Branka Marceta and TIMAC

I met Devon towards the end of her participation in TIMAC as a [Link]Cohort 2 member. I was very impressed by her presentation in May 2006 (you can see the 13 minute video of that presentation at http://drop.io/devonmarkert, along with some photos of her during TIMAC ). We met again, later on that year, at NECC in San Diego (July 2006). We were both very excited about the sessions we attended about technology integration in education. We also had a very nice dinner at a Brazilian churrascaria and spent hours enjoying food and good conversation. It was very interesting to learn about how Devon spent some time in Spain where she met Nourredin. Their relationship had many parallels to mine with my husband, one of us being an immigrant and a non-native speaker. It was my first time eating at a churrascaria, and now it will have a very special place in my memory because it was with Devon. The following school year we asked Devon to be a Super Mentor for our new TIMAC Cohort 3, because we knew how great of a fit for a support mentor she was - very professional, yet caring and enthusiastic about technology in education. She agreed to do it and we were very pleased because we knew that the new teachers in TIMAC are in very good hands with Devon’s kind moral support and strong technical skills. In October 2006, Devon attended a rap-session by Technology Enhanced Language Learning Interest Group with CATESOL (California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). I gave her my camera to snap photos and take videos. You know how it usually takes a little bit of time for most people to learn how to use a new gadget? Not Devon. She picked it up right away.
Then in March of that school year the news came about the headaches and the tumor. Since that faithful time, we have been following her amazing fight, being very hopeful that she would be back with us and TIMAC very soon. Devon has touched many of our lives and we will miss her immensely. She will live on through the wonderful relationships she has formed with many of us and through the fruitful results of her work with her colleagues and ESL learners. We have been very fortunate to have had her in our adult education community. With the heavy heart, we say goodbye.

Branka Marceta and TIMAC