Educational Service Unit # 13
SERVING THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA
May, 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 Staff/Programs Recognized for Excellence
AdvancED Excellence in Education Award
Every year an individual from each state in the nation is selected to be recognized by the international accrediting agency, AdvancED, as making outstanding contributions to the nation’s young people and the field of education. Penny Businga was nominated by her peers and selected by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission to receive the 2015 AdvancED Excellence in Education Award.
Criteria include a nominee’s success in the following areas:
* Generates a common vision and mission for higher expectations among students, faculty, and the education community.
* Demonstrates a record of significant and distinguished contribution to the education profession.
* Provides a lasting positive impact on student learning.
* Serves as a role model and mentor for students and/or future generations of educators.
* Demonstrates significant professional contribution to NCA CASI, NWAC, or SACS CASI.
Penny has met all five criteria through her statewide work in continuous improvement activities that help our public and private schools fulfill accreditation requirements that impact the learning of all Nebraska students. She has served Nebraska schools in her varied roles as classroom teacher, professional development consultant and director, external lead evaluator for schools, districts, international schools, and educational service units. The Excellence In Education Award is recognition that a person has done something “special” for children and the field of education. The AdvancED Commission notes that Penny Businga is clearly held in high regard by her peers and is highly deserving of such recognition.
Partnership of the year Apple Award
An annual Chamber of commerce Adopt-A-School banquet is held to provide schools and partners with an opportunity to be recognized for outstanding partnerships and representation of the spirit of the Adopt-A-School program. Three schools and business partners were recognized with honorable mention awards. The ESU #13 Meridian School and UNL Extension office partnership was recognized as the partnership of the year and presented with the Apple Award as outstanding partners. The award was well-deserved recognition for all the hard work put in by both Meridian School and the UNL Extension office.
There were a variety of interactions and activities that took place between the Meridian School and UNL staff, ranging from pumpkins and paint donated by UNL in October for students to decorate. UNL staff also helped Meridian students sell raffle tickets to help raise money for the Meridian prom this year and in return Meridian students performed a bell concert for the UNL staff. In February the UNL staff hosted a Valentine’s Day party for the Meridian students where students enjoyed refreshments and a variety of activities. Most recently collaborations between Meridian students and UNL allowed an opportunity for raised garden bed planters to be built for Meridian student use. Planters were built with the help from the Rice family with materials donated from Carr-Trumball Lumber, potting soil donated by TLC the Lifestyle Center and the germination process at the UNL greenhouses with the intent that one garden bed will be used as a pizza garden and the other a flower garden. In working with and getting to know the students at Meridian, the UNL staff wrote a grant so that Meridian School can plant a tree in memory of a student that passed away this last December; both the UNL staff and Meridian School will be at the tree planting.
ESU #13 Educators Health Alliance participation
We had a 93% participation rate for the EHA programs this school year. Our staff has been able to participate in programs such as Soup of the Day, Unplug and Rewire, Stop Stress Now, Iditarod and Volunteer for Health. The most popular program that staff participated in was the Iditarod. This program allowed staff to work in teams to reach a hypothetical Iditarod challenge by tracking healthy sleep, eating and exercise habits for 6 weeks. Staff also participated in the PHA (Personal Health Assessment). We had an 83% participation/completion rate for this program. The average participation/completion rate for the PHA across Nebraska was 49%.
AdvancED Excellence in Education Award
Partnership of the year Apple Award
Apple Award
SOAR (Sharing Opportunities and Achieving Results)
THANK YOU PENNY!! You are the heart of SOAR and will be greatly missed!
We would like to share the article written by the Star-Herald. It was a great tribute to Penny’s dedication to ESU #13.
After 29 years of serving teachers in the community, Penny Businga plans to retire from her career at Educational Services Unit #13 in Scottsbluff.
In the late 1980s, there was a movement by teachers to be treated more like professionals. This started because teachers couldn’t get what they needed in order to do their best at their jobs with the resources they had. At that time it was called Teacher Centers. Today, there is a lot of research and new support. Businga said she is always looking for new strategies and programs going in the schools they serve.
“Lots of teachers were complaining that they wanted to learn something, but you would find out training went on somewhere, but you didn’t know about it,” she said. “We said ‘how can we get a coordinating agency’ and ESU said ‘we would help you investigate’ and we kind of invented this job.”
In 1986, her career was born as the director of professional learning at ESU #13. On a daily basis, Businga works with six other employees and a few other departments that deal with staff development. They cover 21 districts and 15,000 square miles.
“It’s a long time and it felt like yesterday. It goes very, very fast,” she said.
Before she served ESU #13, Businga taught in Scottsbluff Public Schools for seven years at a variety of teaching grade levels. She spent most of her time in Title I, teaching remedial reading and math.
“That probably did give me my initial interest in this job with my English as a Second Language kids,” she said. “Because 20 some years ago, we didn’t have a lot of support for those kids and now we know they can learn a lot faster if we actually provide good teaching.”
ESU #13 Administrator Jeff West said there is a lot he could say about Businga and the significant contributions she has made to the schools and children in Western Nebraska and across the state.
“Penny has been with ESU 13 since its beginnings as a Teacher Center,” he said. “She helped put in place the very foundations that have made this organization such a success. ESU #13 has enjoyed the impact her influence has had in our region and the state. While we will miss her, our staff and member schools continue to benefit from her legacy of lifelong learning.”
Businga plans to retire in June to spend time with her grandchild and also wants to give back to the community that has served her well in her career.
“I figure I owe all those groups (student events and community partnerships) back after all these years, of saying you need to volunteer to help,” she said. “I’ll probably have to help volunteer.”
Businga felt the best part of her job has been the constant effort to make things better and witnessing all of the change that has happened in her time on the job.
This includes bringing in new ideas that have been experimented on by others, but have been successful in those trials.
“Our schools are traditional and they want to know this is worth doing before jumping over a cliff,” she said. “We’ve been able to bring in national presenters all the time. That means even though we are isolated in the Midwest, I think our schools get to know about all the best things that are going on in education all the time and that’s pretty cool.”
Not only has serving her community been fun for Businga, she has also enjoyed traveling overseas for international school improvement in Germany, Italy, Portugal and other countries.
“What a gift,” she said. “Schools are schools. They’re similar to ours. To see it in a different context, those all were department of defense schools, but to see what’s going on with those kids and how hard they’re working, it was just a benefit to travel and see people all over.”
In the future, Businga plans to visit schools and become more active in the community. Over the years, she has enjoyed seeing teachers expand their teaching skills and attend her annual workshops.
“It’s not the worst teacher who comes to workshops, it’s the best,” she said. “We get to know all the best teachers, administrators and I think that is just delightful to see them grow. I think that will be hard to hear a school bell and not be part of that.”
Jadie Beam will be taking over as Director of Professional Learning for the 2015-2016 school year. Here is her contact information: jbeam@esu13.org or call 635-0661.
Migrant
Here is a link to the April Migrant Education Program newsletter, and our photo highlights of the month.
https://www.smore.com/6sy2q-esu-13-migrant-education-news?ref=email
VALTS
Here is a link to our VALTS newsletter. Enjoy!
Link to newsletter http://pub.lucidpress.com/28f1faba-120f-41d1-9041-10e1713cc966/
Student writing samples are embedded in the pictures on the front page. Please click on the pictures to view them.
TECHNOLOGY
Wellness Thoughts
Psychological Department
Stress in Children and Adolescents: Tips for Parents
Much of the following information comes from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) archival files and is intended to help us all understand the effect of our stress on those around us, including our own children.
As summer begins, many of us will have changes in our routines, certainly our school-age children will have changes and depending on their age, they may be going to day-care, left at home alone (maybe for the first time), left in the care of older siblings or to care for younger siblings, they may be visiting family or going to camp. In addition to the stress caused by changes in routine, our children can be affected directly by changes in the family financial circumstances and stress in their parents, or more indirectly by general anxiety over problems they hear about in the news and from other sources. These changes and other factors can and will cause stress.
So what is stress? Stress is a way that our body responds to the demands made upon us by the environment, our relationships, and our perceptions and interpretations of those demands. We all experience both “good” and “bad” stress. Good stress is that optimal amount of stress that results in our feeling energized and motivated to do our best work. Good stress encourages us to develop effective coping strategies to deal with our challenges, which ultimately contributes to our resilience. Bad stress occurs when our coping mechanisms are overwhelmed by the stress and we do not function at our best. Stress can become distress when we are unable to cope or when we believe that we do not have the ability to meet the challenge. The solution is to adapt, change, and find methods to turn that bad stress into good stress.
Causes of Stress: at school can come from an unstructured classroom, unclear or unreasonable expectations, or fear of failure. At home, stress can occur through a lack of family routines, overscheduling, prolonged or serious illness, poor nutrition, change in the family situation, financial problems, family strife or abuse, or unclear or unreasonable expectations. Peer-related stress can be a result of changing school buildings, having to deal with a bully, trying to fit in with the crowd, or moving to a new community.
Symptoms of Stress in Children may be apparent in the following ways:
Irritability or unusual emotionality or volatility.
Sleep difficulty or nightmares.
Inability to concentrate.
Drop in grades or other functioning.
Toileting or eating concerns.
Headaches or stomachaches.
Unexplained fears or increased anxiety (that also can take the form of clinging).
Regression to earlier developmental levels.
Isolation from family activities or peer relationships.
Drug or alcohol experimentation.
Factors that Help Prevent Stress
Positive problem solving and coping skills.
Close, supportive relationships at home and school, with peers and adults.
Clear expectations.
Permission and ability to learn from mistakes.
Consistent, positive discipline.
Developing competencies (academic, social, extracurricular, and life skills).
Ability to express feelings appropriately.
Feeling physically and emotionally safe.
Good nutrition and exercise.
Time to relax or do recreational activities.
How Parents Can Help
Build trust with your child
Be available and open to talk when your child is ready. If family circumstances ae contributing
to the stress, be willing to answer questions honestly and calmly.
Encourage the expression of feelings.
Teach and model good emotional responses.
Encourage your child to tell you if he or she feels overwhelmed.
Encourage physical activity, good nutrition, and rest.
Teach your child to problem solve.
Keep your child aware of anticipated family changes, in an age-appropriate way.
Acknowledge that change can feel uncomfortable but reassure him or her that the family will be
okay.
Do not hide the truth from your child. Children sense parents’ worry and the unknown can be
scarier than the truth. However, avoid unnecessary discussions in front of your child
(particularly a young child) of events or circumstances that might increase his or her
stress.
Help your child have a part in decision-making when appropriate.
Remind your child of his or her ability to get through tough times, particularly with the love and
support of family and friends.
Monitor television programs that could worry your child and pay attention to the use of
computer games, movies, and the Internet.
Use encouragement and natural consequences when poor decisions are made.
Help your child select appropriate extracurricular activities and limit overscheduling.
Make your child aware of the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol before experimentation
begins.
Contact your child’s teacher with any concerns and make them part of the team available to
assist your child.
Seek the assistance of a physician, school psychologist, school counselor, or school social worker
if stress continues to be a concern.
Building Resiliency: Helping Children to Learn to Weather Tough Times
Adversity (stress) is a natural part of life. At some point we all face difficulties, such as family problems, serious illness, a personal crisis, or a painful loss. Being resilient is important to dealing with adversities like these. While most parents hope that their children never face extreme adversity, successfully facing tough situations can actually foster growth and give children the skills to be more resilient in the future.
Following are five ways in which we can help build resiliency in our children:
Think positive. Modeling positive attitudes and positive emotions is very important. Children need to hear parents thinking out loud positively and being determined to persist until a goal is achieved. Using a “can do” problem-solving approach to problems teaches children a sense of power and promise.
Express love and gratitude! Emotions such as love and gratitude increase resiliency. Praise should always occur much more often than criticism. Children and adolescents who are cared for, loved, and supported learn to express positive emotions to others. Positive emotions buffer kids against depression and other negative reactions to adversity.
Express Yourself! Resilient people appropriately express all emotions, even negative ones. Parents who help kids become more aware of emotions, label emotions appropriately, and help children deal with upsetting events are giving them useful life skills.
Get fit! Good physical health prepares the body and mind to be more resilient. Healthy eating habits, regular exercise and adequate sleep protect kids against the stress of tough situations. Regular exercise also decreases negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression.
Foster competency! Making sure that children and adolescents achieve academically is great protection against adversity. Children who achieve academic success and who develop individual talents, such as playing sports, drawing, making things, playing musical instruments or playing games ae much more likely to feel competent and be able to deal with stress positively. Social competency is also important. Having friends and staying connected to friends and loved ones can increase resiliency. Social competency can even be created by helping others.
Protecting our children against all of life’s unexpected painful events is not possible. Giving them a sense of competency and the skills to face adverse circumstances can be a valuable legacy of all parents.