Voice of San Diego | Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008 | By Emily Alpert
Cross Bill Gates with the Parent Teacher Association, and you might get someone like Matt Spathas, the enthusiastic dad who has prodded San Diego schools to radically revise education for the 21st century. His mark is evident in Point Loma schools, where he helped spearhead a technological makeover called Project Light Speed that poured laptop computers and free online tutoring into classrooms.
Cross Bill Gates with the Parent Teacher Association, and you might get someone like Matt Spathas, the enthusiastic dad who has prodded San Diego schools to radically revise education for the 21st century. His mark is evident in Point Loma schools, where he helped spearhead a technological makeover called Project Light Speed that poured laptop computers and free online tutoring into classrooms.
Spathas spends his days working at a technologically savvy real estate firm SENTRE Partners and serving as CEO of Bandwidth Now, which remakes commercial buildings with wireless internet; his nights are consumed by school meetings and campaigning for San Diego Unified's new facilities bond, which includes a smattering of high-tech upgrades. A Bluetooth is frequently nestled in his ear as he holds forth on the hallmarks of a 21st century education -- a shift he calls "transformation." To Read More