Charlotte Gjedsted ’06 joins the Lick-Wilmerding community as the Dean of Technology, a new admin position within the Department of Technology. This year, she’s focused on auditing LWHS’s technology environment, planning to inventory the school’s subscriptions, expand the programming that utilizes existing tools, and help develop a school-wide AI usage policy.
An LWHS ’06 alum, Gjedsted was born and raised in San Francisco. As we spoke in H301, she pointed through the third-floor windows towards her family’s neighborhood, Miraloma Park, which rests just north of campus.
After graduating from LWHS, she attended Oberlin College in Ohio and transferred to Loyola Marymount University after her first year. Upon graduating with a degree in Psychology and a Minor in Philosophy, she became an elementary school teacher in the East Bay, later teaching in Seattle.
Even today, she reflects fondly upon her time in Washington. “Summer in the Pacific Northwest is phenomenal…it’s like the best kept secret.”
In the classroom, Gjedsted frequently piloted various tools, including iPads and 1:1 programming. “I was doing a lot of things in technology, primarily through a ‘teacher first’ lens,” she said.
Despite having left elementary education for a leadership role, Gjedsted is cognisant that she must remain curious and willing to learn. “[Technology] is ever-changing…so you really have to be humble and put yourself in the learner’s seat all of the time,” she said. “I work in a field where I will never have all of the answers, and that’s okay.”
Gjedsted hopes to embrace technology as a tool to supplement pre-existing resources in the classroom. “It’s generally designed to remove friction…and also there is a tradeoff that you make every time,” she said. “You have to look at what the skill is that you’re offboarding or not building because you’re letting a computer do it for you.”
Beyond LWHS’s walls, Gjedsted spends much of her time with her partner and year-old daughter. She has also made an active effort to carve out time for her many hobbies, which include reading historical fantasy and science fiction novels as well as exploring textile arts like needlepoint, embroidery and crochet. Gjedsted is also a long-distance runner and has run five marathons, including the “original marathon” from Marathon to Athens, Greece.
This year, Gjedsted joins LWHS’s technology team, ready to support the community. “I’m delighted by how involved students are here and the amount of student-run activities…I will generally always say yes to joining things or helping out, so please reach out,” she said.
