Monthly Archive

This week’s issue of Friday News includes the following:

• News from our friends at AEA 267
• State Fair booth sign-up
• Focusing on Middle Schools initiative details for 2008-09

Parkersburg tornado assistance
While the stories of people affected by the Parkersburg tornado drew the attention of the nation and world, members of our Prairie Lakes AEA ohana have also watched, prayed and offered support. As many as 15 of our colleagues, neighbors and friends on staff at AEA 267 have also lost homes, possessions, businesses, and some are dealing with serious injuries. Crisis teams from AEA 267 and Grant Wood AEA have been in Parkersburg to offer support in this situation.

This message was shared with AEA 267 staff members by Dr. Dean Meier, chief administrator at AEA 267.  It is included in Friday News for those who have expressed interest in lending support and assistance.

In visiting with officials, the recommendation for those that wish to help is to donate directly to the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or sending them directly to the Hawkeye Chapter, 2530 University Avenue, P.O. Box 37243, Waterloo, IA 50704. You may designate your donation to go directly to the Iowa Tornado Disaster Relief Fund or specifically to a community impacted by the storm. You may also make a secure donation by visiting http://www.redcross.org. Officials also advise that you not attempt to drive to the disaster sites as increased traffic is hindering relief efforts.

Finally, the stories of AEA 267 staff members who have assisted with the disaster recovery efforts have been truly inspiring. Many of you have been providing help to colleagues and friends.  Thank you for everything you have done for those who have lost so much.

State Fair details
Just received confirmation that Prairie Lakes AEA will be responsible for working the booth at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, August 8 . (We still have not heard from the fair officials that we are “in” yet we needed to move forward with scheduling.)

Booths need to be covered from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. A minumum of two people need to be working the booth to accommodate breaks and meals; 3-4 would be optimum.

The agency has agreed to pay the admission fee for each staff member who has agreed to work on behalf of Prairie Lakes AEA.

If you are ready, willing and able to be part of this Iowa State Fair experience and haven’t already contacted Connie Johnson, please get in touch with her by June 30. If you need a specific time, please indicate that as well!

Middle school initiative- Level 2 information
Following a successful first year of Secondary School Redesign efforts with special reference to Middle Schools, Prairie Lakes AEA is pleased to announce details of next year’s activities.  Dates can be found on the Upcoming Events calendar on our agency website.

Please note below two procedural changes for next year:

•    First, there will be five full-day sessions – partly to accommodate brand new work on the Iowa Core Curriculum and partly to support your school-based efforts as you progress from action planning to implementation.

•    Second, these five sessions will be held twice, once in Fort Dodge and once in Spencer – to facilitate easier access for school teams (see attached complete meeting listing).  Please note, however, that you will need to contact Donna Bryan to indicate which session you will be attending (see attached form).

Please also remember that there are two summer assignments to complete prior to the October sessions.

1.    One assignment is to prepare some Core Values statements to bring to the session (to facilitate a visioning process) and

2.    the other is the work on data indicators in the four areas that Peter Holly went through with you during his school visits this spring.

Given the separation of the workshops at two locations, there will be some room for new teams to join the group. If principals and their school teams are interested in joining at this stage, please contact:

Kim Rost, krost@aea8.k12.ia.us or Peter Holly, pholly@iowatelecom.net

This issue of Friday News includes:

• School calendars
• Growing our mentoring program
• Accessing a new binder, inserts
• Get those forms turned in!
• Build vocabulary, have fun & feed the hungry
• June birthdays
• Check out Upcoming Events

School calendars
An Excel spreadsheet that contains the board-approved calendars for each of our school districts is being updated for the 2008-09 year. It can be found here About Our Schools>School Calendars. The new file should be updated by June 1.

Grow your skills
This year’s crop of mentors and mentees met to reflect on their experiences. The comments below were offered in response to the question, “How did you grow this year?” Click here to see the garden.

• Grew in confidence in their skills
• I have helped someone new become part of a local team that they turn for assistance
• Helped mentee be more patient
• My mentee went into a situation no one would have chosen.  I think I have helped with her transition
• Helped team improve behavioral expertise!
  I used my listening and problem solving skills to help others figure out how to solve their own problem.
• To work collaboratively as a team
• My mentor and I wrote a FBA, BIP and IEP for a family that thought there was little hope for their child to attend school anymore this year.
• I grew more tolerant of opinions different from mine.
• I hope I became a better listener.  I learned some new coaching skills.  I also learned new intervention strategies.  My mentee was a great teacher and learner.
• Thanks Trudy you are great!!  Grown in new relationships with so many caring people! 
• Grown in knowledge and appreciation of struggling learners of all levels and the vast array of disciplines needed to assist them toward success.
• I have learned and grown in my understanding of children with problems from my mentee.
• I grew in my knowledge base-through mentoring, and professional development.  I got to know someone new!
• Communicated not only with students, but also peers, LEA/Teachers, parents, principal, AEA/multidiscipline.
• I feel I learned as much from my mentee as she did from me.
• I have experienced tremendous growth in how to deliver professional development, how to write a syllabus, how to work the Avatar system and how to be a team player.
• A great introduction to Iowa Special Education and working at an AEA serving a wonderful LEA!!
• I have grown by creating and developing a program budget without management experience!! $$$
• Learned how to be a better coach and listener.
• I have learned as much from my mentee as she has from me.
• I gained new perspectives on several fronts, thanks to my mentee!
• Learned a lot about the Sped Ed world that I didn’t know before!!!
• Learned how to do my job and shared with others what I learned this year.
• I have learned how to make my IEP’s better!  I have learned how to collaborate well with 2 teams! (AEA & FDCF)
• To expand knowledge in thinking of needed student interventions.

If you’re interested in growing and learning, as well as and helping others blossom, there is still time to become a mentor.

Binder information
If you are in need of a new binder and/or inserts, please contact Deb Gade.

Get those forms turned in!
Insurance and flexible spending forms are due May 30, next Friday, to Brenda in the Business Office.

freerice.com
This website gives visitors the opportunity to build vocabulary skills & end world hunger. A computer programmer from Indiana created the site while watching his son study for the SAT. For every correct defintion, freerice.com donates 20 grains of rice through the United Nations. Share with a student, teacher and even build your own vocabulary or play for your own enjoyment. It’s addictive!

June birthdays
3 Harriet Adams
5 Becky Nelson
13  Roberta (Bert) Hersom
14  Emily Schaefer
15 Barb Schons
15  Sue Walker
17 Robin Sandvig
18 Ann Powers
18 Kathy Jo Kruse
18 Mary Martens
18 Dennis Ellwanger
21 Gary Dannenbring
23 Marc Singer
24 Carrie Buddenhagen
25 Joan Hansen
26 Trish Dillard
27 Pat Stauter
28 Mary Kay Sharkey
28 Brenda Hebert
30  Donna Bryan

Upcoming events
Check Upcoming Events on our website for details about workshops, meetings and other events sponsored by Prairie Lakes AEA.

This week’s issue of Friday News includes:

• Recognizing our PLAEA board members
• Seeking State Fair booth staff
• News from the KIDS program
• Iowa AEA online username/password reminder
• Forms due!
• New DE podcast

Honoring our AEA board members
This week is Iowa School Board Recognition Week and therefore, an opportunity to recognize and thank our Prairie Lakes AEA board members.

• President Dean Saunders, Spencer, has been an AEA board member for 30 years as he was elected in 1978.
• Vice President Ed O’Leary served on the board of directors for the Fort Dodge Community School District, and was a letter carrier for the US Postal Service and Human Rights Director for the City of Fort Dodge and Webster County. He was elected to the AEA board in 2000.
• Todd Lundgren has been on the board since 2005. He farms near Lehigh and is also president of the Southeast Webster Grand school board.
• Bruce Bahnson is in the insurance business in Jefferson.
• Floyd Thies has served on the board for over a year and is retired from middle school counseling. He is from Algona.
• Ray Fisher is a retired school administrator and teacher. He has been a board member since 1995 and lives in Humboldt. 
• Steve Petersen taught school at Emmetsburg for about three years before entering the insurance business, which he’s been in for over 30 years. He is the owner of Peterson Insurance Agency, LLC in Estherville.
• Sue Beers, of Jewell, is executive director of the Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium
• Our newest board member is Rhonda Christensen, who is the Buena Vista County, ISU Extension Education Director.

Sign up for the State Fair
“You Gotta Love It!” The AEA system is planning to have a booth at this year’s Iowa State Fair. While we are waiting to receive “official” confirmation that our booth has been accepted, each AEA is making plans to staff the booth for one day. The Iowa State Fair runs from Aug. 7-17. If you are interested in signing up to help staff the booth on behalf of Prairie Lakes AEA, please contact Connie Johnson. More details will be shared at a later date!

Summer computer clean-up
It is time once again for the summer computer cleanup. To facilitate the cleaning and maintenance of computers, staff are asked leave their computers at their respective office (on their desk) on their final contracted day or June 9, whichever comes first. It will take approximately 4-6 to clean and diagnose all of the computers. Staff may pick up the computers when the cleanup for each site is complete. At that time, computers can be taken home and do not need to be returned to the office until staff return in the fall.  Notice that the cleanup has been completed will be in the form of an e-mail to the list serve of each office.  A schedule for the cleanup will be sent to the staff list serve very soon.

Staff are urged to consider alternate ways of checking mail during the cleanup.  Desktop computers at all offices will be available during the cleanup.  You may use these machines to check and send mail.  You can also access your e-mail from your home computer at any time by using the AEA 8 iMail server.  The address for this server is http://mail.aea8.k12.ia.us:8383.  The server can also be accessed via the Prairie Lakes web page.

Additionally, please contact technicians if you notice that your computer is running less than one hour on battery power.  An email regarding this concern can be sent directly to bgerzema@aea8.k12.ia.us, nschelle@aea8.k12.ia.us or mschmidt@aea8.k12.ia.us.

If you have questions concerning the summer cleanup procedure, please contact Mike Schmidt at 515-574-5500 ext 2115.  If you need to keep your computer during the summer months, please notify Mike directly so that we can make other arrangements for the cleaning.  Staff who are on 12 month contracts will receive direct notification of when their computer will be cleaned.

KIDS program seeking credentials
The KIDS program is in the process of working toward the Iowa Family Support Credential. To date, we have had one technical assistance visit, which included the state Family Support Coordinator, our technical assistance staff person and Cyndee Dather of Lakes Area Empowerment (the empowerment host). Linda Littlefield and Betsy Moritz.  During the visit, the team reviewed and completed a KIDS self-assessment of the 31 Iowa Family Support standards.  There are 15 first order service standards and 16 first order organizational standards, and each of those has second order standards. A technical assistance telephone conference has also occurred.

It’s an intense process, and KIDS is the first program in the state to begin the process. Betsy reports that the program has received many favorable comments from the technical assistance person as well as the Family Support Coordinator, which is very gratifying! “We are excited to participate in the credentialing program, and I think it will be a wonderful recognition of the work done by our dedicated home visitors,” Betsy said. 

Access to Iowa AEA Online
All AEA staff members and educators have access to a wealth of resources through Iowa AEA Online. Iowa AEA Online provides free dynamic, up-to-the-minute online reference resources to all Iowa educators, parents and students.  These resources are available 24/7 from school or home and are funded and provided by Iowa’s Area Education Agencies. Iowa AEA Online can be accessed via the Prairie Lakes AEA home page or at www.iowaaeaonline.org. 

Iowa AEA online provides easy access to: Accuweather Premium Weather Service, Atomic Learning, Schools.Clipart.com, EBSCOhost, AccuNet/Associated Press Multimedia Archive, SIRS (Social Issues Resource Series), Discovery Education Streaming (DE Streaming), and World Book Online. User ID’s are based on the location of your office.  For information, contact Karen Appleton, Dorothy DeGroot or Harriet Adams.

Forms reminder
A packet of insurance, flexible spending and other forms was sent to each staff member’s home in early May. These forms are due to Brenda Hebert in the Business Office by May 30!
 
DE podcast -  Taiwanese Teachers Examine Iowa’s Education System
The latest edition of the Iowa Department of Education’s podcast series is now available at http://www.iowa.gov/educate/content/view/1415/1599/.

As Iowa’s students move from the classroom to the workplace, they must be prepared to compete in a global economy. It is clear that students today must not only possess the skills and knowledge to help them succeed in this environment, they must also posses a global perspective of their world.

The Iowa Department of Education (DE) and the Taiwan Ministry of Education are working together to meet this need by providing cross-cultural experiences for both students and teachers, and by sharing education practices.

In this latest Iowa Department of Education podcast, Taiwanese Teachers Examine Iowa’s Education System, we talk with two Taiwanese teachers who recently visited Iowa.

This week’s issue of Friday News includes:

• Handouts, resources from Culture of Poverty Awareness, State of the PLAEA Union
•  Photo album from the Grand March of the Prairie Lakes AEA Prom
• Attitudes poem
• Recognizing staff celebrating milestone years of service
• Please help promote PD opportunities!

Reflections, resources from our PLAEA “prom”
Please be sure to say “Thanks” to the presenters from the Learning Supports Team (Deb Lenertz, Linda Linn, Amy Gilman, Denise Wasko, Mary Kay Sharkey and Julie Nadrchal) who led the morning session that focused on “A Framework for a Culture of Poverty.” As promised, the resources that were part of that learning are below:

Map of the 2007-08 percentage of students eligible for free & reduced lunch by district
Student achievement data for grades 4, 8, 11 - free & reduced lunch eligible, non-free & reduced lunch eligible and state data
2007-08 percentage of students eligible for free & reduced lunch by school building
Resources - definitions/descriptions
Resources grid
Hidden rules of economic class
Registers of language

Resources from Dr. Kay’s State of the Union address:
Quantative data from the 2008 Customer Survey
Qualitative comments from the 2008 Customer Survey

View the photo album from the Grand March of prom.

Atittudes
The following poem was shared by Michelle Laughlin at the recent State AEA Board of Directors Conference. Michelle was born without legs and a left arm and considers it a blessing to be able to educate people about just how rich and diverse lives of people with disabilities can be. No direct cause has ever been related to having been born this way, yet she has not let that deter her spirit. She is an inspirational speaker, and is currently the Student Disability Services Coordinator at Drake University. Check out her story and the poem written by from Charles Swindell

Attitudes

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The Only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our ATTITUDE.

Celebrating our staff milestones

Last Friday, we recognized staff members who are celebrating milestone years of services with Prairie Lakes AEA. Through merger, moves and transitions, our staff has stayed true to their passion and recognized the impact of attitude while serving students, schools, and the community. We thank each one for their dedication!

Staff members who are retiring from Prairie Lakes AEA
Carol Scott-15 years of service-Storm Lake AEA
Barb Schons-33 years of service-Storm Lake AEA
Ceil Triggs-20 years of service-Storm Lake AEA
Cheri Maehl-24 years of service-Fort Dodge AEA
Betsy Moritz-18 years of service-Estherville AEA
Rebecca Nelson-15 years of service-Fort Dodge Youth Shelter Care
Trudy Anderson-20 years of service-Webster City AEA
Mary Paulson-32 years of service-Estherville AEA
Jan Kollasch-25 years of service-Algona AEA
Ruby Purcell-32 years of service-Fort Dodge AEA

Staff members celebrating 30 years of service
Carla Berkler-Rockwell City AEA
Ann Gale-Algona AEA
Kathy Pomrenke-Storm Lake AEA
Don Messmer-Fort Dodge AEA
Gary Petersen-Storm Lake AEA
Sandra Johnson-Pocahontas AEA
Cheryl Petersen-Storm Lake AEA
Theresa Golden-Spencer AEA

Staff members celebrating 25 years of service
Jan Kollasch-Estherville AEA
Sandy Spangler-Pocahontas AEA
Deb Shelton-Fort Dodge AEA
Susan Rasmussen-Jefferson AEA
Rich Feilmeier-Storm Lake AEA
Mary Pauk-Webster City AEA
Steve Beeghley-Pocahontas AEA

Staff members celebrating 20 years of service
Maureen Salinas-Storm Lake AEA
Shannon Hagen-Jefferson AEA
Diane Nelsen-Estherville AEA
Trudy Anderson-Webster City AEA
Bonita McLarnan-Pocahontas AEA
Pat Albright-Rockwell City AEA

Staff members celebrating 15 years of service
Jill Nedved-Pocahontas AEA
Harriet Adams-Pocahontas AEA
Shannon De Moss-Fort Dodge AEA
Rebecca Nelson-Fort Dodge Youth Shelter Care
Mary Kay Sharkey-Fort Dodge AEA
Carla Haupert-Jefferson AEA
Carol Scott-Storm Lake AEA
Brenda Prentice-Spencer AEA
Denise Engelby-Algona AEA
Paula Laughlin-Fort Dodge AEA
Diane Capesius-Algona AEA
Jean Christensen-Fort Dodge AEA

Staff members celebrating 10 years of service
Lisa Lohman-Pocahontas AEA
Linda Linn-Spencer AEA
Coletta Jaeger-Estherville AEA
Jackie Ohl-Spencer AEA
Joy Weier-Algona AEA
Jim Hebert-Fort Dodge AEA
Deb Gade-Pocahontas AEA
Jill Heinen-Algona AEA

Enlisting YOUR help to promote PD opportunities
As you work with teachers, administrators and other educators, we need YOUR help in sharing the news! Click on the following links for the specific brochures. Click here for the complete packet!

PD opportunity for elementary math teachers
PD opportunity for secondary math teachers
PD opportunity for elementary science teachers
Word Journeys/Kathy Ganske workshop
TI-nspire - graphic calculator PD opportunity for high school math teachers
Integrating Instruction & Technology for the 21st Century Learner - This is a MUST for middle school-level educators who desire information, tools and ideas on using technology to teach our digital natives.