Today is National IT Professionals Day, and I want to take a moment to celebrate the 75 members of our @EctorCountyISD Technology division for the work they do every single day. Technology touches nearly every part of our district, and so much of what makes that possible is because of their work. Some of it is highly visible. They support our staff, maintain devices, provide digital resources, solve problems, and help teachers and students use technology effectively. But so much more happens behind the scenes. They keep our networks connected, our systems running, our data secure, our applications functioning, and our technology infrastructure ready to support more than 30,000 students and thousands of employees each day. Often, the best technology work is the work no one ever knows had to happen. A problem is prevented. A system stays online. A security risk is addressed. A teacher gets the help they need. A student is able to connect and learn. A solution was found before most people even realized there was a problem. Whether your role is in Digital Learning, Information Technology, Information Systems, or Technology Support, YOU make a difference. I am incredibly proud of this division and grateful for the knowledge, commitment, creativity, problem-solving, and service you bring to ECISD. The work you do makes an impact far beyond technology. It helps create the conditions that allow teaching and learning to happen every day across our district. Thank you for everything you do, both the work people see and the countless things they never will. Happy National IT Professionals Day, y'all! 💜💻 #teamECISD #ECISDproud #ECISDexcellence #nationalITday

Today we presented a session at @EctorCountyISD Leadership University 2026 called “Trust. Verify. Protect. Cybersecurity Leadership in the Age of Digital Threats,” and I’m still smiling about the quality of the conversation & learning that took place! During this session, our district leaders (principals, APs, and representatives from many departments) were led through real-world scenarios and a table top cybersecurity scenario. These leaders were challenged to think through each phase of the cyberattack: from the intital report, to the call to shutting down every system district-wide, to recovery, and after action. A few things stood out in these conversations: 🔐 Cybersecurity is a leadership responsibility, not just an IT one. Every division needs to know its plan before a crisis forces the question. 🔐 Attackers exploit trust. The instinct to verify through a second, known channel before acting is the single best defense against phishing and even AI voice cloning. 🔐 Speed matters & reporting a mistake quickly enables our IT to identify solutions faster. Staff awareness & a culture that encourages transparency elevates security control. Preparing our leaders to think clearly under pressure, before an incident ever happens, is some of the most important work we can do. Grateful for a room full of leaders who leaned all the way in today. This work is stronger because of you! 🫶🏼 #K12Cybersecurity #EdTechLeadership #ECISD #ECISDLU2026 @TechyJD @Tech_ECISD

This week, I had the honor & awesome experience of delivering the opening keynote at Ector County ISD’s first-ever AI Summit! 🦾🤖💻 100 teachers were in attendance, choosing to spend a day of their summer vacation with us & ready to grow. That alone says everything about the kind of educators we have in ECISD. The theme of the presentation was “More Human, Not Less: Teaching in the Age of AI” and here’s some of the thoughts that I shared: 💡The critical need in learning hasn’t been access to information for a long time; kids have been able to look up any fact for twenty years. The critical need is the human part: knowing when a student is lost, believing in a kid before they believe in themselves, building the trust that lets a struggling student be wrong out loud. AI cannot do any of those things. A great teacher can. 💡AI literacy isn’t about knowing how to push buttons. The buttons will change many times before our students graduate. What we’re really building is thinking skills: asking a good question, questioning the answer, owning the learning process, valuing honest effort. Every one of those is a human skill that a great teacher models. 💡 The question that should guide every AI decision (for staff and students alike) is this: What problem are you trying to solve? Not “what tool is trending?” Start with the challenge. Then choose the tool. 💡 Done right, AI means less passive screen time, not more. A student who uses AI to get a concept re-explained privately, to get feedback on a draft they then revise themselves, or to map out approaches to solve a complex problem before committing to one - that student is thinking harder, not less. After the keynote, teachers spent the day in four choice sessions & enjoyed listening to an ECISD student panel. The most important voices in any conversation about learning are the students themselves. Our students were so well spoken & did an incredible job sharing their perspectives! None of it would have been possible without our amazing ECISD Digital Learning team, who poured their hearts into designing a day of learning that was practical, purposeful, and worthy of the educators in that room. I am so proud of what they built and so grateful for their commitment to this work. To every ECISD educator who was in that room: you are the most important resource in your classroom. AI doesn’t change that. It actually makes it more true. More human, not less. 🔥♥️🫶🏼 My heart is still smiling, thanks for a great day, y’all! #teamECISD #AIinEducation #EdTech #TeacherLeadership #ProfessionalLearning #MoreHumanNotLess #AILiteracy #TexasEducation

This is incredible & makes me so proud for #teamECISD! ♥️🍎🥹 Our @EctorCountyISD teachers, principals, assistant principals and students understood the assignment this year. Gains & growth like this aren’t possible without a lot of heart and focus. We’re just getting started y’all and I can wait to see where this leads for our kids! 🫶🏼 #ECISDproud #ECISDexcellence oaoa.com/local-news/ecisd-an…

“Next school year could be the one when AI starts strengthening student outcomes, or the one when school systems bury themselves under a fresh round of breathless pilots. The difference will not be the tools selected, but how leaders approach the moment.” 💡🦾😍 Ector County ISD has been incredibly intentional about our approach to leveraging AI as a system to identify opportunities for improvement & to solve problems experience by students and staff. So excited to see these efforts strengthen student outcomes for #teamECISD as we continue to learn & grow as a system, embracing the moment! Shout out to the many districts in our collaborative network that are featured in this link. I’m proud of y’all and appreciate everything we are learning, together! 🫶🏼 #ECISDproud #ILOGroupAIcohort #letsgrow #AIinEducation #artificialintelligence govtech.com/education/k-12/o…

Our Ector County ISD Technology division talks about leadership not as a title but in how we each show up every day to do the jobs we are responsible for. Each team member matters as a collective whole if we are going to make an impact supporting ECISD staff. This quarter, we focused on the “Empower” capacities of the ECISD Leadership Definition. A team member from each department was voted on & selected by our division team members. They absolutely killed it with these choices & I’m so proud of these four. Thank you for all that you do Martin, Sam, Viktoria & Brit! 🏆💪🏼🥳 Ending the day a proud & happy CTO, y’all! #ECISDexcellence #ECISDproud #teamtechnology

In Ector County ISD, we are focused on identifying ways to leverage AI that solves problems our system is experiencing. It’s also critical that our system is designed to empower staff to think about AI through the lens of their work & to clear the runway for excellence as they explore new opportunities. Mr. Sako, a 4th Grade teacher & one of our #TechyTribe Ambassador AI Pilot Teachers accepted this challenge & knocked it out of the park! 🍎🦾 Check out this example of how AI is being utilized in his classroom to provide a more personalized learning experience for his students & to provide more timely feedback to close gaps! Shout out to our incredible ECISD Communications team for capturing this example of excellence in action! 🫶🏼 Way to grow, Mr. Sako & team! 🥹 #AIinEducation #AI #ECISDexcellence #ECISDLeads youtu.be/WFjXU8ovVXc?feature…

This morning, we continued our district’s AI Journey with another opportunity to think forward about leveraging AI to effectively elevate our system during our monthly District Leadership Team meeting! 🦾💡🤔 The conversation during today’s PL session focused on how we are evaluating the AI tools currently being used and developing metrics to measure their impact on our work, related to each leader’s role and context. In Ector County ISD, the question is always what problem are we trying to solve by using AI? We believe it is the responsibility of our leaders to be informed, to be intentional and to take responsibility for the opportunity at hand. The question was never whether AI would change how organizations operate. The question is whether the humans leading those organizations will stay in the room, stay accountable, and stay focused on what matters! #AIinEducation #artificialintelligence #letsgrow @MNMarquez10