Linda Brown

Information Technology / Computer Science Instructor at Desert Hills High School

Linda Brown is a 23-year veteran Computer Science and Information Technology teacher at Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah. She’s a Microsoft Certified Trainer and industry certified in CompTIA Strata, CompTIA A+ Computer Repair, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, Microsoft MTA-Operating Systems, MTA-Security Fundamentals, MTA-Network Fundamentals, MOS-Excel, and MOS-Word.

Linda has attended several universities in Utah over the years (BYU, UVU, WSU, DSU) as she has worked to add many secondary education teaching endorsements to her portfolio. These endorsements include Computer Repair, Networking, Cybersecurity, Computer Programming, Gaming Development, Web Development, and Business Information Technology.

Linda went to work as a Senior Technical Support Technician for WordPerfect Corporation in 1985. In 1987, her career then took her to Portland, Oregon where she designed and taught computer classes for Portland Community College and Harakai Systems Computer Training centers. Linda took opportunities to travel to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to teach children there about computers, hauling in and setting up computers for the children to use. In her community, she worked with “troubled youth” in lock-up facilities, inspiring in them a love for computing.

In the mid 90’s, Linda began working in Utah at Box Elder School District as a network administrator and PC Repair Technician. Her love for teaching youth inspired her to return to college at WSU in 1996 to get her secondary education-teaching license. She began teaching at Box Elder High School where she started their I.T. program, teaching there for 15 years. Desert Hills High recruited her in 2010 to revamp their C.S. program where she continues to teach 13 intro and advanced computing courses in Computer Programming, Web Development, A.P. Computer Science Principles, PC Repair, Networking, Information Security, and Gaming Development, and Intro to Information Technology.

In 2008, Linda received the “Utah I.T. Teacher of the Year” recognition. In 2017, she was honored with “Utah’s CTE Lifetime Achievement Award” for her commitment and influence in Career and Technical Education, then participating in the UACTE Region 5 competition for award winners.

Linda has been using TestOut software in her high school classrooms since 2001.

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Eugene A. Andres

IT Instructor at Cuyahoga Community College

Professor Andres retired from Cleveland Clinic, where he created T-SQL queries to support medical research, and trained users in the Epic Electronic Health Records system.

His current project at Tri-C is teaching students in a semester boot camp to earn their Linux Pro certification and Skills Guarantee. In 2018, 12 of 18 students in his Linux Administration course earned their Linux Pro cert during their final exam.

College-wide in 2018, Tri-C students earned 28 TestOut Pro certs, 2 CompTIA A+, and 1 MCSA/MCP. Increasing student certifications to build the Northeast Ohio technology workforce is a high priority for Tri-C’s VP of Workforce Initiatives and College-Wide Dean of IT.

In May 2018, Gene and other faculty formed the “self-help” group LTUG (LabSim Teaching Users’ Group) whose mission is to share best practices for teaching students to prepare for certification exams when using LabSim. Active members number 17, including Tri-C faculty, administration, two certified students, and Kent Mahoney (TestOut). LTUG includes both credit and non-credit faculty and administration.

In January 2019, LTUG spawned ITCAC (IT Career Advancement Club) for credit and non-credit IT students. ITCAC is a “self-help” group for IT students to achieve their certification goals, with the assistance of LTUG members. ITCAC created student testimonial videos for marketing enrollment in LabSim-based courses to college and high school students, and their parents.

Professor Andres has “40-something” years of professional experience in higher education, business, and industry as a network engineer, information systems analyst, designer, programmer, technical writer, and trainer/teacher. He earned the MS Biometry (Healthcare Informatics) and the BS Engineering degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

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Ken Toth

PC and Network Technology Instructor at Careerline Tech Center

Ken’s current professional experience includes: Currently as the PC and Network Technology Instructor Careerline Tech Center for the past 20 years, a subsidiary of the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District. He also works as the middle school summer camp and IChallengeU instructor. Previously he served as the Business Education Instructor at Coloma Community Schools for 10 years.

He has served on the Michigan Department of Education Information Technology instructor certification development team, Cyber Security CIP development team and Information Technology curriculum standards advisory committee. Through his state curriculum involvement he assisted as a Business and Technology CIP auditor.

Ken earned his B.S. in Business Education and Technology from Ferris State University and went on to obtain his Masters Vocational Education from Western Michigan University. His training has awarded him a Continuing Teaching Certificate, Full Vocational Authorization, and multiple technology certifications.

He is a resident of West Michigan and enjoys raising dogs and time with his wife and two daughters. Ken has coached Varsity Football for 25 years and middle school for the past 2.

Certifications:
CompTIA: A+
CompTIA: Network+
CompTIA: Security+
CompTIA: Healthcare IT+
CompTIA: IT Fundamental
Oracle: Java
Oracle: SQL
Oracle: Data Modeling
Electronics Technicians Association International: Customer Service Specialist
Certiport: IC3
Microsoft: Windows Operating System Fundamentals
Microsoft: Network Fundamentals
Microsoft: Security Fundamentals

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Mary Beth Tarver

Computer Information Systems Instructor

With 50+ years in the educational field, Mary Beth has experienced the computer revolution. Having taught both in the high school environment as well as the four-year college/university setting she brings a variety of personal experiences from punch cards and TRS 80s to the present-day technology explosion.

Back in the day when online courses were just being launch, Mary Beth and a colleague from NSU developed the first online course offered by NSU. It was in the summer, and allowed students to “take” the course wherever they had an internet connection. Understanding and Using the Internet was an instant hit and thus began the online presence at NSU.

Mary Beth soon developed a second course for NSU’s online environment; Computer Hardware/Software, which was geared toward high school teachers pursuing their master’s degree. This course used the TestOut LabSim. It had to be all online and had to have a program that allowed the students/teachers to experience the labs without actually being on campus. TestOut met that requirement. Thanks to the TestOut staff, like Stevie George, one of those great individuals, who spent many hours answering Mary Beth’s questions.

NSU has been and remains a leader offer top ranked online programs and online degrees in the Computer Information Systems area. Mary Beth looks forward to sharing with you the Steps in Building a Top-Ranked Online Computer Information Systems Degree.

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Patrea Wilson

Cybersecurty Risk Analyst with Lockheed Martin

Patrea Wilson is an experienced and multi-faceted IT and Cyber Security Professional. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications (Broadcasting) from Alderson Broaddus University, a Master of Science in Management (Information Systems Security) from Colorado Technical University and is scheduled to continue studies as a Cybersecurity Doctoral Candidate. She is currently a Cybersecurty Risk Analyst with Lockheed Martin.

Patrea has been in the IT field for over 20 years and has a unique skill set that centers around IT/Cyber policy, management, quality assurance, project management, the procurement process, and training. Additionally, she has gained valuable hands-on experience with building and configuring legacy PCs and printers, and teaching Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), just to name a few.

For the past 5 years, she has worked at the Technical College level, in the ‘for-profit’ educational sector, and is currently a Computer Network and Cyber Security - Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC). She is experienced in the following instructional delivery platforms: Face-to-Face, Hybrid, and Online.

Patrea has worked with TestOut on several different levels, to include PC Pro, Network Pro, and Security Pro. Due to the rapid evolution of the current IT industry, Patrea feels the urgency to encourage professionals by meeting them where they are, highlighting an achievable path to success, and developing confidence in achieved outcomes.

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Dan & Brooke Wheeler

Father and Daughter, Utah Outdoors Experts

If you have been to a TestOut conference before, chances are you’ve met Dan Wheeler. His enthusiasm for the outdoors is contagious and he’s taken many groups out to experience Utah’s back country. He especially enjoys showing Utah to TestOut attendees.

Originally from Rochester, New York, Dan has called Utah home for over 30 years. Participating in Boy Scouts as a teen is what first ignited his passion for the outdoors. Some of his favorite activities include, fly fishing, backpacking, hiking, canyoneering, snow shoeing, mountain biking, white water rafting and riding ATV’s. While Dan has spent time outdoors all over the US and parts of Argentina including the Patagonia mountains, Utah is his favorite. Dan guestimates he’s hiked over 2,000 miles through the years, many of those miles being in Utah. He enjoys the diversity of Utah and continues to be amazed that he can be snow skiing in the morning and hiking among red rocks in the afternoon. Dan often says, “There’s not many places where you can drive ten minutes and be in nature away from everyone. I don’t want to go anywhere else until I see and experience all Utah has to offer.”

Brooke Wheeler is the youngest child of Dan’s. When asked how long she’s been doing outdoor activities she said, “Ever since I can remember, have you met my dad? Most family vacations and activities included something outside.” While just being outside in the sun is enough to make her happy, some of her favorite outdoor activities include hiking and backpacking, snow shoeing, river rafting, and ATVing. Picking a favorite place in Utah is a challenge for her and she settled with, “anywhere that’s away from the city.” Following in her father’s footsteps, she enjoys taking groups of friends on hiking and camping trips. She believes the outdoors is best shared with friends and is excited to show Utah to conference attendees and their families.

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David Carter

Support Engineer, Identity & Security at Microsoft Corporation

David Carter is an Azure Identity Support Engineer at Microsoft, where the mission is to empower every person and every organization on the Planet to achieve more. He joined Microsoft in 2018 and takes pride in time management, empowering others, and professionalism. David enjoys interacting with people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds. His personal mission at this point in life is to deliver world class customer service through clear and precise communications, deep knowledge in his concentration, and a goal-oriented focus. David’s goals are to become a leading member at Microsoft, take more ownership of his personal growth and to positively impact the lives of those around him through technology.

David specializes in the following Azure Active directory Technologies:

• Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)
• AD FS Web Application Proxy
• Azure AD Conditional Access
• Azure AD Device Registration, Join, Hybrid Join (Domain Join ++)
• Azure AD Identity Protection
• Azure AD Authentication (Password Hash Sync, Passthrough, Federated)
• Azure Multi-factor Authentication Service and Server
• Azure AD Single Sign-On
• Azure AD Web Application Proxy
• Azure SaaS Applications Sign-On
• Windows Hello for Business

David used TestOut training to launch his IT career. He was able to successfully obtain the TestOut PC Pro, Network Pro, Security Pro, and Windows server 2016 Administrator certification¬¬s. His biggest accomplishment so far in IT was getting hired at Microsoft. Although it may not seem like much, in such a short time it really was an achievement he wasn’t expecting. What David likes most about working at Microsoft is the depth of collaboration. He loves helping others and this career feeds that obsession. Moreover, that obsession goes both ways. There isn’t a shortage of folks wanting to give back to those around them. It’s safe to say he is looking forward to the future.

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Spencer DeGraw

Program Chair - Cybersecurity at LDS Business College

Spencer DeGraw spent 20 years in the high-tech industry. He began his career at Novell back in the Ray Noorda days and got his first taste of technology education and appreciation for industry certifications as an early Certified Netware Engineer (CNE).

He spent his career seeking out smaller, pre-IPO companies companies helping them to grow and expand. He often reminds people that he was “acquired” more than he was “hired.” He worked for companies like Cheyenne Software as a Systems Engineer and later a Sr. Product Manager (Cheyenne was eventually acquired by Computer Associates), Entevo Corp where he built out their technical services functions including Systems Engineering, Consulting Services, and Technical Support (Entevo was eventually acquired by Bindview which was itself then later acquired by Symantec).

Most recently he was a Sr. Systems Engineer for Internet Security Systems (which was then acquired by IBM).

He moved his supportive family to Connecticut for a time, and then eventually to Northern Virginia before finally returning back to where he grew up in the shadows of the Utah mountains.

After settling back in Utah, he found a passion for teaching and decided to accept the role of Department Chair at LDS Business College where he helped define and grow the new department of Information Technology and Software Engineering from the original 3 courses to 7 Applied Associates degrees and over 30 courses.

He has recently been tasked with taking the Cybersecurity degree and growing it into a premiere brand for the college and preparing LDSBC students to compete in the fast-growing Cybersecurity field.

He and his wife have four sons, love to snow ski and travel. They recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.

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The TestOut Experience Conference

A Different Kind of Conference

Learn and Grow

Become a Better Instructor

Network and Connect

Network and Learn from Others Just Like You

Excursions and Activities

Experience the State of Utah with your Family

Convince your Boss

Schedule it

A Schedule Packed with Experiences

Speakers and Presenters 2019

TestOut Experience Conference Speakers

Linda Brown

Eugene A. Andres

Dana Fellows

Ken Toth

Philip Peavy

April Pelfrey

Craig Jenkins

Stevie George

Mary Beth Tarver

Johnny Carrera

Lee Ann Pessoney

Patrea Wilson

Dan & Brooke Wheeler

David Carter

Jed Patrick

Trent Stokes

Spencer DeGraw

Bart Taylor, Ed.D.

Steve Decker

Venue and Hotel

The Marriott City Center