Educational Service Unit # 13
SERVING THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA
November, 2015 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 Administrator Nominated to National Leadership Position
ESU #13 Administrator Dr. Jeff West was recently nominated as President Elect to the Executive Council of the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA). Each year the AESA Executive Council selects its own leadership. Typically, the election for the President Elect happens in the fall of the year prior to them being seated. The nomination for President Elect happens at the September Executive Council meeting and the election would happen at the December Executive Council meeting at the annual conference. The selected member would then be seated as President Elect at the spring meeting on March 15, 2016, in Greenbriar, WV.
AESA is governed by an executive council. New members are added each May. Serving on the Executive Council provides a great opportunity to influence and lead AESA.
The Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) is a professional organization serving Educational Service Units (ESUs) in 45 states; there are 553 agencies nationwide with hundreds of thousands of staff members. AESA is in the position to reach well over 80% of the public school districts, over 83% of the private schools, over 80% certified teachers, and more than 80% non-certified school employees, and well over 80% public and private school students. Annual budgets for ESUs come to $14.7 billion. AESA’s membership is agency wide and includes all ESU employees and board members.
Educational service units—or ESUs—have been around for many years, providing service programs to meet the needs of local schools and school districts. However, with recent growth in the demand for services, more people are asking about these public entities, which are playing an ever-increasing role in our public education system. Educational service units are public entities created by state statute, to provide educational support programs and services to local schools and school districts within a given geographic area.
Educational service units provide high quality, cost-effective support programs for local schools and districts. By working cooperatively, districts can share costs rather than fund duplicative programs. This enables local districts to direct more resources to the classroom and away from administrative and support costs.
The three basic sources of revenue for educational service units include a local property tax levy, state allocations, and contract fees for services provided. Additionally, some ESUs receive funding from Federal/state grants and other awards. Regardless of how the ESU is funded, it must have revenues to provide quality services and stability so local districts can rely on dependable services.
Dr. West is the first Nebraska ESU administrator to be nominated as President Elect to the AESA Executive Council.
For more information and interviews contact:
Jeff West
Educational Service Unit #13
Phone Number: (308) 633-3712
SOAR (Sharing Opportunities and Achieving Results)
Get Registered Now for the Mid-Winter Conference
We all want students to be successful. This means different things to different people. In school, that may include wanting them to be safe and fully engaged in the instruction that is occurring. Every day we are faced with challenges that make this difficult. Sometimes the behavior of one student is enough to derail your efforts. Sometimes it’s lack of engagement by a group of students. Standards change and content is ever-increasing. Instructional methods, including the use of technology, are continually refined. This year's conference is scheduled for February 15, 2016.
Be sure to register with your director soon so that you get your first choice of sessions.
The complete flyer is available on the ESU website by clicking on the Mid-Winter Conference Link on the left navigation bar or by using this link:
SOAR and Community Groups Work to Provide Learning Events for Students
The Fall Student Events were a great success for ESU #13 and all of its community partners.
As the school year continues, so do the Student Events sponsored by ESU #13 and a number of other community groups. These activities give students the opportunity to learn outside the classrooms. While some activities tie directly to our content area standards, others serve as enrichment for our students. They provide experiences that help to build knowledge and broaden their perspectives of the environment and people around them, and the past.
Six separate activities were held this fall: Flowerfield Historical School, Tools and Technology Through Time, Branch Out, Water Education for Tomorrow, and Geography Week.
Flowerfield Historical School provides an 1888 school day for fourth grade students. Students dress like students of the 1880’s and experience the school day much like it would have been back then. We had 850 students participate. A big thank you goes out to our teachers, June Lacy and Lois Herbel, and the volunteers of the Banner County Museum.
Tools and Technology Through Time, is hosted by the Legacy of the Plains Museum. While at the museum, fourth grade students are introduced to antique farm machinery and the simple machines that were a part of virtually all farm equipment in the first half of the 20th century! It is a great way to tie social studies and science together.
Sixth grade students and their teachers converged on the Wildcat Hills Nature Center in early September. They learned about the importance of trees to the Nebraska Panhandle. ESU #13 worked in conjunction with the National Park Service, Pheasants Forever, North Platte Natural Resource District, Riverside Discovery Center, along with the Wildcat Hills Nature Center to provide an outdoor classroom for our students.
Many groups worked together to provide Project W.E.T for area 5th graders. Topics included: The production of hydroelectric power, the importance of irrigation to the Panhandle, the water cycle, and the effects of water erosion.
Six schools participated in National Geographic’s Traveling Map program this year. The African map travelled around the Panhandle. Teachers willing to participate, accessed lessons designed by National Geographic and presented to their students.
We have three separate activities scheduled for Spring: Alpha Historical School-Dawes County Historical Museum, Trip Through Time, Let’s Rock, and a regional science fair.
Alpha Historical School provides an 1888 school day for third and fourth grade students in the northern panhandle. Students dress like students of the 1880’s and experience the school day much like it would have been back then.
Kindergarteners will spend the day at the new Legacy of the Plains Museum. Students will step into days of the past and compare them to the present, shell and grind corn, dive into a real crank operated washing machine, spin rope, then travel a hop-skip-and-a-jump to play games from the past. The ESU and museum have been working together on this project since 1993, over twenty years!
Let’s Rock is geared for middle school Earth Science students and meets NE State science Standards. Activities will take place around the Scottsbluff National Monument Visitors’ Center. Sessions include: Soil Deposition/Erosion, Groundwater, Geologic Timeline, Paleolontology, Museum Tour and Video, Coal, and Rocks and Gems.
The Harms Technology Center will be the site for the combined National Junior of Sciences and Allied Health Education Center Regional Science Fair Lisa Myles/ESU 13 and Wendy Wells/ UNMC College of Nursing will host the event on March 2, 2016. Students will have an opportunity to see other projects from around our area schools and have presentations by local scientists. This NJAS regional science fair will qualify the top projects for the Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences State Fair in April. The AHEC fair is open to 8th graders and winners will attend the state meet at the UNL Medical Center in June.
SPED Department
November 29th is a significant day nationally for the civil rights of many people in America as this day marks the 40th Anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). On November 29, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed PL 94-142, which has been reauthorized as IDEA. This was very significant federal legislation because before this time many students with disabilities were not educated in public schools, instead they were placed in separate facilities. In fact, in 1970, U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding students with disabilities. The IDEA enabled students with disabilities to receive a F.A.P.E. (Free Appropriate Public Education) at no cost to the parents.
According to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, today nearly 6 million school-age children and youths receive special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs. 62 percent of those students with disabilities are in general education classrooms 80 percent or more of their school day. Early intervention services are now provided to nearly 340,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. 95 percent of the time those services are provided in their home or other natural environment. Over 750,000 children ages 3-5 also received special education services. 65% of these children were served in the regular preschool setting.
Frank Young
Angie Luppen
LifeLink and Meridian
Meridian Bell Choir Performance Schedule
December 2: 10:00 a.m. County Extension UNL 4502 Ave. I
December 7: 10:00 a.m. Residency (by Mall)
December 9: 10:00 a.m. Community Christian School (511 W. 14th St.)
December 14: 10:00 a.m. Northfield “Vista” 2550 21 Street Gering
December 17: 1:00 P.M. Christmas Program ESU #13
Corn King Visit
The LifeLink class visited Corn King recently. The owner, Mark, supported the students through the process of getting a package of popcorn out the door. Students participated in every step of the process and were able to eat lots of popcorn! He discussed the benefits and downfalls of owning his own business.
Entrepreneurs Class
Digital Photography
Head Start/Early Head Start
Head Start has been very busy during the month of October. We actively prepared for and successfully completed our Environmental Health and Safety Federal Monitoring Review at all 15 locations. Health, Nutrition, Behavioral Health, and Developmental screenings have been completed on children. The management team is actively working on the continuation grant.
Teaching staff have completed the first school readiness check and will be conducting parent teacher conferences. During parent teacher conferences parents will be reviewing school readiness goals they set for their children at the beginning of the year and updating them as needed.
Head Start continues to enroll preschool children, there are 12 preschool openings to be filled.
Head Start is getting closer to being fully staffed. Currently we are looking for a couple of preschool teachers, teacher aides, and a bilingual family advocate.
Migrant
We welcome Gabriella Charging Thunder, School/Home Liaison for migrant students in the Gordon-Rushville school district, to the Migrant Education team! Gabriella works as a para with our migrant students at Gordon-Rushville Middle School during the school day, and provides after school tutoring for high school, middle school, and elementary school students in the Gordon-Rushville district after school.
For the November Migrant Ed Newsletter:
https://www.smore.com/yhj6t-esu-13-migrant-education-news?ref=my
Psychological Services
As members of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), our team wants to pass on the following information from the NASP Office. Please read and consider the information contained within regarding Bullying and Harassment. While we may be relatively safe from terroristic acts of violence, Bullying and Harassment based on cultural diversity is a very real problem for some of the youth in our districts.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Bethesda, MD—On behalf of our 25,000 members, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) joins the nation in expressing our sadness and shock at the horrific acts of terrorism in Paris, France. Our thoughts go out to the French people and to everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy.
Intentional acts of violence that hurt innocent people are frightening and upsetting, particularly when they are accompanied by explicit threats of further harm. Modern media can make international events feel relevant and potentially threatening to children and youth here. They will look to adults for models of how to react, and to help them understand the event. Families and school personnel can support children by establishing a sense of safety and security, helping children to process their thoughts and feelings, and placing the event in the proper context. Additional tips include:
- Provide accurate reassurances regarding the possibility of terrorism in their community.
- Return to normalcy and routine to the extent possible while maintaining flexibility.
- Let children know it’s okay to have many different feelings and there is no one right way to respond.
- Be a good listener and observer
- Monitor and limit exposure to media, including social media and other Internet sites
- Provide ways for children to express emotion, such as journaling, writing letters, talking, art, or music
- Focus on resiliency as well as the compassion of others
- Identify the various ways in which people are helping; emphasize the ability to do good
A natural reaction to acts of extreme violence is the desire to lash out and punish the perpetrators or perceived enemy. People who are angry or frightened often feel the ability to “fight back” puts them more in control or will alleviate their sense of outrage. While anger is a normal response, we should not compound an already tragic situation and react against innocent individuals with vengeance and harassment. There is a tremendous risk of unfairly stigmatizing people who are perceived to resemble the perpetrators because of their race, language, religion, or the way they dress.
Children, in particular, may have difficulty channeling their feelings appropriately and they can easily pick up negative or demeaning cues given by adults around them. Given the diversity of America’s schools, some students may become targets of hostility and blame. Bullying and harassment are never acceptable but they can be particularly damaging when certain students or segments of society feel especially vulnerable. Families and school personnel need to be prepared to prevent and to intervene quickly and effectively in the presence of abusive behaviors toward any students. Such behaviors can only further contribute to the risk of violence in schools and communities.
Adults can help children understand the importance of treating all people with dignity and not judging entire groups of people for the actions of a few. Most importantly, adults must model compassion and acceptance of differences in their words and behavior. They can encourage children to explore their feelings about prejudice and hate. Doing so is not only critical to preventing further harm, but the process presents a potentially powerful opportunity for our youth to learn and to incorporate into their values the true strength of our country—our commitment to individual freedom and upholding the respect and dignity of all people.
TECHNOLOGY
Like us on facebook!!
https://www.facebook.com/ESU13
ESU13 has made the move into social media in the past month and already have over 170 likes.
Please let the tech department know if you have anything you would like to add.
News from the Wellness Committee
Wellness Award Winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had 4 $25 gift card winners for the Snack Attack EHA challenge. Congrats to Elizabeth Mendoza, Jeanne Morgan, Mary Valladares and Patsy Yager! Make sure to register and complete the Perfect Beverage challenge starting in December.
The Personal Health Assessment (PHA) is provided as part of the EHA Wellness Program and ESU #13. The PHA is a valuable educational tool designed to help you learn important information about your current health status and how to improve it. You will be able to complete the survey in approximately 15 minutes. In order to be eligible for the $150 ELEVATE bonus, you must complete the PHA. As of November 9, we have had 32 people complete the PHA.
Since our group is part of the ELEVATE pilot, you will have until September 15, 2016 to complete the health assessment. However, we recommend you complete it as soon as possible so you are able to complete the ELEVATE requirements on time.
To access the Personal Health Assessment, go to:
https://wellsuite.com/ehawellness/ws/
If you have any general questions about the PHA or the process, feel free to contact our Wellness Rep Letitia Skelton - lskelton@esu13.org or pha@ehawellness.org.