North Cook ISC
January 2020 News Chat
A Message from Executive Director Kevin Jauch
Thank you for taking the time to catch up on what is happening with the North Cook Regional Office of Education/Intermediate Service Center where we are driven to serve the North Cook educational community and beyond.
I hope you noticed the wide variety of unique and interesting professional development opportunities that we've been offering this year. Many of them were developed based on the input you shared with our office. Administrator Academies, Educator Workshops, and Networking/Informational Meetings are added weekly, so be sure to check our professional development opportunities frequently.
Although it is only January, we are well underway with our planning for the 2021 fiscal year. Expect to see a PD Needs Survey coming out in February. Please let us know what you would like to see on our PD calendar next year.
As always, if we can be of service, do not hesitate to reach out.
kjauch@ncisc.org // 847.803.5600
Happy Retirement, Donna!
We are conducting a search for a new Administrative Assistant/Receptionist at this time, so feel free to direct any qualified candidates to our online application at https://www.ncisc.org/employment.
In-District Professional Development
In-District Custom PD for 2020-2021
Now is the time to start laying the groundwork for next school year! NCISC can bring ongoing, custom PD to your district and/or schools. We cover a range of topics, such as:
· Trauma Informed Practices
· SEL Audit
· Mental Health Training
· Curriculum Mapping or Assessment Development for various Content Areas
· EL Instructional Strategies
· Standards-Based Grading
· E-Learning for Administrators: Planning
We can also bring an Administrator Academy (AA) to your team. Pricing is scaled depending on group size. Here are some of our popular AAs:
· PERA Evaluator Retrainings
· Initial Evaluator Training (2 days)
· Leading for Equity and Excellence
· Adaptive Leadership for School Administrators: Dealing With Change
· Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You
· NEW! Leading a Comprehensive Instructional Coaching Program in Your School or District
Contact Dr. April Jordan for more information or to reserve your session(s).
ajordan@ncisc.org // 847.803.5604
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Should be Trauma-Informed
A recent Phi Delta Kappan article, All SEL Should Be Trauma-Informed (Pawlo et al., 2019), calls on educators to “think of SEL as taking place in a potentially powerful emotional context.” It is posited that we must provide our learners with intense support matching intense need.
For some of our students, trauma stems from a variety of causes; i.e. not enough to eat, angst regarding family immigration status, illness, bullying, violence, high-pressure academic situations that determine career paths/careers, etc. Such students are not be able to apply social emotional skills because they become “superseded” by their trauma-responsive survival skills. If students’ limbic brains are frenzied with thoughts of fight, flight, or freeze, educators will simply be unable to help them dissect, process, or organize new information.
Find a way to bring trauma-informed practices into your learning spaces along with your SEL strategies! Remember to honor students’ strengths before highlighting deficits.
- Register for Youth Mental Health Training at NCISC on 2/21
- Register for Youth Mental Health Training at NCISC on 4/17
- Register for Trauma Informed Practices at NCISC on 6/16
Pawlo, E., Lorenzo, A., Eichart, B., & Elias, M.J. (2019, November). All SEL should be trauma-informed. Phi Delta Kappan, 101(3), 37-41.
Educator Licensure
Title II Teacher & Principal Evaluator Training Grant
TEACHER EVALUATORS
North Cook ISC offers AA-2001, a two-day Administrator Academy, to satisfy the requirement for those who will evaluate teachers. This two-day Academy will be offered February 12-13 and again June 10-11, 2020.
PRINCIPAL EVALUATORS
Until the State develops a new Administrator Academy for initial Principal Evaluator Training, individuals required to evaluate principals must take two Administrator Academies: AA-1865 and AA-3001/3002.
AA-1865 will be offered at North Cook ISC on May 6, 2020.
AA-3000/3001/3002 will be offered on June 8, 2020.
unaccompanied youth: how to help
Who are Unaccompanied Youth?
Unaccompanied youth are defined as school age children that are not living with a parent or legal guardian. This would also include school age youth on their own who are staying at a shelter, in a car, park, motel, train or bus station.
Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act, they should be identified as homeless in your school. What many school personnel don’t realize is that this also includes youth that have:
- run away from home
- been thrown out of their home
- been left on their own by parent or guardian
- moved in with friends or relatives because they don’t have a place to stay
It is the LEA’s responsibility to identify these students because the youths don’t necessarily know there are services available to help them receive free lunch, waiver of fees, social work, counseling, and other school services.
The most important thing for a school to do is to assist them with their needs and ensure that everything is done, including credit recovery, to have them complete school rather than drop out and repeat a cycle of homelessness and poverty. Students should also be referred to Comprehensive Community Based Youth Services online or at 877.870.2663 who will assist with finding housing and other support services.
For more information, in-district training, or questions contact Dr. Tom Bookler, McKinney-Vento Regional Liaison at (630) 386-0883 or tbookler@ncisc.org.
Bus Driver Instructors Wanted
North Cook ISC is looking for people who are interested in becoming Bus Driver Instructors in Cook County for the 2020-2021 school year.
Instructors must successfully complete the Initial and Refresher Bus Driver Training courses and be able to host classes at their own facility.
92 Ill. Adm. Code 1035.30 of the Secretary of State's rules require the certification of Bus Driver Instructors by the State Board of Education. The following standards apply to this certification. Instructors must:
· Be at least 21 years of age.
· Hold/Have one of the following:
- an Illinois School Bus Driver's Permit
- a current professional educator license endorsed for driver education
- the approval of the regional superintendent as having had other direct involvement in school bus transportation.
· Provide a current, valid card as evidence of having completed a course in First Aid from the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or other national organization that is recognized by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
· Have assisted a certified instructor in conducting an initial school bus driver training course and a refresher course, taught each of these courses under the observation of a certified instructor, and received a satisfactory evaluation of overall teaching performance.
· Renew his/her certification for bus driver instructor annually.
If interested or have any questions, please contact Lydia Cruz at lcruz@ncisc.org.
NETWORKING SERIES CONTINUE
February 10 & April 20
February 20 & April 16
April 23rd
Service Learning - By Rocio A., NCYAA Student
Entering North Cook County Young Adult Academy as a student can be hard. It’s just another school with classes and work, and as the day goes on and the afternoon starts getting closer, the urge to leave the school is stronger than ever.
Luckily, unlike other schools, NCYAA students get the opportunity to go off campus to do Service Learning, or in other words, Community Service. On the first day attending NCYAA, students are offered a chance to spend the last two periods of the school day on Mondays and Wednesdays helping out our community.
What do we do at service learning you might ask? We mainly go to two different places: The Grove, located in Glenview, or Catholic Charities in Des Plaines. NCYAA provides a cab to take us, and our teacher follows in her own car. After lunch on Mondays into the cab we go. Stepping into the building of Catholic Charities there are usually one or two things we can do. One, we make placemats, and use blank pieces of paper to draw pictures or designs with colors which decorate the tables for senior citizen lunches. Another thing we do is sort clothes that are donated to this place into children’s, women’s and men’s, and the sizes.
The Grove is a nature preserve park for anyone to visit, with no fee. It includes log cabins, a visitor's center, maintenance and other buildings. Hard working people cut trees not needed or make trails and paths more beautiful for anyone who visits. We mainly focus on outdoor work: seed collecting in the fall, cutting small trees and keeping the natural areas clear.
These service learning activities help us connect to the community, build job skills, and make us feel good to help out.
Find out more about NCYAA.
Learn at Your Own Pace
Illinois Online Academy is made possible by a partnership between Kane County ROE, IL Vision 20/20, Concordia University Chicago and Virtual Education Software.
North Cook Intermediate Service Center
Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
CLOSED February 17 for Presidents' Day
CLOSED April 10 for Easter Holiday
Email: info@ncisc.org
Website: www.ncisc.org
Location: 1001 E. Touhy Av. Suite 200, Des Plaines, IL, USA
Phone: 847-824-8300