Wifi connection, protection of student data, and the installation of the BluePoint system. All of these things and more fall under Robin Parédez’s oversight. Though he had an interest in technology before his current role as district Technology Director, former Spanish teacher Parédez finds that he still learns about new tasks everyday.
“There’s a lot of things I never thought would be part of ‘technology,’” said Parédez. “Part of it’s what people might think of, providing hardware for students, which might be researching which Chromebooks to purchase. It’s part hardware, some software and some data.”
Technology Specialist Ben Tyron has known Parédez for more than five years and can give a firsthand account of the influence Parédez has on the district.
“Parédez brings the ability to manage and maintain projects and keep us evolving as we introduce [new] technologies,” Tyron said. “He pushes us to get projects completed by working with us to figure out problems and how to resolve them.”
Parédez also works with David Parmerlee, the Director of Student Analytics and State Reporting. The two get to join heads when the school submits their mandatory student enrollment data to the state three times a year.
“I’m the people accountant, while he understands the data portion,” Parmerlee said. “[Parédez] is a very good interpreter of student data. When [Superintendent] Dr. Korpak asks for information, he’s able to gather it and then interpret that to make an informed data-driven decision.”
Parédez didn’t always work solely with technology. His education training originally focused on mathematics and music, and he believed that would continue when he began teaching at Northview in 1995. His career took a turn when he fulfilled the high school’s need for a new Spanish teacher.
Parédez’s unique childhood experiences helped lead to his Spanish teaching position and to learning quite a few other things that apply to anything in life.
From birth to age two-and-a-half, Parédez lived in Mexico. His father was a native and his mother was from the United States. The family then relocated to Australia for two years and then the Dominican Republic for nearly five. By the time Parédez reached his ninth birthday, they moved again to Chicago. After that final move, he has spent summers in Mexico and took a missionary trip to Colombia in college.
“Time in different countries just helps open up your perspective and global sense,” Parédez said. “I’d still love to learn more about different cultures, but I think that’s just an amazing gift I was given. Travel shapes the way you see the world.”
A book wouldn’t contain all the names of individuals who have impacted Parédez. Working district-wide at Northview allows him to meet many people and he’s always had support from his coworkers throughout his Northview career.
Outside of his job, Parédez keeps busy supporting his wife in raising their five homeschooled children. Their oldest is 18, with the two youngest being 11.
“It’s pretty fun seeing the uniqueness of each one of them. I’ve learned to enjoy what they enjoy,” Parédez said. “One of them runs track, so I love going to track meets. My daughter’s in ballet and I like going to [her] ballet. It’s fun when your kids let you join them in different things.”
Despite his introverted nature sometimes contrasting with his love for people, Parédez deeply values the importance of being a human with varied interests and qualities.
“You don’t have to be an all-in-one-person, but a little bit of everything,” Parédez said. “For example, I love chess and playing cards. I also like dancing and singing, which doesn’t seem to match with that. At the same time, I love analysis of data. Everybody probably has those [varying interests], you just don’t always learn that about them.”
The future for Parédez may yet hold new opportunities to explore different areas of interest. His colleagues feel optimistic about his current career path.
“Parédez has a bright future ahead of him,” Tyron said. “He has learned and grown a lot by jumping into a new role and will continue to grow as a team player at Northview and as an individual.”
Parédez doesn’t know his exact future yet, but he knows for certain it won’t be retiring to days at the golf course. Wherever he does end up, he anticipates doing what he’s always done best: serving wherever the need arises.
“It’s like how Spanish kind of just popped up [for me],” Parédez said. “It’s just keeping open to the needs that are out there. Sometimes it’s accepting a new challenge and you look at the things you’ve done in life that prepare you for different things. Then you say: that seems like it’s just where I’m supposed to be.”
