Educational Service Unit # 13
SERVING THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA
April, 2018 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...
Achieving educational excellence for all learners through strong partnerships, service and leadership
By . . .
- Collaborating with schools, families, and communities
- Serving with equity, efficiency, and integrity
- Communicating effectively
- Leading with innovation
ADMINISTRATION
Reflecting on my Year as AESA President
What a year it has been. I recently passed the gavel to the next president of the Association of Educational Service Agencies Phoebe Bailey, who resides in Little Rock, Arkansas. It’s been such a privilege to get to know Phoebe and work with her this past year. She’s an outstanding leader with a clear vision and a strong sense of purpose and commitment. I know that AESA will be in very capable hands, and I wish her every success in the coming year.
The Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) is a professional organization serving educational service agencies (ESAs) in 45 states; there are 553 agencies nationwide. 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 ESAs total approximately $15 billion. AESA’s membership is agency wide and includes all ESA employees and board members. The Association is governed by an Executive Council, comprised of three representatives from each of four regions. Executive Council Members are AESA members, too. New Executive Council members are elected each fall. Serving on the Executive Council provides a great opportunity to influence and lead AESA.
Serving as AESA president has been a career highlight, it is hard to put the position of AESA president in perspective as I've never done anything like it, and will likely never do anything like it again. For anyone who is interested in such a position I can say only that serving as AESA president will be one of the most joyful, rewarding service roles that one can experience in an educational career. To those of you who encouraged me to lead, and for all of the help I have received this past year, Thank You for your consideration and confidence. I hope that I lived up to your hopes and expectations.
This past year has been a year of tremendous change, growth, and direction setting that will take AESA into the future. I feel AESA is clearly positioned for success in the years to come.
I am most proud that as the professional organization representing educational service agencies across the country, AESA is committed to advocating for high-quality public education throughout its systems, the districts they serve and the students who walk through their doors each day. AESA significantly contributes to educating our nation's students in grades Pre-kindergarten through grade 12 and beyond!
To the ESU 13 Board of Education, thank you for allowing me to fulfill a dream of serving at the national level and along the way becoming the first Nebraska ESU administrator to serve as president of AESA. To my Leadership Team of Directors who filled in while I was gone to meetings and conferences and kept things going and on track, thank you for your leadership. And to my central office staff, which kept me organized and focused not only at the national level, but also at the state, regional, and local level, I will always be grateful for your support.
Educationally Yours,
Dr. Jeffrey D West, Administrator
ESU #13
Birthdays - Happy Birthday to everyone!! If you would like your birthday included in future newsletters just email me at jrundell@esu13.org
Happy Birthday to everyone that has a birthday in April.
SOAR (Sharing Opportunities and Achieving Results)
SUMMER CLASSESS:
Please see the Flyer on our website: http://www.esu13.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Departments%7CProfessional%20Learning
Students Compete in Regional Science Fair
THANK TO OUR SPONSORS! Congrats to our area students
Students from across the Panhandle gathered on March 6, in Scottsbluff to share over 45 science projects ranging from “Paint Weathering”, “Family Fingerprints” and “Estrus Synchronization in Ewes” at the 3rd annual Nebraska Panhandle Area Health Education Center (NP- AHEC) and Nebraska Junior Academy of Science (NJAS) Combined Regional Science Fair.
Students were judged on items including: Scientific Method, communication skills and personal growth by a panel of judges from Agate Fossil Beds, the local community, Riverside Discovery Center, WNCC, the Star Herald, the Rocky Mountain Bird Conservancy, J UNL Extension/4-H.
Participants competed to earn a trip to Lincoln in April for the State NJAS competition and for 8th graders only, a trip to UNMC in Omaha in June.
This event is sponsored by Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures- Search today for healthier tomorrows, ESU #13, Nebraska Panhandle Area Health Education Center, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center and College of Nursing- West Nebraska Division (WND).
Prizes were donated by Cappuccino and Company, Platte Valley Bank, Teacher’s Corner, Target and Walmart.
NJAS All of these projects will move forward to the State Fair
9-12 Grade
1 Jacobi Stumpff Hemingford high School Estrus Synchronization on Ewes
2 Elizabeth Shepperson Valley Home School Reverse Spherification
3 Taylor Borges/Paige Ernest Leyton High School Egg-cellent Rockets
4 Abigail Smith Banner County High School Easy Clean
5 Kelsee Moffat Garden County High School Feed Efficiency
6-8 Grade All of these projects will move forward to the State Fair
1 Daniel Bashtovoi Sidney Middle School Does the Nose Know
2 Aiden Dressel Chadron Middle School Repelling flies from Glass
3 Destiny Hanson Hemingford Middle school Which Burns Faster
4 Axi Benish Leyton Middle School Tooth Enamel vs Beverages
5 Owen Grant Alliance Middle School Drinking Water
6 Abigail Brady Gering Middle School Drug Solubility
AHEC 8th Grade Local Judges Choice All 8th grade project abstracts will move forward to compete for the trip to UNMC.
1 Daniel Bashtovoi Sidney Does the Nose Know
2 Nicolas Clark Gering Desalinization
3 Melissa McGinley Alliance Smell and Taste
People’s Choice
Axi Benish Leyton Tooth Enamel vs Beverages
Technology Department
12 Tips on Cell Phone Safety and Privacy
As cell phones become smarter, they’re more like mini computers that contain lots of personal information about us. Here are 12 easy steps to take to manage your privacy and safety when using your cell phone.
1. Put a passcode on your phone.
The easiest thing for you to do is to put a passcode on your phone. Having a passcode will make it harder for someone to pick up your phone to scroll through, access your accounts, or install something malicious.
2. Turn off location sharing.
Most phones have a GPS that can pinpoint your general or exact location. With this capability, many applications may collect and share your location information. However, many smartphones give you the option of managing your location sharing under the “settings.” You can pick and choose which applications may access your location or you can opt to turn off the location setting altogether.
3. Turn off Bluetooth when not using.
Bluetooth allows your phone to communicate with other devices, such as the hands-free option in your car or your printer. If accessed by someone else though, they could misuse it to access your information or intercept your calls.
4. Check your privacy & security settings.
Most smartphones have settings that will help you manage your privacy and safety. You can find these controls through the settings on your phone or through the settings of a specific app.
5. What online accounts are you automatically logged into?
One of the convenient features of having a smartphone is to quickly access email or social media accounts with just a tap of a finger. However, this also means that you are always connected to accounts that may contain sensitive information. Consider logging out of certain accounts if you can so that others can’t access those accounts if they are using your phone.
6. Review the apps you download.
Know the apps that are on your phone, and if you have an unfamiliar app, delete it. Apps are easy to download and easy to forget, but depending on the app, it could be accessing private information or could be a monitoring program that someone surreptitiously installed.
7. Put a password on your wireless carrier account to keep others from accessing your account.
If you’re worried that someone might be contacting your wireless carrier to obtain information about you and your account, you can ask your wireless carrier to put additional security on your account, such as a password. Only someone with this password will be allowed to make changes to your account.
8. Lock down your online phone account.
Keep in mind that even if someone doesn’t have access to your phone, it might be possible for them to access your online account. Update the passwords and security questions for those accounts to ensure someone else can’t get access.
9. Use virtual phone numbers (such as Google Voice) to keep your number private.
To further maximize your privacy, consider using a virtual number, such as Google Voice or a throw away number, so you don’t have to give out your actual phone number.
10. Try not to store sensitive information on your phone.
Finally, although it may be tempting to store information such as passwords, account numbers, or personal information on your phone, the less sensitive information you have, the less likely someone else can access it
11. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your phone.
After years of warnings, we are fairly used to ensuring we have anti-spyware, anti-malware, and anti-virus programs on our computers. This software should also be used on our smartphones as well.
12. Take care when using safety apps.
There are many “personal safety apps” available for download that offer to increase the users’ personal safety – immediately connecting them with 911 or select trusted individuals. Several of these apps are designed and marketed specifically to survivors of violence. Before relying on any safety app in an emergency, be sure to test it out with friends and family to be sure that it works correctly for you.
©2014 National Network to End Domestic Violence, Safety Net Project.Supported by US DOJ-OVC Grant # 2011-VF-GX-K016. Opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of DOJ.
Special Services Department
Head Start/Early Head Start
Head Start has continued to be fully enrolled this year with 248 preschool children and 68 prenatal, infant and toddlers. The Federal Review team spent a week monitoring all Head Start sites, including School Partnerships. We are waiting the final report. Applications are being taken for all programs.
School Readiness progress is being shared with parents during conferences. Verification is taking place that all 121 preschoolers headed for Kindergarten are set up with a Kindergarten home for next year. Teachers have invited Kindergarten teachers or Elementary Principals to come and read to their children and talk about Kindergarten.
We are actively engaged in the Week of the Young Child with exciting activities going on in the classrooms. In addition we will be participated at the Monument Mall Event Saturday, April 21st led by WNCC.
Psychology Department
Keep Your Kids Learning This Summer
As I thought about writing this month’s article my first thought was about the beautiful spring day we are having and what that might mean for our kids. So, with summer coming, how do we keep (or get) kids engaged in learning in the spring and summer? The answer can be many things but it is often important to change the type or location of learning. Learning can be fun and can take many forms as I learned when I googled “How to keep kids learning in the summer.” I was surprised by the number of sites that had interesting and fun looking ways to accomplish just that. In fact there is a “www.summerlearning.org. And, there is a Summer Learning Day (July 12, 2018)!
So, here’s a few of the many sites that I came across:
Keep Kids Learning-National Summer Learning Association
www.summerlearning.org/keep-kids-learning
13 Sneaky Ways to Keep Your Kids Learning This Summer
www.parents.com/kids...13 sneaky-ways-to-keep-your-kids-learning-this-summer
How to Keep Kids Learning All Summer (Without Going Crazy)
https://wellnessmama.com>Motherhood
How to Keep Kids Learning During Summer Break – Care.com
www.care.com/c/stories/.../how-to-keep-kids-learning-during-summer-break/
Keep your kids learning and make some great memories!
The Psych. Services Team
Alternative Education
VALTS will celebrate graduation on May 16th. Potentially 11 students will be receiving their diplomas. 6 students will be graduating from Scottsbluff, 3 from Gering, and Mitchell and Morrill each have one graduate. A total of 625 students have graduated from VALTS since 1998.
During 4th quarter students have been reading the novel Touching Spirit Bear in Language Arts. Mrs. Reason’s math class has been studying geometry. In Social Science, students have been investigating both sides of the the death penalty. Ms. Juarez and her science classes have been working to complete the guitar project. Logoz, Corey Batt from WNCC and the local business in the community have been very supportive of this project.
Migrant Education Program
We are still in need of bus drivers for summer school June 25 - July 27 if anyone with a bus license is interested.
We are busy finalizing summer instruction plans! Migrant summer programs confirmed include: Gering District Summer School & Migrant Ed collaboration - Migrant students to receive transportation to the district program, and receive breakfast, and lunch Scottsbluff District Summer School & Migrant Ed collaboration - bi-national teacher to teach at Roosevelt Elementary June 11-21 ESU 13 Migrant Dream School June 25 - July 27 - ESU 13 & Harms Center - to serve migrant students in grades K-8 from Bridgeport, Bayard, Minatare, Scottsbluff, Gering, Mitchell and Morrill Gordon-Rushville Migrant Dream School - details to be finalized soon Cozad Migrant Dream School - July 16 - August 3 Migrant Ed / VALTS collaboration - Personal Finance Class for high school credit - June 4-29, details being finalized UNL Big Red Summer Academic Camp scholarships for migrant students Leaders in Training Camp scholarships for migrant students
Bayard Migrant Summer School - May 21 - June 11 to serve migrant students K-6 from Bridgeport and Bayard