Educational Service Unit # 13
SERVING THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA
May, 2016 Newsletter
Scottsbluff Site
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
Phone: (308) 635-3696
FAX: (308) 635-0680
Chadron Site
Crites Hall
Chadron State College
Chadron, NE 69337
Phone: (308) 432-6495
Sidney Site
1114 Toledo Street
Sidney, NE 69162
Phone: (308) 254-4677
FAX: (308) 254-5371
Mission Statement
Educational Service Unit #13...
Striving to achieve educational excellence for all learners
through strong partnerships, service, and leadership.
ADMINISTRATION
ESU 13 Staff Recognized for their Leadership and Expertise
Any successful organization can trace its success to the quality of the people employed by the organization. That is certainly the case at ESU 13. Each year we send out a survey to all 21 of our member school districts asking them to share their thoughts on the quality of the programs and services we provide. Each year I am so proud of the level of respect our member schools have for ESU 13 staff. We are certainly fortunate to have some of the most caring, thoughtful and dedicated people in our state working at ESU 13.
In this year’s survey results, we had 741 people complete the survey. On a 6-point scale (6 being the highest), all departments and programs received an average score of 5 or higher. The content of the questions asked in the survey generally focused on the following areas: Quality of the ESU 13 staff in that program or department, frequency of ESU 13 staff contacts within this program or department, ESU 13’s response to your school districts needs, and finally communication from ESU 13. Other questions that were asked of our member school districts focused on areas such as timely and accurate response to inquires, the friendly environment at ESU 13, our efforts to build partnerships, a school district’s ability to access resources to meet their needs, and ESU 13’s efforts to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
On May 19th, we will close this school year with our end-of-the-year all staff in-service day. During that day, ESU 13 staff will be recognized for any special commendations or recognition they have received. As I started to compile the list, I was amazed at the number of ESU 13 staff being recognized for their leadership and expertise across the state. Below is a list of those staff that will be recognized on May 19th:
B.J. Peters was elected to the statewide leadership team of the new (TLT) Teaching and Learning with Technology Group
Craig Hicks continues as a state co-chair of the BlendEd Initiative, which is focusing on anytime, any place learning for students
Julie Downing continues as a strategist for ESUSDA (State Staff Development Affiliate)
Laura Barrett and Julie Downing were selected to present at the State Administrator Meetings in July.
Laura Barrett was elected ESUPD (ESU Special Populations Directors) Chair
Jim Copley is finishing his year as the Chair of ESUNOC (Network Operations Committee)
Kiowa Rogers, Matt McLaughlin, and Crystal Newhoff presented at the National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education Conference
Congratulations on being recognized by your peers and for your willingness to serve in a leadership position for our region and state.
I would also like to recognize three outstanding staff members who be retiring at the end of this year. They are Laura Lee, Barb Pageler, and Jurene Chief Eagle. Thank you for your years of dedicated service to the children of the Panhandle.
As we end another successful school year at ESU 13, I would like to personally thank our member schools for their support this past year. We are fortunate to be able to work with dedicated educators in all of our 21 member school districts on a daily basis. Thank you for everything you do to educate the children of the Panhandle.
SOAR (Sharing Opportunities and Achieving Results)
ESU 13 SUMMER Professional Learning Opportunities
To register http://impact.esu13.org or email soar@esu13.org or call 308-635-0661
Summer Offerings
June 1-2, 2016 Responding to Text: Text Dependent Analysis for Classroom Teacher
9:00-4:00
HATC: 188-189
1 Graduate Hour College Credit/Chadron State College
June 6-7, 2016 EDCI 5959: Google Apps for Education for Elementary Teachers
Google certified Instructor: Beth Still, Innovative Teaching and Learning Specialist
8:00-4:00
Harms Advanced Technology Center #188-189 (NO DL)
2620 College Park 1 Graduate hour college credit/University of Wyoming
June 13-14, 2016 EDCI 5959: Google Apps for Education for Secondary Teachers
Google certified Instructor: Beth Still, Innovative Teaching and Learning Specialist
8:00-4:00
Harms Advanced Technology Center #188-189 (NO DL)
2620 College Park 1 Graduate hour college credit/University of Wyoming
June 8-9 Power Practices in Mathematics Instruction
K-12 Math Teachers
8:00-4:00
Harms Advanced Technology Center #188-189 (DL provided)
2620 College Park 1 Graduate hour college credit/University of Wyoming
Fall Offerings
August 8, 2016
Paraprofessional Back to School Day
9:00-3:30
HATC: Plex
No DL available for this day
Cost: $15 Lunch included
ESU #13 is offering a day of support to para-educators in their essential roles supporting student learning. Para-educators will be able to select topics ranging from behavior management, special education topics, ELL strategies and specific content areas of instruction.
August 17th, 2016
9:00-12:00: CPR & 1st Aid
1:00-2:30: Asthma & Anaphylaxis Training
Head Start/Early Head Start
Head Start is winding down their last day is May 20, 2016.
Early Head Start is year round so it will continue along with Central Head Start which is also a full year program.
It has been an exciting year full of lots of adventure.
Next week the management team will be planning out the details for next year’s programs. Wishing everyone a great summer.
Applications are taken year round for both Head Start and Early Head Start our Data Manager can be contacted 308-633-3712.
Please refer anyone you know who is prenatal or has a child up to 4 years of age.
Families will need to bring proof of age and income to complete the application.
All families receive comprehensive services:
quality child development practices and activities, social interaction, health and nutrition education, vision, dental and physical screenings and services to meet special needs.
TECHNOLOGY
Top 10 safe computing tips
- Patch, Patch, PATCH!
Set up your computer for automatic software and operating system updates. An unpatched machine is more likely to have software vulnerabilities that can be exploited. - Install protective software.
there are many free software virus/malware packages available. When installed, the software should be set to scan your files and update your virus definitions on a regular basis. - Choose strong passwords.
Choose strong passwords with letters, numbers, and special characters to create a mental image or an acronym that is easy for you to remember. Create a different password for each important account, and change passwords regularly. - Backup, Backup, BACKUP!
Backing up your machine regularly can protect you from the unexpected. Keep a few months' worth of backups and make sure the files can be retrieved if needed. - Control access to your machine.
Don't leave your computer in an unsecured area, or unattended and logged on, especially in public places. The physical security of your machine is just as important as its technical security. - Use email and the Internet safely.
Ignore unsolicited emails, and be wary of attachments, links and forms in emails that come from people you don't know, or which seem "phishy." Avoid untrustworthy (often free) downloads from freeware or shareware sites. Learn more about spam filtering. - Use secure connections.
When connected to the Internet, your data can be vulnerable while in transit. - Protect sensitive data.
Reduce the risk of identity theft. Securely remove sensitive data files from your hard drive, which is also recommended when recycling or repurposing your computer. - Use desktop firewalls.
Macintosh and Windows computers have basic desktop firewalls as part of their operating systems. When set up properly, these firewalls protect your computer files from being scanned. - Most importantly, stay informed.
Stay current with the latest developments for Windows, Macintosh Linux, and Unix systems.
Psychology Department
Keep Your Kids Safe – AND Your Sanity: Have Fun This Summer!
It’s important to keep your kids safe, but it’s also important to encourage them to stay active and engaged. You want to protect your children. We all do. But you can’t lock them indoors, especially not during the gorgeous summer months. Encourage their natural curiosity, find smart ways to channel their energy, and (gasp!) even let them skin their knee every once in a while. Even the most creative of kids can run out of ideas quickly when a whole summer stretches out before them. Head off the “but there’s nothing to do!” protests by arming yourself with this list of great activities for kids of all ages:
Get Creative – Gather together all the random baking supplies and toppings in your cabinet (chocolate chips, sprinkles, crumbled up graham crackers) and throw a make-your- own sundae party. Or, on a more summery theme, try a make-your- own-S’mores party. Who says you have to use plain old chocolate bars on your S’mores? Experiment with ingredients like peanut butter cups and mini candy bars and vote for whose creation is the best.
Reminisce – Introduce your kits to all the “retro” toys you loved as a kid—jacks, marbles, kites, and soap bubbles. Who says you need to be plugged in to have fun? Kids love learning about what things used to be like “when you were a kid,” and it teaches them that not all fun comes from a pixelated screen.
Host – Invite your child’s friends over for a summer slumber party (indoors or outdoors. Let them pick a theme and help you organize to get them involved.
Compete – Throw a summer “Olympics” with various obstacles and challenges and prizes for
Picnic – Pack a picnic lunch and head to your local park. Make it extra special by making mini sandwiches or other “fancy” foods kids don’t normally consume, and plan some group games after you eat. Have each kid prepare a special treat to share with others, like peanut-butter-crackers or a nice fruit salad.
Grow – Get your kids involved in gardening with you. Show them how to plant, water and weed, and let them plant and tend to their own plots. It’s a great way to teach them patience and responsibility.
Craft – Hit up Pinterest and search for “kids’ crafts.” You can whittle away several rainy days with the ideas you’ll find.
Game Day – Have a family-wide tournament with your favorite board games, or get more creative by playing charades or Pictionary.
Keep your kids (and pets) safe, never leave them in a car.
Check out other ideas on Pinterest (Pinterest summer fun for kids), Six Sisters stuff (sixsistersstuff.com), 14 Cheap Summer Activities for Kids (frugaldad.com), 101 Fun Things to Do in the Summer (parenting.com). A little pre-planning and you can avoid or end the “I’m Bored!” summer complaints!
Alternative Education
Enjoy the VALTS 4th Quarter Newsletter!
http://pub.lucidpress.com/e25c4672-787c-42cd-8920-da57d6b4a8ff/
VALTS Guitars
https://kneb.vids.io/videos/e89bdeb71913e9cf60/valts-guitars-mp4
News from the Wellness Committee
Watch out for the flopping fish!
Have you ever pulled a fish into your boat or onto the shore and watched it flop around trying to get back into the water? Well, now you know what I looked like while trying to do sit ups while lying on my side. Back in January of 2015, I had started working out with my personal trainer, Isaac Holscher. As I have said in previous articles I didn’t like to exercise or sweat! Bless Isaac’s heart, he was just out of college with that gung ho attitude of whipping this out of shape old lady into shape! We did the exercise bike (puff, puff, gasp for air), step ups on a box higher than two inches off the floor (oh, my aching legs and knees), floor exercises of laying on your side and trying to do sit ups. WELL, I think he was embarrassed as he saw me flopping around on the floor by the free weights. He would look at me and then look around to see if anyone was watching. After all, his reputation was on the line as a personal trainer. I wasn’t being a very good student with all of my flailing around! Needless to say, I didn’t want to have him wonder what kind of an athlete I was going to be and give up! We then did some weight machines. I had to tell him which ones I had fallen off in my previous attempts to work out. I don’t know if Isaac thought I was a lost cause but he kept working with me.
This January, he told me we were going to do side set ups and I looked at him with a very quizzical look on my face. He showed me what I was to do and I started laughing. I had to remind him about my first attempt, this was my second a year later. I was very proud of myself this time because I could actually do them the correct way! You know, when you do the exercise correctly you can actually feel the “burn” and know that you are making a difference in your health and body.
This year we are working with battle ropes. These are big ropes that he attaches to the free weights and I have to heave ho them up and down, around in circles, and in and out. They are actually kind of fun to use. I call them boat ropes but Isaac says they aren’t as big as boat ropes! To me they are! I love to do the rowing machine. I close my eyes and think I am rowing to Hawaii! When I open my eyes I am in the same place but I have had a mini vacation in my mind.
Isaac now has me do the frog walk, Frankenstein walk, and a variety of other walks, lunges, twists, planks, etc. I guess to keep my interest he has to name each exercise so that I will try them and not be intimated! I guess that no matter where you start your exercising you have to start somewhere. Flopping fish on the gym floor has now become a controlled side set up. I am making progress! This summer I will be at the Warehouse Fitness Center where Isaac has moved. He hasn’t given up on me and I am not giving up on becoming healthier. I guess no one cares what you look like as long as you are trying to improve yourself.
Find an exercise that you like to do, walking, biking, swimming, golfing, fishing, boating, baseball, tennis, going to the gym, or whatever you like. This summer will be a great time to get started. Take time for yourself and enjoy the outdoors. Be sure to use sunscreen and bug spray! We at the ESU want you to be in the best health you can be. Let’s see a new healthier you in the fall!
Have a great summer!
Healthy Recipes of the Month
Steak Skewers
1 ½ lbs of beef sirloin, thinly sliced ½ cup water
12-16 bamboo skewers, soaked in water 2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. salt 1 TBS coconut aminos
1 tsp freshly ground back pepper 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
½ carrot juice ½ tsp onion powder
½ cup beef broth ¼ tsp ground cumin
1. Preheat the oven to 450F
2. Thread the meat onto the skewers and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10-15 minutes.
5. While the sauce is simmering, place the meat skewers on a cookie sheet and bake on the top rack from 6-8 minutes, depending on desired doneness,
6. Remove the skewers from the oven. Brush the meat with the sauce and serve.
Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Oregano
1TBS grated lemon zest 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh oregano (on 1 TBS dried) Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 TBS olive oil, plus more for grates 4 lemons halved crosswise
4 chicken halves (1 ½ lbs each) or 2 whole chickens, split Oregano sprigs (optional)
1. Make marinade: in a small bowl, whisk together lemon zest and juice, oregano, oil, 2 tsps. Coarse salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Divide marinade between 2 large resealable plastic bags. Place 2 chicken halves in each bag: shake to coat. Let marinate at room temperature 30 minutes, turning bags occasionally.
2. Preheat grill to medium: lightly oil grates. Remove chicken from marinade, and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken, skin side up, on grill. Cover and cook, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Turn chicken over, cover and cook until well browned, 10-15 minutes (an instant-read thermometer should register 175 degrees when inserted into thickest part of meat, avoiding bone.) If chicken is browning too quickly, move to cooler parts of grill or turn grill to low heat.
3. Transfer chicken to a cutting board. Tent with foil, let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place lemon halves on grill, cut side down; cook until slightly charred, 8-10 minutes. Cut chicken pieces in half; serve with grilled lemon halves and, if desired with oregano sprigs.
Black and White Cake-------Gluten free
This cake can be all chocolate or all vanilla or you can use a combination of the two in a checkerboard pattern. For chocolate, just mix all the ingredients together; for vanilla, simply leave out the cocoa powder. To make a black and white cake, you will need a checkerboard cake pan.
¾ cup coconut flour, sifted 1 tsp fine-grained sea salt
1 tsp baking soda 10 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, if making a black and white checkerboard cake; ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, if making a solid chocolate cake.
1 cup coconut oil, plus extra to grease the cake pan
1 cup maple syrup
For the ganache
1 cup (7 ox. Of Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips
2 TBS coconut oil
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch cake pan with coconut oil and insert a round piece of parchment paper cut to the size of the bottom of the pan. I use two round tin foil pans.
2. Make the cake: For a solid vanilla cake or black and white cake, whisk together the coconut flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. For a solid chocolate cake whisk together the coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and ½ cup cocoa powder in a small bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine the eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Mix until well combined. Once the wet ingredients are blended, add the coconut flour mixture and blend until smooth.
4. If you are making a checkerboard cake, pour half of the batter into separate mixing bowl. Add 1/3 cup cocoa powder to the large mixing bowl and blend.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. If you are making a checkerboard cake, place the batter dividing ring in the pan and pour the chocolate batter in the center and outer sections and the vanilla batter in the middle section.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, r until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a cooling rack.
7. When the cake is completely cool, make the ganache: Combine the chocolate chis and oil in a double boiler over medium heat and stir until melted and well combined, abut 10 minutes.
8. Pour the ganache over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Once the cake is covered, transfer it to the refrigerator and let the ganache solidify. Trim off the excess chocolate before plating. Slice and enjoy.
Bill Gates
This should be posted in every school or kid's bedroom.
Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this.!!!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about eleven (11) things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1
Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2
The world doesn't care about your self-esteem.
The world will expect you to accomplish something
BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3
You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss
Rule 5
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping:
They called it opportunity.
Rule 6
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were: So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room..
Rule 8
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers
are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.
Do that on your own time.
Rule 10
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11
Be nice to nerds.
Chances are you'll end up working for one..