Category: Uncategorized

Chief Administrator Sam Miller, along with agency executive directors, visited each of our three offices in October and provided updates on a variety of topics including budget, health insurance, and important initiatives such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). A recorded version is available for those who were not able to attend in person or via Zoom.

Central Rivers AEA has committed to serving our communities during the holiday season and again this year those in the Cedar Falls office have the opportunity to support the Boys and Girls Club of the Cedar Valley.  The annual “Fun with Frosty” event will take place on Wednesday, December 12 from 4:30-6:30 at the Boys and Girls Club located at 515 Lime Street, Waterloo.

Volunteers are needed to help serve dinner and run the various games and activities for the kids. If you would like to have some fun while helping make the holidays a little brighter for others, please sign-up on this Google document by Monday, November 26.

Please change your voicemail greeting and set an away message to your email during the holiday breaks so that callers and/or emailers will know when they can expect to hear from you.

Voicemail example:

“Hello, this is (your name). Our office will be closed beginning Monday, December 24 and will reopen on Wednesday, January 2. Please leave your name, telephone number and a detailed message and I will call when I return. Thank you!”

Email example:

“Thank you for your email. I will be out of the office beginning Monday, December 24 through Tuesday, January 1 and will respond to your email upon my return. Thank you and have a wonderful holiday!”

If you need assistance with either task, please visit with your supervisor or administrator.

What is copyright?  Copyright is a form of legal protection automatically provided to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works.  Copyright protections arise automatically the moment an original work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. It does not need to be registered, published, or have a copyright notice on it.  Works found on the Internet should be assumed to be protected by copyright law, even if it is not stated on the site.

Central Rivers does have a Copyright Policy that is board approved that can be found online.  All of our school districts will have a similar document in their board policies.

In your work with schools, you probably confront questions about how to share legitimately with your school staff and students, the many articles, videos, music, images and other intellectual property created by others. Sorting out what you can or can’t do is often confusing. Lack of clear-cut answers may translate into delays, doubts, fear of liability, and decisions to err on the side of caution and non-use. But frequently your use of materials may already be permissible or rights to use may have already been licensed by Central Rivers AEA or reserved under law.  

Central Rivers AEA Media Services shares a brochure called Copyright Brief Notes for Students and Staff to help guide both you and the districts you serve. This brochure gives information about Fair Use and also lists specific use information about the digital resources offered via Iowa AEA Online, a suite of resources available to all students and staff. The Technology Integration section on our website also hosts a page listing important information about digital citizenship which includes copyright information.

If you have any questions about use of copyrighted materials in your work, please contact Cheryl Roberson or Cari Teske.

Just a friendly reminder that calculating mileage remains the same as in previous years. As you might recall, a committee comprised of staff and administration developed a proposal last spring to address concerns with our current mileage policy. While the proposal had merit in addressing some of the issues, continued conversations led to a decision to discontinue plans for implementation. Thus, the current mileage policy has remained in effect with no change.

One of the new features of MackinVIA makes the creation of individual accounts or backpacks even easier using Google accounts. Most of our school districts, including Central Rivers AEA, use a Google domain for our e-mail and productivity tools. Media Services is working with our school districts to encourage the creation of backpacks for students and staff to increase the instructional power of the MackinVIA resource. So, since we are encouraging our schools to use the Google integration feature to create backpacks, Media Services decided to create backpacks for all of Central Rivers AEA staff using the new Google integration!

All staff now have an individual account created within the MackinVIA eBook portal. To access your account, you go to MackinVIA.com, enter Central Rivers AEA Staff VIA, Cedar Falls, IA (the location will pop up after typing in a few characters) in the top box labeled “site” and the screen will prompt you to login with your AEA Google login.  Having a backpack within MackinVIA will allow you to use the underlining, highlighting and note-taking features within the eBooks and also will allow for downloading to your Google Drive, making assignments within Google Classroom and downloading eBooks for reading/listening offline on any device you might use.

All of the schools that you support have access to MackinVIA, so please consider using these eBook resources in your work with students and LEA staff. MackinVIA contains a wealth of resources for teaching and learning! Please contact Cheryl Roberson or Cari Teske if you have any questions about using MackinVIA in your work with students and teachers.

As many of you know, I spend a fair amount of time traveling around our service area meeting with those in our local school districts that are the recipients of your service. On a near daily basis, I’m meeting with superintendents, principals and teachers who share with me the challenges they are facing and how Central Rivers AEA staff members play a role in overcoming those challenges. To say that there is appreciation in the field for what you do is, honestly, a gross understatement. Put simply, you are doing an amazing job and I thank you! I have never been more proud of our agency and the important work we are doing in schools.

Later this month, I’ll be circulating around to our three main offices (along with some of our executive leadership) to provide updates on a variety of topics including budget, health insurance, and important initiatives such as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). I hope you’ll be able to make time in your schedule to join us for the conversation and share your views on what’s happening in the field. We have a Zoom option available for those that are not able to attend in person. Please consider these meetings both an opportunity to hear updates and also a time to share your success stories, concerns, frustrations, or ideas for improvements in our agency. We are here to listen and collaborate.

Cedar Falls: October 22 from 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/603133042

Marshalltown: Tuesday, October 23 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/649401473

Clear Lake Office: Monday, October 29 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/589933852

See you soon!