Wall superintendent appreciates
online educational opportunities
For over 30 years, Sally Crowser, who has a doctorate in education, has dedicated her career to education, serving as a teacher, counselor, principal, and now superintendent of the Wall School District. Today, Sally (or as her students call her – Dr. Sally), her teachers, and their students have educational opportunities like never before thanks to the internet combined with community involvement.
“The Wall community is so supportive,” says Dr. Sally. “I work with a super bunch of people and a super community. To me, the community connection is the difference between success and failure.”
The Wall School District relies heavily on their internet service, explains Sally. The district uses a one-to-one computer system at all grade levels. Both the security system and the new school addition operate fully online. The new school addition has learning tools meant almost exclusively for online teaching and learning.
Supervising success
As superintendent, Dr. Sally oversees a variety of educational opportunities available for students, many of which rely on internet connectivity. She says the district is fully equipped with Wi-Fi, and every student uses the computers issued to them by the district.
“We are able to provide our rural kids with a global learning opportunity because of our internet options,” says Dr. Sally. “We have the ability to bring college classes, virtual field trips, and those kinds of things directly to them.”
From teaching to leading
Her career in education began in South Dakota, where she spent a decade teaching high school in Belle Fourche. She later moved to Wyoming, earning her doctorate and serving as a K-12 principal for four years.
In 2011, Dr. Sally and her husband returned to South Dakota to be closer to their parents. She taught English online to students in South Korea, China, and Japan while working as a guidance counselor. In 2022, she became the middle and high school principal in Wall before stepping into her current role as superintendent.
Internet education opportunities
Technology has played a significant role in her ability to oversee the district. She credits Golden West’s services for allowing her to stay engaged, whether she’s supervising events, participating in meetings from her home in New Underwood, or assisting teachers remotely like during COVID.
“I watched teachers take their iPads around to show me what was going on in real-time,” she says about working during the early months of the pandemic. “Even when we weren’t allowed in schools, I was still able to support teachers, and I attribute that to my internet services.”
Dr. Sally’s reliance on Golden West even seeps into her own education and life at home. When she originally earned her doctorate through the University of South Dakota, she used her Golden West services for online coursework. Today, her son has also benefited by using the connection for dual-enrollment classes and her daughter has taken several online college courses.
The Wall School District relies heavily on internet connectivity provided by Golden West. Superintendent Dr. Sally Crowser emphasizes the importance of Golden West’s services in enabling global learning opportunities, remote support for teachers, and even her own educational pursuits.
