Azar:
probably have 350 people, whether staff or faculty,
David Azar:
operations, facilities, just a lot of people supporting those
David Azar:
students within our department. We're actually much smaller than
David Azar:
we used to be. The academic side of the house left us
David Azar:
intentionally so we were able to focus more on both missions. So
David Azar:
on the tech side, we're five, which is really happy to be
David Azar:
there at five. And then the academic technology people are
David Azar:
merged with the library, so they have a really strong team as
David Azar:
well. And then we have a great facilities team. And we've had a
David Azar:
great facilities team for a long time. And we had a young guy,
David Azar:
Eric, who was on facilities, and he was doing all of our data
David Azar:
runs. And then we saw some promise in him, and we were
David Azar:
really excited to advance his career, and he was looking to do
David Azar:
more than just general facilities. So we sent him first
David Azar:
to a training course on doing fiber optics splicing, and then
David Azar:
he really excelled at that, and like that helped us, obviously.
David Azar:
And he was already doing a lot of our low voltage. He's doing
David Azar:
all the structured wire. And then we get him more and more
David Azar:
involved with the security side of the house, because he's
David Azar:
setting up the cameras for me, because he's running the wire
David Azar:
and he's on the ladder. So might as well teach him how to manage
David Azar:
the cameras even more. And then next thing you know, he's going
David Azar:
back to school. He did his undergraduates in computer
David Azar:
science now as a full member of our team,
Bill Stites:
I think it's that connection that's particularly
Bill Stites:
interesting, because we've often talked about the relationship
Bill Stites:
between the IT department and your grounds department,
Bill Stites:
buildings and grounds facilities, whatever the name is
Bill Stites:
that you've got on it, having that close relationship with
Bill Stites:
them to be able to develop that talent internally. Not only
Bill Stites:
provides you, I think, with a great deal of flexibility, it
Bill Stites:
provides you with the ability to help shape costs in some
Bill Stites:
regards, enormously.
David Azar:
Yeah, when I worked in the city, and this is going
David Azar:
back 11 years, we were paying $300 per wire run. Now I'm not
David Azar:
sure exactly what structure of cabling costs in Jersey, but
David Azar:
that adds up very quickly when you want to change the scope of
David Azar:
cameras in a wing, like, let's say you want to run five, six
David Azar:
additional runs. And whenever you run a run, it's really you
David Azar:
should run two runs, right? And having that done in house, and
David Azar:
having a person doing it who is thoughtful about it and is going
David Azar:
to be supporting it. Because, like, if you get an outside guy
David Azar:
to come in and run some wire for you, that's great, but they
David Azar:
don't have to support that wire, so they're just throwing it up
David Azar:
there. He's being really considerate about how he's
David Azar:
running that wire for the school, for the visibility of
David Azar:
the wire, for maintenance. It's a huge help for us. And if
David Azar:
people aren't aware when we say, like, Pingree does a lot of
David Azar:
projects. We don't have a static environment. We're always
David Azar:
essentially under construction, and we're building and expanding
David Azar:
the footprint. So huge advantage to have them on our team.
Hiram Cuevas:
There are so many net positives in the way that
Hiram Cuevas:
you've actually completed this internal hire, the fact that you
Hiram Cuevas:
got somebody who understands the school culture. You've got
Hiram Cuevas:
somebody who you trust already on staff, and then someone who
Hiram Cuevas:
understands how to future proof Pingree as best as they can,
Hiram Cuevas:
because they've been part of the conversations all along. I
Hiram Cuevas:
commend you on that, because Nothing's worse than bringing on
Hiram Cuevas:
a vendor where you've got a new installer who you've got to show
Hiram Cuevas:
them where everything is, and they don't quite understand how
Hiram Cuevas:
you conduct business on the campus, you burn up a lot of
Hiram Cuevas:
hours just by bringing them up to speed. Hey, I just noticed
Hiram Cuevas:
mom's in the house. Let's give a shout out.
Christina Lewellen:
Hey everybody. Hello, it's Christina
Christina Lewellen:
joining. You guys a little bit late. It's so nice to see you,
Christina Lewellen:
and I apologize that I wasn't able to hop on right as you got
Christina Lewellen:
started, I understand you've already started a really great
Christina Lewellen:
conversation. David, thank you for being with us. I really
Christina Lewellen:
appreciate it. Yeah, of course, happy to be here. I know that
Christina Lewellen:
I'm kind of late to the conversation, and I was loving
Christina Lewellen:
just listening to what you guys were talking about, but as I
Christina Lewellen:
interrupt the flow of everything and wonder how everyone is
Christina Lewellen:
doing. What are the couple things, David, that you're
Christina Lewellen:
working on to sort of wrap up your year? What's on your agenda
Christina Lewellen:
before you get to walk out for the year end break?
David Azar:
Fortunately, not too much. We had a very large switch
David Azar:
project that started this summer. We changed every network
David Azar:
switch across our three campuses, there's always a
David Azar:
couple of, like, stragglers that you have to deal with. So winter
David Azar:
break, we're going to really tackle the last of that, and
David Azar:
then a couple of loose ends here and there, but that's kind of
David Azar:
like the big one that we want to button up, and we want to just
David Azar:
make sure that project is all cleaned up because the equipment
David Azar:
that is in places now out of support. So it's really time to
David Azar:
get it out.
Christina Lewellen:
So since I know that this is one of my
Christina Lewellen:
favorite questions, I would imagine the gentleman held on to
Christina Lewellen:
this for me. Can you tell me a little bit about your
Christina Lewellen:
background? Because I know we sort of just jumped into Pingry
Christina Lewellen:
and talking about some of the projects that you're working on,
Christina Lewellen:
but tell us about you
David Azar:
sure we briefly touched on it, but I was born
David Azar:
and raised in Brooklyn, went to Long Island University. Computer
David Azar:
Science degree. I worked for a startup right out of college. It
David Azar:
was a little boutique white glove backup company. Called
David Azar:
back up my info. They were awesome. I worked for them for
David Azar:
like, a year and a half. They ended up getting purchased by
David Azar:
Western Digital, but not when I worked there, unfortunately.
David Azar:
Then I went off and I worked for the Archdiocese in New York, and
David Azar:
that's probably the closest correlation between where I am
David Azar:
now, and then just the nonprofit and a lot of fundraising. And
David Azar:
then I worked for a corporate company for three or four years,
David Azar:
and then Pingree was looking for a replacement for my
David Azar:
predecessor. I got the call, and I thought it'd be a great
David Azar:
opportunity to not commute to the city. I thought I'll do this
David Azar:
for a year or two, and then 11 years later, I'm still here. My
David Azar:
son goes to Penguin, pretty baked into the community.
Christina Lewellen:
Now that's how they they always get you.
Christina Lewellen:
That's how it always happens. My friend, yeah, I want to peel
Christina Lewellen:
back that a little bit, because you came from corporate, you
Christina Lewellen:
came from Tech, and then you found yourself in this situation
Christina Lewellen:
with a school. Tell me, 11 years ago, I'm sure things were a
Christina Lewellen:
little bit different, but what was that transition like for
Christina Lewellen:
you? Was it a big shock to the system?
David Azar:
There was concerns. I had never worked in a school
David Azar:
environment. I had gone to school, obviously, but I didn't
David Azar:
work in a school environment. I didn't really understand
David Azar:
independent school culture, but I was wowed in the interview. I
David Azar:
had never experienced an interview like an interview at
David Azar:
Pingree and maybe other independent schools do a similar
David Azar:
thing, but like, I sat in a round table with the student
David Azar:
tech committee, and they asked me questions, and then I spoke
David Azar:
with the librarian, and I'm like, why are they putting me in
David Azar:
front of these people? What's happening here? But then I
David Azar:
reflected on it, and I was like, wow, this is like, they want buy
David Azar:
in from the whole community, and it was just a really interesting
David Azar:
environment. So I thought, sure, why not give it a try for a year
David Azar:
or two? What's the worst that happens? And then pygmy grows on
David Azar:
you? It's great.
Christina Lewellen:
Do you have advice for someone who's coming
Christina Lewellen:
into the Independent School world? We have some resources at
Christina Lewellen:
ATLIS, because that shock to the system is one that we've heard
Christina Lewellen:
about quite a bit from our members, is coming into
Christina Lewellen:
independent school culture. So if someone was either
Christina Lewellen:
interviewing at Pingree or just in general, listening to this
Christina Lewellen:
podcast, who was coming from it, tech, corporate and coming into
Christina Lewellen:
independent schools. Do you have any advice or guidance that
Christina Lewellen:
you'd give them?
David Azar:
I would tell them that we're not crazy, even
David Azar:
though our policies sound like we are, you know, allowing your
David Azar:
end users to have administrative rights on their devices and not
David Azar:
blocking everything. And I came from a world where it was No
David Azar:
ticket, no laundry. Don't walk in my office. I don't even want
David Azar:
to see you like I'm going to call you when I want to call
David Azar:
you. I answer tickets via ticket only. I'm going to remote into
David Azar:
your machine without notice. There was a very sort of
David Azar:
traditional corporate culture. It's very different in
David Azar:
independent schools, I really enjoy it. People regularly
David Azar:
compliment our tech office, we really try hard to make it a
David Azar:
positive experience to come to the tech office. There's a couch
David Azar:
in the tech office. We have candy for the kids. It's an
David Azar:
inviting place. You have to be prepared for that, if you're
David Azar:
coming from corporate, that you're dealing with kids, you're
David Azar:
dealing with teachers, and you have to engage with them at
David Azar:
where they are, and you're not going to change the teacher
David Azar:
who's been there forever. You're gonna support them, right?
Bill Stites:
So Dave, speaking to the culture, I mean, you're
Bill Stites:
one of you're my phone a friend. If I got a question about stuff,
Bill Stites:
you know, I'll reach out to you. I'll reach out to Steve.
Hiram Cuevas:
Dave, he says that to everybody. He
Bill Stites:
just likes to spend a lot of time on the phone. Own.
Bill Stites:
I'm
Christina Lewellen:
a talker. I think that you've hit on
Christina Lewellen:
something, to be honest, Dave, he's a chatty dude. I love this
Christina Lewellen:
about Bill,
Bill Stites:
but you've also got your experiential campus where
Bill Stites:
you've gone out of your way to host events there, you know, for
Bill Stites:
n, j, A is, I just got off a call not 30 minutes ago. That
Bill Stites:
was the njis tech steering group, you know, where we were
Bill Stites:
all on the call for about an hour. If you can speak to your
Bill Stites:
belief in and around the openness that I think we have in
Bill Stites:
the njis tech community, that regardless of how we're, in some
Bill Stites:
cases, competing for students, that doesn't sit in any way with
Bill Stites:
the way in which we work, in it in New Jersey, and your thoughts
Bill Stites:
and feelings around that, because, again, you've been at
Bill Stites:
the center of that with a lot of the work that you've done and a
Bill Stites:
lot of the work that Pingree has done to bring people together.
David Azar:
Yeah, absolutely. So I guess athletically, we're
David Azar:
competing, but within our world, I consider you partners. We work
David Azar:
together very strongly, and I think that's critically
David Azar:
important. I mean, we've sat on calls with our vendors, and a
David Azar:
lot of times it's us ganging up against them and pushing through
David Azar:
our initiatives and making sure that our voice is heard. And
David Azar:
that's much stronger when we're speaking in one voice. I could
David Azar:
think of like Veracross and Magnus. Is a couple of examples,
David Azar:
but there are many others. But yeah, no, we work together
David Azar:
great. And, you know, it's collaborative. We are always
David Azar:
excited if you take on a new product. We want to hear about
David Azar:
that implementation and vice versa, you know, because
David Azar:
technology is always changing, nothing I learned in college is
David Azar:
implemented today. That'd be a terrible place to be if
David Azar:
everything I learned in school is still in place. So we're
David Azar:
always learning from each other. And if you sat down, and, God
David Azar:
knows, you sit down and read all the paperwork, if I have a
David Azar:
question about paperwork, Bill is the person to speak to, he'll
David Azar:
tell you where that person identifiable information is
David Azar:
going. So that saves me a lot of effort. Yeah.
Christina Lewellen:
I mean, that's the thing I love about
Christina Lewellen:
the ATLIS community, is that it's so collaborative. It's
Christina Lewellen:
really unique. I know that you guys may not see that
Christina Lewellen:
perspective, but when you come from other Association,
Christina Lewellen:
communities, even other professions, it's just
Christina Lewellen:
incredible how much you all are willing to share with each other
Christina Lewellen:
in terms of some of the lessons learned. You know, it's
Christina Lewellen:
interesting, having been at your school for a while, I'm curious
Christina Lewellen:
if there's anything in that category of lessons learned that
Christina Lewellen:
was either sort of made easier with the community, basically
Christina Lewellen:
like a time where you were just really kind of up against a
Christina Lewellen:
challenge and you were able to kind of work through it with the
Christina Lewellen:
community. Can you think of any examples in that space?
David Azar:
Oh, sure to come to mind implementing our new sis. A
David Azar:
few years ago, we were early adopters in Veracross. Everyone
David Azar:
seems to be on Veracross. Now, when we went on Veracross, no
David Azar:
one knew who they were, and Bill was still on a custom proof
David Azar:
product. And we had spoken with the proof guys. They had a great
David Azar:
product, but they had no sales team, right? And they couldn't
David Azar:
sell the product to the school. So we went over to Veracross,
David Azar:
and that implementation was really rocky. So it took
David Azar:
everyone on the Veracross listserv that we would speak in
David Azar:
this Google group to kind of iron out the problems, and then
David Azar:
they implemented some additional products, data exports. Package
David Azar:
was hugely helpful. Another example was during covid,
David Azar:
talking about a time of collaboration. I mean, every
David Azar:
school was exploring different technology. How are we going to
David Azar:
do this hybrid day, and how are we going to maintain good
David Azar:
quality experiences for the students? I'd be on a call with
David Azar:
Bill or another school, and he's got an owl and I got a Zoom
David Azar:
Room, and someone's got a Google meet classroom, and we're trying
David Azar:
to figure out what technology is working and how does everyone
David Azar:
sound? And how are we going to do this with the Plexiglas? And
David Azar:
we were the only ones in the building, so it was really
David Azar:
helpful. I looked back on that and like there was a lot of
David Azar:
communication during that time.
Christina Lewellen:
There's so many pieces of the puzzle that I
Christina Lewellen:
don't even know where to go next, right? Because it's
Christina Lewellen:
everything from network management, copier management,
Christina Lewellen:
cameras, storage, access, control. You oversee a lot of
Christina Lewellen:
pieces of the puzzle, and it's a lot to keep track of, and it's
Christina Lewellen:
also really complicated by the fact that you're serving both
Christina Lewellen:
adults and children. So how do you organize your priorities? Is
Christina Lewellen:
it reactive?
David Azar:
No, it's well defined. Wi Fi and printing. Ah,
David Azar:
if the internet works, if everyone can print, I could do
David Azar:
everything else tomorrow.
Christina Lewellen:
It's so true, though, right? The end
David Azar:
users tell you very quickly what the priorities are,
David Azar:
and then I get to prioritize everything else internally, the
David Azar:
things they don't see. No one's going to prioritize access
David Azar:
control until. Not working. No one's going to prioritize
David Azar:
storage management until we're out of storage. So internally,
David Azar:
our team has to manage those priorities. But public facing,
David Azar:
end user facing, keep it really simple. Make sure the Wi Fi is
David Azar:
really high quality. No one's ever having problems. Make sure
David Azar:
there's excessive coverage, anywhere where there's going to
David Azar:
be a density. You know, people think Wi Fi is like air, okay,
David Azar:
there's enough room in the air for everybody. There's been
David Azar:
enough Wi Fi. That's definitely not true, and it takes a lot of
David Azar:
money and time to build up density in places that you don't
David Azar:
expect density to be a need. That's something that you work
David Azar:
out over time, and you try to be considerate of everyone's view,
David Azar:
right? Like, if you're going to be running tests and more and
David Azar:
more tests, like AP College Board, they want all of their
David Azar:
exams to be on computers. Now, saves them an enormous amount of
David Azar:
money, right? But to proctor all of your exams in classrooms
David Azar:
require an enormous number of Proctor so everyone wants to
David Azar:
consolidate. Well, if you put 300 people in my gym, it's going
David Azar:
to be a real problem for everyone. So like, let's be
David Azar:
considerate about it, and put 150 in this gym and 150
Christina Lewellen:
in this space, and one can make it work,
Christina Lewellen:
all right? So Dave, given that that's the case, that obviously,
Christina Lewellen:
when Wi Fi is working, well, then there's no issues. When
Christina Lewellen:
people are able to print, there's no issues. So you end up
Christina Lewellen:
being infrastructure, right, which tends to be sort of behind
Christina Lewellen:
the scenes. So how is it that you can get the attention of
Christina Lewellen:
your leaders when something like air, ie, Wi Fi is a challenge or
Christina Lewellen:
you need more of it, like, how do you have those conversations
Christina Lewellen:
with people who might not have technical backgrounds but need
Christina Lewellen:
to understand a little bit about why there's not just more air,
Christina Lewellen:
right? Is that a challenge in terms of getting the attention
Christina Lewellen:
or the seat at the table to be able to have those types of
Christina Lewellen:
conversations? It's certainly not an exciting conversation to
Christina Lewellen:
have, but it's one that's so necessary for the work that we
Christina Lewellen:
do at schools.
David Azar:
I'm in a fortunate position where I've never
David Azar:
experienced that friction. Now I'm in a li this year, and I
David Azar:
have a lot of people in my cohort and a lot of people in
David Azar:
the whole group this year, and they do experience that
David Azar:
friction. So I know that it does exist, but I just very
David Azar:
fortunately, have not experienced it. Both my current
David Azar:
boss and my prior boss had great relationships with our CFO, and
David Azar:
we're under the CFO, and then the director of it is on the
David Azar:
admin team, which is like our senior leadership council. And
David Azar:
we identify the projects that are critical to us, and then the
David Azar:
school identifies its direction, and we try to align those two.
David Azar:
And for the most part, we don't really have any critical needs
David Azar:
that aren't being addressed. We're very lucky in that regard.
David Azar:
Now there's some other stuff, like AV technology, like our
David Azar:
theater is in desperate need of repair, but that's a huge
David Azar:
project, and it's going to rotate fundraising and but
David Azar:
that's not directly in my scope.
Hiram Cuevas:
You briefly mentioned ally, and Ally is one
Hiram Cuevas:
of what I would call two crown jewels that ATLIS has, you know,
Hiram Cuevas:
Ali and then the T list. What were your reasons for going on
Hiram Cuevas:
board to join the alley program?
David Azar:
Well, my initial reason was really simple. My
David Azar:
boss did it the prior year, two years ago, and really found it
David Azar:
beneficial, and he thought I would benefit from it as well.
David Azar:
So that was initially why I did it. Then I started researching
David Azar:
it before I applied for it for the professional development and
David Azar:
I thought it'd be a really interesting opportunity. You
David Azar:
know, we're well into it now, and easily the best piece for me
David Azar:
is that I've been partnered up with a group of tech people who
David Azar:
I have, like, a lot of similarities with, and our
David Azar:
schools are similarly sized, and, like we do, bounce
David Azar:
questions off each other, and it's been really nice. Like, not
David Azar:
just the project pieces, the project pieces are interesting
David Azar:
and thoughtful and you get to think through a problem, but
David Azar:
also just getting on the call with the guys and ladies has
David Azar:
been really good. Just another reason to not have to call bill.
David Azar:
There's always a reason to call bill. I don't want to knock
David Azar:
Bill. Bill has been good to me. I would have been stranded in
David Azar:
Ohio had it not been for Bill. He had that rental car. That's
David Azar:
right for listeners that are not aware we had some weather
David Azar:
concerns that he ended up driving me all the way home.
David Azar:
Very kind of
Bill Stites:
a fun ride. It's always okay to not bill
Christina Lewellen:
one the ATLIS Leadership Institute Ali
Christina Lewellen:
was a kickoff at the same time in the same place as the annual
Christina Lewellen:
board retreat the Atlas and Atlas certification Council
Christina Lewellen:
board retreats. And then there was weather, summer weather in
Christina Lewellen:
late July that rolled through and disrupted a ton of flights.
Christina Lewellen:
And I remember sitting in the airport with Bill everybody
Christina Lewellen:
looking at their delays, and Bill just stood up and he went,
Christina Lewellen:
forget it, I'm driving. And he took off and went and grabbed a
Christina Lewellen:
rental car. And apparently, Dave, you got swept up into that
Christina Lewellen:
whole thing. So did you guys. I'm sure that you talked about
Christina Lewellen:
ATLIS board business and Ali all the way home, right?
David Azar:
We had a great seven hour conversation. You,
Bill Stites:
it's surprising that I don't think we stopped
Bill Stites:
talking. NAIS got the same gift for gab that I have. The only
Bill Stites:
time I don't think we were talking is when I thought we
Bill Stites:
were actually going to end up off the road because we were
Bill Stites:
hydroplaning as we were driving out of Ohio.
David Azar:
He's not exaggerating. The weather got
David Azar:
pretty rough, and he handled the car really well, but we were
David Azar:
definitely silent.
Christina Lewellen:
Oh my gosh, bonded for life over that, I'm
Christina Lewellen:
sure. As you look at the year and years ahead, we talk a lot
Christina Lewellen:
about AI and the effect and the impact, and coming from that
Christina Lewellen:
technical lens, where you're concerned about some of the
Christina Lewellen:
protection, and what it means in terms of even the pressure it
Christina Lewellen:
puts on our infrastructure. Thoughts on that, how's your
Christina Lewellen:
school dealing with some of that? The AI related stuff
David Azar:
that's been a lot on the Ed Tech side, and our team
David Azar:
has done a really good job of documenting a lot of things
David Azar:
related to AI, and we have this awesome website that kind of
David Azar:
defines Pingree vision about AI. If you just Google Pingry AI,
David Azar:
it's like, it'll come right up. Yeah, that's more of like on the
David Azar:
Ed Tech side and discussing, like, using AI in a learning
David Azar:
environment. I think my scope and my interest has been more on
David Azar:
the technology side, and I think it's very interesting. You know,
David Azar:
I don't do I have the same job in five years, probably not a
David Azar:
lot of the pieces of my job are probably going to be absorbed,
David Azar:
and that's for the better. I think, I think future ticket
David Azar:
systems are not going to need a lot of intervention. They're
David Azar:
going to be able to support users independently of tech
David Azar:
professionals. So that's a real concern for someone who's, like,
David Azar:
a level one technician, certainly, but we've outsourced
David Azar:
so much of that as a society, not independent schools. But,
David Azar:
like, I know, not a lot of people are you doing tier one
David Azar:
tech in America anymore? So there's definitely going to be
David Azar:
an impact that's
Christina Lewellen:
really interesting. Do you guys see
Christina Lewellen:
that too at your schools? Bill and Hiram. I mean, do you all
Christina Lewellen:
expect that the Help Desk function will evolve, or has it
Christina Lewellen:
already evolved in some of your time?
Bill Stites:
I think it definitely is going to evolve. I
Bill Stites:
can tell you that with the advent of AI and the ability to
Bill Stites:
cull resources in a way in which I don't think we were able to
Bill Stites:
before we're able to get at the heart of things much more easily
Bill Stites:
and much sooner. Because I think the level of detail in the
Bill Stites:
responses that you get out of AI can provide a greater level of
Bill Stites:
depth than anything that you might have googled and had to
Bill Stites:
have read, like a few articles on and gone back and forth, on
Bill Stites:
it's kind of pulling all of those things together and giving
Bill Stites:
you that up front. I do think that there is a certain reliance
Bill Stites:
on and I think this is a good lesson for AI in general on the
Bill Stites:
human factor and the human touch in all of this, that there are
Bill Stites:
going to be people that are still hesitant to do the thing
Bill Stites:
on their own, even though they may have those clearly outlined,
Bill Stites:
but it's definitely made our jobs a lot easier, and has
Bill Stites:
allowed us to have the answers to questions in ways that would
Bill Stites:
have taken us much longer to come to Yeah, I
David Azar:
think that's a Great point, but if you think about
David Azar:
like an ATM versus going to the teller, I think it's the end
David Azar:
user's choice. They prefer the experience of going to the
David Azar:
teller, or there's something complicated, or they need to
David Azar:
speak with a personal banker, and then if it's something
David Azar:
quick, they feel like they're gonna be able to self help.
David Azar:
That's going to free up time for your department, and that
David Azar:
becomes an end user's preference. Certainly my school,
David Azar:
our schools, we're always going to have that white glove
David Azar:
approach where we're going to be available, the door is going to
David Azar:
be open, there's going to be people present. I don't ever
David Azar:
envision my job being remote. I need to be in the building.
Hiram Cuevas:
And so much of what we've talked about on the
Hiram Cuevas:
pod, and actually, Dave, you mentioned it earlier, is about
Hiram Cuevas:
that relationship building with your community, and that is
Hiram Cuevas:
essentially the that white glove service. To Bill's point, I've
Hiram Cuevas:
built a couple of Google gems to help me with various things so
Hiram Cuevas:
that it hones in on the information that I want to
Hiram Cuevas:
search about, whether it's the Google Dashboard, whether it's a
Hiram Cuevas:
Blackburn knowledge based system, whether it's Gam and it
Hiram Cuevas:
has made me more efficient there, but there is no way that
Hiram Cuevas:
I'm going to trade away. Me going to visit an end user to
Hiram Cuevas:
have a conversation with them about what they're going
Hiram Cuevas:
through, so that I can support them even better with the
Hiram Cuevas:
mission of the school.
David Azar:
Yeah, absolutely. Spending time outside of your
David Azar:
office is critically important. I'm sure we've all experienced
David Azar:
that. If you're the type of person who's just always in your
David Azar:
office, you're not really understanding what's happening.
David Azar:
One of my favorite things to do is, at the very beginning of the
David Azar:
school year, once all like the real craziness is settled in, I
David Azar:
go to. Every department office, and I just sit down at the
David Azar:
department office. I'm like, who's moved because everyone is
David Azar:
like a Domino's game, and I want to get everyone's phones right,
David Azar:
and I want to make sure everyone's extensions are
David Azar:
labeled. But it's an opportunity to connect with everybody at the
David Azar:
beginning of the year, when there's a lot of chaos happening
David Azar:
and they don't have time to come to tech. So I sit in that office
David Azar:
for an hour, solve a couple problems, get everyone's phone
David Azar:
extensions where they belong, and that soft touch of being
David Azar:
with all of the people right when the chaos is really
David Azar:
happening, I think, reassures them that, like, hey, Tech's
David Azar:
here helping, where they're not just in that office or from the
David Azar:
corner.
Christina Lewellen:
I have another question that I want to
Christina Lewellen:
go into, because I really like what you're saying, and I'd like
Christina Lewellen:
to talk about where useful documentation comes from, this
Christina Lewellen:
combination of both having the policies and the procedures that
Christina Lewellen:
are somewhat automated or routine or outlined, but then
Christina Lewellen:
combined with the human piece of it. So Dave, I know that you're
Christina Lewellen:
in particular interested in this topic of documentation that
Christina Lewellen:
actually helps. So tell me a little bit about that, because I
Christina Lewellen:
also want to ask Hiram and Bill to respond to what you say,
Christina Lewellen:
because I know that they spend a lot of time in this space, too.
Christina Lewellen:
So let's hear what you kind of think about the phrase
Christina Lewellen:
documentation that actually is effective and helps.
David Azar:
I think I'm naturally a pessimist, and I
David Azar:
just assume no one reads. So for the longest time, I've always
David Azar:
been tasked with doing documentation on different
David Azar:
things, sometimes because I'm subject matter expert on it, or
David Azar:
sometimes just because I'm the only one available to be able to
David Azar:
do it. And I find that a lot of the documentation is a little
David Azar:
bit verbose and they assume the end user skill level and like,
David Azar:
you have to, like, lay it all out, but you don't want to say
David Azar:
too much. I find images help. I don't like video support,
David Azar:
because then you're scrubbing through the video always, like,
David Azar:
for a little while, people are like, Oh, just do a loom about
David Azar:
it. I like written documentation that's brief to the point and
David Azar:
highlights the key points, and assumes that our community is
David Azar:
somewhat educated on the topic and doesn't need to know every
David Azar:
minute detail. Because if that is the person you're dealing
David Azar:
with, they're not going to read that documentation, they're
David Azar:
going to come for you, they're going to come to you, and you're
David Azar:
going to help them no matter what. So it's a balance between,
David Azar:
like leaving some of the details out and just keeping it short
David Azar:
and helpful. Those are the things really important, things
David Azar:
you need to know to accomplish this task.
Hiram Cuevas:
It's interesting you say that balance between
Hiram Cuevas:
brief documentation and specifically video I tend to
Hiram Cuevas:
like short video clips personally, but I found myself
Hiram Cuevas:
in a position just two days ago where I was trying to create
Hiram Cuevas:
some documentation, and it was going to be a video on how to
Hiram Cuevas:
use the Phish alert button in Gmail, because I nailed a bunch
Hiram Cuevas:
of people on my latest phishing test, and this video ended up
Hiram Cuevas:
being over five minutes long. Was like, they don't need this.
Hiram Cuevas:
There was a lot of good information in there. And I was
Hiram Cuevas:
like, I got to take a step back. Then I think about this crazy
Hiram Cuevas:
time of year. They just need a couple of screenshots, some one
Hiram Cuevas:
liners, here and there. Go here, click here, click here, and
Hiram Cuevas:
you're good to go. So I hear you. There's this allure to
Hiram Cuevas:
video and makes it appear as if you're doing a better job
Hiram Cuevas:
because you're using video and it has its place, don't get me
Hiram Cuevas:
wrong, but brevity, I think, is the key to success with support
Hiram Cuevas:
for a very busy faculty and staff, especially during this
Hiram Cuevas:
time of year.
David Azar:
Yeah, absolutely. And No, listen, I've created a
David Azar:
lot of videos over the years on how to do things, and they can
David Azar:
be very helpful, but they're not searchable. When you go into
David Azar:
your email and you're like, where's that spam button?
David Azar:
Where's that phishing thing he told me about, you can't search
David Azar:
your video for that. So it's like, having that in your Google
David Azar:
Doc and have it be searchable and it's a one pager is my
David Azar:
preferred method, certainly,
Christina Lewellen:
Bill, do you have approaches to documentation
Christina Lewellen:
or communication? And I guess one of my questions for all of
Christina Lewellen:
you is, if they don't read because they're busy and they
Christina Lewellen:
don't really listen to a video because they're busy, are there
Christina Lewellen:
other creative ways that you've considered to try to get
Christina Lewellen:
information across, especially to your busy faculty?
Bill Stites:
So I think there's two different types of
Bill Stites:
documentation. I think there's the documentation that we need
Bill Stites:
on the IT side of things so that we can create, like the run
Bill Stites:
books or those things that we need to understand how we've
Bill Stites:
configured and set up systems. So there's what I'll call the
Bill Stites:
internal IT documentation and that, I think we can be a little
Bill Stites:
looser with, not in whether we do it, but how we do it, your
Bill Stites:
language and the way in which you work through things can be
Bill Stites:
at a little bit more of a technical level. To Dave's
Bill Stites:
point, when it comes to any type of documentation, the idea. Of
Bill Stites:
the one pager is really what I try to boil everything down. Now
Bill Stites:
it doesn't get to be one page every time, but you try to boil
Bill Stites:
it down. In lieu of doing videos, which we do on occasion,
Bill Stites:
I generally will screenshot every step and make sure that
Bill Stites:
there is a video associated with it. But how we do it, how we get
Bill Stites:
it out? It depends on what the issue is, but I tend to try to
Bill Stites:
make them just in time versus just in case. So sending short
Bill Stites:
emails out, you know, if you're talking about phishing things,
Bill Stites:
you know, Hiram mentioned catching people on those. We get
Bill Stites:
these headmaster emails or these, you know, there was
Bill Stites:
something recently that came out with a lot of text messages here
Bill Stites:
in New Jersey about issues with the DMV, and you've got
Bill Stites:
outstanding tickets and all these things. You know, I try to
Bill Stites:
use things that are happening in the moment to highlight what it
Bill Stites:
is we need to focus on and then fill in with those very rarely
Bill Stites:
Am I just building documentation and putting it somewhere in the
Bill Stites:
hopes that someone at some point looks at it. It's usually
Bill Stites:
contextualized around a specific thing that's happening at that
Bill Stites:
time.
David Azar:
Yeah, that's a great point. The only time we do data
David Azar:
dump on our end users is when they first get hired. We make a
David Azar:
Schoology course for them, and then it is a bit of a data dump.
David Azar:
And I always make a joke that here's where all the information
David Azar:
is. There's gonna be a test on this tomorrow, and it's not
David Azar:
really for them to read. It's a reference. And I'm kind of
David Azar:
pointing them back to this reference, and then oftentimes
David Azar:
we'll get a ticket, and I'll literally just answer the
David Azar:
question, like, Hey, this is how you do the thing. And FYI,
David Azar:
here's a link to the article, or the knowledge based article
David Azar:
about how to do that thing. But really, what they just want to
David Azar:
know is how to do that thing. So, like, I'm not going to
David Azar:
punish them and make them have to dig through it. I'll give
David Azar:
them the answer and then say, here's the thing too.
Christina Lewellen:
That makes a lot of sense. We have to be
Christina Lewellen:
flexible, right, especially when people are busy and distracted.
Christina Lewellen:
So that definitely makes a lot of sense. Okay, so now just
Christina Lewellen:
changing topics, just a little bit, Dave, I wanted to talk to
Christina Lewellen:
you a little bit more about your experience in the ALI program.
Christina Lewellen:
We heard about. You know why you decided to walk the path? What
Christina Lewellen:
are some of the projects that you're into right now? Have you
Christina Lewellen:
guys picked your research project? Is your group focused
Christina Lewellen:
on what your final deliverable will be?
David Azar:
Yet? No, we haven't picked a research project yet.
David Azar:
Right now, we're we were just honing in a slideshow, a 10
David Azar:
Minute slide show we're going to be sharing out soon. Ours was
David Azar:
about data integrity. I think we are on the third class. I don't
David Azar:
know a lot about the research project yet, but I'm excited for
David Azar:
it. I guess this has been really fun, and seeing the way the
David Azar:
other schools in our group deal with data and manage it has
David Azar:
given me some insight, and, you know, we're just sharing ideas.
David Azar:
It's been pretty good.
Christina Lewellen:
Yeah, that's a big part of the project,
Christina Lewellen:
right? Like, so you're not deep into the research piece of it
Christina Lewellen:
yet, which is always a very critical component of the ALI
Christina Lewellen:
program. But the leading up to it, you know, we're sort of
Christina Lewellen:
walking you toward thinking through what a big research
Christina Lewellen:
project might be, the idea of data, either governance or
Christina Lewellen:
making sure that your data is clean and usable is going to be,
Christina Lewellen:
I think, a continued part of the work that we all do. I was just
Christina Lewellen:
at a session last week talking about the use of AI and these
Christina Lewellen:
big organizations that are putting together big llms. But
Christina Lewellen:
it all comes back to data, like, if there's not useful data, and
Christina Lewellen:
if the data is junk, then the LLM is going to be junk. And
Christina Lewellen:
it's really interesting, because I feel like, as I understand it,
Christina Lewellen:
technology became more ubiquitous and more of a common
Christina Lewellen:
conversation at schools, like, Oh, hey, we're doing a bunch of
Christina Lewellen:
this technology. Maybe we should have a strategy. I feel like
Christina Lewellen:
we're in this moment where data governance is sort of stepping
Christina Lewellen:
into a spotlight, similar to what we experienced with
Christina Lewellen:
technology in general a while back, right, where data
Christina Lewellen:
governance is like, oh, maybe we should pay attention to that,
Christina Lewellen:
because if we want to leverage it, it's going to be an
Christina Lewellen:
important thing to make sure that it's clean. Does your
Christina Lewellen:
school focus on that? Do you guys have much of those
Christina Lewellen:
conversations at this point, or is it sort of like a beginning,
Christina Lewellen:
exploratory kind of vibe?
David Azar:
It's an ongoing conversation. Managing Your data
David Azar:
is difficult, and it's constantly coming in, in many
David Azar:
different channels, but let's say in the admission side of the
David Azar:
house, you're always getting end users coming in, people coming
David Azar:
in, and keeping just person records clean and then
David Azar:
everything else associated with that is a real challenge. So
David Azar:
there's a team that meets semi regularly to talk about the
David Azar:
actual data set and who's doing the cleaning and how often we're
David Azar:
going through and merging records checking. Alumni
David Azar:
information to make sure it's accurate, and then even our
David Azar:
archivist is involved with historical records, because it's
David Azar:
amazing how we like you wouldn't think it, but we find a student
David Azar:
from the 1970s and we're like, wow, this person hasn't been in
David Azar:
our systems, and now it's this exploration of What sports did
David Azar:
this person play, and how did we miss him for all these years?
David Azar:
And then you'll get someone who gives us a donation. They're
David Azar:
like, Yeah, I was a student for four years. I didn't graduate
David Azar:
from Pingree. And you're like, Wow, we got to find everything
David Azar:
we can about this person. And Pete Vlasic, our archivist, gets
David Azar:
involved and helps us with that so many facets to data and
David Azar:
keeping it clean, data governance as a whole
Christina Lewellen:
bill and Hiram, are you guys doing the
Christina Lewellen:
same? I mean, I know we talk about what you're doing, but I
Christina Lewellen:
want to for people who are popping into this particular
Christina Lewellen:
podcast, I'd love it if you guys could also share a little bit
Christina Lewellen:
about how you're thinking about data governance and sort of, is
Christina Lewellen:
it a constant fight to have that conversation, or is the school
Christina Lewellen:
bought into the importance of it? I would
Hiram Cuevas:
say it's not a fight, but just a reminder, more
Hiram Cuevas:
than anything else, I think people often will forget,
Hiram Cuevas:
especially when a new system comes on board, and they fail to
Hiram Cuevas:
recognize that there's actually a contact point with your core
Hiram Cuevas:
tech stack that is important to the general flow of data. And
Hiram Cuevas:
Dave, I really like the fact that you brought up your
Hiram Cuevas:
archivist, because we have also brought on an archivist
Hiram Cuevas:
recently, and we're trying really, really hard to get a
Hiram Cuevas:
sense of how all this data is going to connect back to a
Hiram Cuevas:
resource that the Advancement team can use, that the general
Hiram Cuevas:
faculty can use when they're looking at school history and
Hiram Cuevas:
events of that nature, and make sure it's in a coherent package.
Hiram Cuevas:
It's a Herculean undertaking to try and assemble all that
Hiram Cuevas:
information. And there's some great schools out there that are
Hiram Cuevas:
doing wonderful things with their archives, and this is
Hiram Cuevas:
where we can lean on one of them is up in your area. That's the
Hiram Cuevas:
Lawrenceville school. They have a fantastic archivist and
Hiram Cuevas:
archive for their school. We've been having good conversations
Hiram Cuevas:
with them about how to manage this, because we don't want to
Hiram Cuevas:
recreate the wheel. We also want to make mistakes along the way.
Hiram Cuevas:
This is a new area for us, so there aren't a whole lot of
Hiram Cuevas:
models out there, at least in the tech space, to say, Oh, this
Hiram Cuevas:
is how you should, or one should take care of your data from an
Hiram Cuevas:
archiving perspective.
Christina Lewellen:
So what does an archivist do? I've never
Christina Lewellen:
heard you guys say that before. What are they doing? Trying to
Christina Lewellen:
piece together old data.
David Azar:
I can give an example how we started at
David Azar:
Pingree with an archivist. So we had a project where we ran out
David Azar:
of wall space. We couldn't honor every athletic team anymore in
David Azar:
the way that we wanted to. We literally had no walls for all
David Azar:
the photos. We were years behind, and it's disappointing.
David Azar:
The kids come through. They want to see their photos. So we ended
David Azar:
up building the Pingree Hall of Fame. If you Google pingre Hall
David Azar:
of Fame, its first result and you'll see it. It's a completely
David Azar:
interactive experience. If you click on any of the students
David Azar:
names, you see their entire history of pingery. All the
David Azar:
teams are on all their achievements. Same thing for
David Azar:
coaches and then teams that have been honored as Hall of Fame
David Azar:
classes are all in there. It's really very cool. Check it out.
David Azar:
But that took an enormous undertaking. The amount of
David Azar:
metadata you need to accomplish. This is shocking. It was an
David Azar:
enormous project. It took 18 months, two years. Pete, who
David Azar:
spearheaded it, has a beautiful write up about it somewhere. I
David Azar:
can't tell you exactly where it is, but he has a whole write up
David Azar:
about that project that steamrolled it to a million
David Azar:
other projects. And it's a huge resource for development. It's a
David Azar:
resource for athletics. It's really great. And then that's
David Azar:
expanded beyond just athletics. You know, we're doing that with
David Azar:
the arts, with the yearbooks, with the newspapers. It's
David Azar:
massive, and you need to use what's called a dam, a digital
David Azar:
asset management tool.
Christina Lewellen:
So interesting. What are you using
Christina Lewellen:
it for? Hiram? So
Hiram Cuevas:
very much like what Dave is using it up at
Hiram Cuevas:
Pingree. We've also digitized every yearbook that we've
Hiram Cuevas:
generated. We've digitized every newspaper, school publication in
Hiram Cuevas:
there as well. So in terms of the metadata, this is what we
Hiram Cuevas:
had to take a step back and we were trying to figure out, gosh,
Hiram Cuevas:
what are some of the tags that we should use? Obviously, your
Hiram Cuevas:
class years are important. But then within your class years,
Hiram Cuevas:
you have to also realize your sports are divided up, usually
Hiram Cuevas:
at the seasons, fall, winter and spring, and they actually
Hiram Cuevas:
overlap different academic years. So when you're looking at
Hiram Cuevas:
Fall cross country, it's very different than, say, spring
Hiram Cuevas:
baseball. So you need to be cognizant of the academic year.
Hiram Cuevas:
Isn't just the graduation year per se, but it's an academic
Hiram Cuevas:
year which spans two years. So. That proved to be problematic,
Hiram Cuevas:
but we're in the very early, early stages of this, and we're
Hiram Cuevas:
looking at, and I hate to necessarily name drop, but we're
Hiram Cuevas:
looking at high end product called preservica. And I'm not
Hiram Cuevas:
sure if that's what you all are using, Dave, but I know that's
Hiram Cuevas:
what Lawrenceville, I believe, is using, is preservica. That's
Hiram Cuevas:
what a lot of museums use to digitize a lot of their assets,
Hiram Cuevas:
so that they can also be searchable by the community and
Hiram Cuevas:
also the external community. But some of the more sensitive
Hiram Cuevas:
assets that you may have thinking about things like Port
Hiram Cuevas:
minutes, perhaps report cards and things like that, that
Hiram Cuevas:
advisor letters could be behind a secure portal so that people
Hiram Cuevas:
that do need some access to these assets may actually have
Hiram Cuevas:
these assets. So it becomes also a security issue as well. In
Hiram Cuevas:
terms of how you're storing your data and your data retention,
David Azar:
we use a product called binder for the Hall of
David Azar:
Fame. It's a custom front end, but essentially it just reads
David Azar:
back to binder. Yeah, the collections have different
David Azar:
security policies. So we do the board minutes. We have board
David Azar:
minutes go back a really long way, handwritten board minutes
David Azar:
going back to the 60s, maybe even earlier. I don't want to
David Azar:
misquote it, but yeah, it's an incredible depth. I mean, all of
David Azar:
our schools have been around for so long. That's its own podcast,
David Azar:
really. It's an enormous undertaking,
Hiram Cuevas:
if you think about it. Christina, the access to a
Hiram Cuevas:
primary document from the historical perspective of your
Hiram Cuevas:
school is quite fascinating when you read through some of these
Hiram Cuevas:
letters that come back from parents or from alums during the
Hiram Cuevas:
war, for example, it's very different look and feel than
Hiram Cuevas:
somebody who is sending a communication to the school from
Hiram Cuevas:
the 70s or 80s.
Bill Stites:
This is one of those areas where, you know, I
Bill Stites:
talked about that sharing piece. We went, we sat down with them
Bill Stites:
at Pingree so that we could go through and understand their
Bill Stites:
process for this. Because Tye was very point. You know, when
Bill Stites:
you're starting this out, you need examples. You need to see
Bill Stites:
what's working, what's not working, and then how can you
Bill Stites:
develop your program? Ours isn't at the same level that they're
Bill Stites:
at at Pingree at this point, nor is it probably where they are at
Bill Stites:
Lawrenceville. But again, it's getting those building blocks in
Bill Stites:
place, knowing who you can turn to, who your phone or friend is
Bill Stites:
when you need to do that, and then go from there.
Christina Lewellen:
I love it. You guys always teach me
Christina Lewellen:
something new that I hadn't thought of, and the things that
Christina Lewellen:
fall into the realm of tech at a school just it never ceases to
Christina Lewellen:
amaze me. So this has been really interesting, and now I
Christina Lewellen:
feel like we have another topic to tackle on a future podcast.
Christina Lewellen:
So Dave, I don't know if that's a thank you or if the guys are
Christina Lewellen:
slapping their heads, I'm not sure, but this is really
Christina Lewellen:
fascinating. So I very much appreciate you joining us. And
Christina Lewellen:
before we wrap up and let you go on with the rest of your day,
Christina Lewellen:
usually the guys have something crazy to ask, around zombies and
Christina Lewellen:
weapons. Sometimes we've asked about coffee. We've even gone so
Christina Lewellen:
far as talked about candy corn, yes or no, favorite flavor of
Christina Lewellen:
pie. So here's where I'm going to land this with you. We're
Christina Lewellen:
coming into the end of the year, and regardless of what holiday
Christina Lewellen:
tradition you look forward to or what holidays you're
Christina Lewellen:
celebrating, I'm curious if there's something that really
Christina Lewellen:
just marks the end of a year and the start of a new year. For
Christina Lewellen:
you, what's your end of year, start of a new year, sort of
Christina Lewellen:
tradition or routine look like.
David Azar:
On the work side, there really isn't much. I guess
David Azar:
winter break is the demarcation point. But in my personal life,
David Azar:
my family loves to go see the tree the Rockefeller Center, and
David Azar:
I get such a kick out of that, because it's just a tourist
David Azar:
trap, and I'm so jaded as a New Yorker, it's beautiful, but year
David Azar:
after year, we go, and my son wants to go to the Lego store,
David Azar:
and God forbid someone says, Rockettes. But you know, it's so
David Azar:
fun, and it's this family tradition, and we've done it for
David Azar:
years, and as much as I ho hum it, I'm the first one out the
David Azar:
door to do it. That's probably my big end of Year Holiday touch
David Azar:
point.
Christina Lewellen:
I love it. Grumpy dad goes to Rockefeller
Christina Lewellen:
Center. I think that we need some live streaming from you.
Christina Lewellen:
That sounds really, really awesome. Bill and Hiram, real
Christina Lewellen:
quick. What are your year end traditions that you're looking
Christina Lewellen:
forward to? Are you also going to go see the tree like Dave?
Bill Stites:
It's too crowded. That's just too many people for
Bill Stites:
me. As much as I like to chat and be around people, that's you
Bill Stites:
feel like a sardine as you're trying to get to that thing.
Christina Lewellen:
I can't but it's so pretty bill. Come on.
Bill Stites:
I think it's funny in the Stites household, what
Bill Stites:
has marked the holiday season is literally the curl up in the
Bill Stites:
back room, get under some blankets and not come out of
Bill Stites:
your pajamas for a day, maybe two. You know, who knows, and
Bill Stites:
sit there and just watch either Lord of the Rings from first to
Bill Stites:
last, The Hobbit from first to. Last Harry Potter, Star Wars,
Bill Stites:
something we just all kind of get together in the back, we
Bill Stites:
order up food, or I make a soup, and we go from there.
Christina Lewellen:
Awesome. Hiram, what are you looking
Christina Lewellen:
forward to? Year End,
Hiram Cuevas:
family tradition is always watching the Charlie
Hiram Cuevas:
Brown Christmas Special. Everybody comes on over and we
Hiram Cuevas:
have a nice meal together, and then we'll watch the Charlie
Hiram Cuevas:
Brown Christmas special. The past few years we have all
Hiram Cuevas:
attended Christmas Eve mass, and then we come home and we open up
Hiram Cuevas:
our presents, and then we have a really great breakfast first
Hiram Cuevas:
thing in the morning for Christmas Day, so we don't have
Hiram Cuevas:
to worry about rushing out to get to church. I will admit,
Hiram Cuevas:
Bill, I feel the same way about the tourist trap as a former New
Hiram Cuevas:
Yorker, but when I was coaching and we would go compete at the
Hiram Cuevas:
armory at 160/8 Street, I drove one of those school vans all the
Hiram Cuevas:
way to Rockefeller Center so we could do a drive by, so our boys
Hiram Cuevas:
could see the giant Christmas tree, and they were the world To
Hiram Cuevas:
be able to see it
David Azar:
drive by correct it's yeah,
Christina Lewellen:
that's the way to do it, any year end
Christina Lewellen:
traditions for you, Peter,
Peter Frank:
so for me, two things super quick. Number one,
Peter Frank:
I draw a hard line with no Christmas. If it's not Christmas
Peter Frank:
time, like when my kids want to get under my skin, they'll start
Peter Frank:
singing Christmas songs, like in the summer or whatever, just to
Peter Frank:
get to me and I immediately, no, no, no, no, no. 100% and I just
Peter Frank:
want to say, like I love now, though I love that I've done
Peter Frank:
that because I love Christmas time, because it's all fresh and
Peter Frank:
new, because I forbid it any other time of the year.
Bill Stites:
Number one, good man, Peter Frank, first time I'm
Bill Stites:
gonna agree with you.
Peter Frank:
And finally, so specific tradition. I am an
Peter Frank:
emmet otters jug in Christmas person like all day,
Bill Stites:
my wife, you just hit her heart strings there.
Peter Frank:
Yeah, I don't know how that music is not more
Peter Frank:
popular than it is, because it's some of the greatest Christmas
Peter Frank:
music ever. So Emmet otter all day.
Christina Lewellen:
We got to drop that in the show notes,
Christina Lewellen:
even though this will likely drop after the holidays, but
Christina Lewellen:
we're dropping that anyway. And for me, finally, I have many
Christina Lewellen:
traditions. You know, I'm Italian. I love the big
Christina Lewellen:
gatherings. But a couple years ago, husband and I went to
Christina Lewellen:
Puerto Rico, and we started drinking the Coquito at the
Christina Lewellen:
holidays. And now my kids love it. We make a virgin batch for
Christina Lewellen:
the non 20 ones, but for the 20 ones and up. We love some good
Christina Lewellen:
Puerto Rican white rum in our Coquito. And I just Hiram. I
Christina Lewellen:
just ordered the ingredients for it in today's pickup. So I am
Christina Lewellen:
ready to get into Coquito season.
Hiram Cuevas:
I want to batch for my son or my daughter, not
Hiram Cuevas:
my youngest daughter. But yeah, we love Coquito, and it's so
Hiram Cuevas:
funny. You say that because my mother just sent me a picture of
Hiram Cuevas:
a bottle that she just made for herself.
Christina Lewellen:
I'm not Puerto Rican, but I am all about
Christina Lewellen:
that Coquito. It's amazing. It's so good. We'll put the recipe
Christina Lewellen:
for that in the show notes too. Gentlemen, this has been such a
Christina Lewellen:
pleasure. Audience. Thank you for indulging us a little bit in
Christina Lewellen:
our year end holiday tradition. Holiday Traditions. I hope that
Christina Lewellen:
you guys have a great, wonderful rest of your day. And Dave,
Christina Lewellen:
thank you so much for joining us on the pod. It's been really
Christina Lewellen:
awesome.
Peter Frank:
This has been talking technology with ATLIS,
Peter Frank:
produced by the Association of technology leaders in
Peter Frank:
independent schools. For more information about Atlas and
Peter Frank:
Atlas membership, please visit the atlas.org if you enjoyed
Peter Frank:
this discussion, please subscribe, leave a review and
Peter Frank:
share this podcast with your colleagues in the independent
Peter Frank:
school community. Thank you for listening. You.
