Martin Kattam is Maple Run Unified School District’s new Director of Technology and Innovation. He’s more than that nerdy little guy who asks you if you tried turning it off and on again. 

“So, in general there’s two parts, the IT part and the integration part. So the IT part is…what you normally think of as a tech person, fixing computers, taking care of the network, or you’re working with your teammates or supervising teammates. So it’s mostly working with hardware and software. So the integration part is also the fun part cause then also you get to do the robotics, and the Makerspaces.  You get to see kids doing their projects and Vector Art or anything. So that’s the part that’s fun.  It’s not just taking care of devices and networks,” Kattam said. 

Before coming to BFA, Kattam worked at three international schools. One in Venezuela, one in Morocco, and one in Kazakhstan, but he’s been working internationally for the past 10 years. When the position at BFA opened up in January, Martin applied with about 20 other applicants and was lucky enough to get the job.

Before he could do all that, he had to come from somewhere. Martin was born in Russia to a Russian mother and Kenyan father. He moved to Kenya as a kid and then, as a teenager, moved to the United States and finished up high school there. He went to college at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. and studied government and pre-law and then got his Master’s in Education Technology. 

If the name Kattam sounds familiar to you, you may be thinking of our Assistant Principal Sarah Kattam. Sarah and Martin have been married for 13 years, and have two children (an 8 and 5 year old) who go to school in Milton. 

When asked how Kattam was finding BFA so far he responded, “[BFA has] been very welcoming! Everyone’s very friendly, warm, respectful, gracious. And then there’s also the added element where there’s a very strong community spirit. You find that example where some people who work here went to the school themselves. So there’s a much stronger ownership component among the people who work and learn here than some of the other schools that I’ve been too. So it’s great; it’s like a real community,” he said.