The John Lunt Award

The John S. Lunt Friend of Technology award is a special award that the ACTEM board gives on occasion to recognize a person who has made a long term, lasting contribution to supporting and advancing the use of technology in education throughout the state of Maine. Unlike the ACHIEVE award, there is no application or nomination process, rather board members have a long discussion about who we should recognize and why. Our litmus test is that if you mention a person’s name in connection to this award to anybody who is involved in technology around the state, the response should be “well of course!” So, with that standard in mind, it is our honor, on behalf of the board to present the John Lunt Friend of Technology award to the person who has long been the technology story teller for the state of Maine. And yes, we are going to stand here and tell stories about the storyteller. 

Jim Moulton

2019 John Lunt Friend of Technology Award

Jim Moulton has been driving around the state for over two decades making connections with people and telling stories along the way. He was supposed to be providing tech support or professional development. That was generally his job, but he did it by making connections, relating to people, and then going all techie on them.

He started as a classroom teacher at Bowdoin Central School in the early 90s where he lead the way to connectivity in the school and began exploring the use of educational technology under the supervision of Bette Manchester. I’ve heard that she suggested that no teacher should have a phone in his classroom, let alone one that connected to the internet. That did not deter Jim. Later he became a facilitator for the Community of Learners a wide area network that served Brunswick, SAD 75 and Bath where he worked with teachers and students in those schools. Later he went to work for SEED as a technology fertilizer extraordinaire where he convinced the head gardener that all work should be digital, and so it was. He was one of the original members of the MLTI Design Team and continued to work with MLTI as an integration mentor, traveling with colleagues to every middle school in the state of Maine. Jim soon gained a worldwide reputation as speaker and professional development provider, as well as a writer for Edutopia’s Spiral Notebook blog. Eventually he took his talents, knowledge, and skills to Apple where he worked both at the state and national level. Now he’s a retired world rover, always looking for the next project.

It is our honor to present the John Lunt Friend of Technology Award to Jim Moulton, our colleague, friend, and mentor. Jim, thank you for your dedication, drive, and stories.