The Channel

While the online searchable schools directory (including labels) is current and accessible, the hard copy of the Ed Directory is still being finalized. The directory begins printing September 13 and will be distributed to staff members in the weeks following. Questions? Contact Jan Alger, Secretary to Administration/Communication. The AEA Contact Manager system will be current with updated educator and staff contact information by the end of the month.

Are you lugging around a briefcase or purse that is straining your body? Cindy Campbell, Discipline Facilitator of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, offers two great resources—one on briefcase and another on carry purse—from the American Occupational Therapy Association to consider as you start the school year.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met September 1, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center in Cedar Falls for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a review from Dr. Sara McInerny and Linda Martin of the Equity Workshop held at AEA 267 on April 23, 2010. Nearly 30 school districts attended the conference, which was designed around the expressed needs of the schools.
• Motioned to hire Danielle Clark, Teacher of Multi Disab/SCI (Janesville Jr/Sr High); Whitney DeVilbiss, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 6); Kathy Kline, Teacher of Multi Disabilities/SCI (SE Elementary, Waverly); Travis Schlenger, School Psychologist (Sector 1); Susan Jarnigan, School Psychologist (Sector 1); Rochelle Triggs, School Psychologist (Sector 1).
• Appointed board members as a delegate and an alternate to the IASB Delegate Assembly.
• Accepted the Excellence in Education Enrichment Grant from the R.J. McElroy Trust for $30,870. The agency serves as the fiscal agent for the grant and funds are disseminated directly to local schools for school improvement efforts.
• Conducted a public hearing regarding Acceptable Use Policy 101.4 and approved it with no changes for 2010-2011.
• Approved the renewal of Partner Contract with Exceptional Persons for provision of Early ACCESS services.
• Approved both the Orientation and Mobility Services Agreement and the Itinerant Teacher Services Agreement with Statewide System for Vision Services (SSVS).
• Approved the contract with the Iowa Juvenile Home for psychologist services.
• Heard the second reading of Board Policy #603.6 Capital Assets and approved the proposed policy change.

Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

Chief Administrator Roark Horn has been on the job since July 1. He has prepared a special video message for staff!

Many of you are aware that the Waterloo Community School District approved a district dress code policy.  The policy sets forth very specific rules about the type of clothing that is acceptable for both students and staff. Approximately 75 agency employees are assigned to the Waterloo Community School District and many other staff members will work periodically in Waterloo CSD buildings as the district’s needs require. While not mandatory, our staff will also be expected to adhere to the district’s new standards for dress in keeping with our desire to be collaborative partners with the districts we serve and do what we can to be part of the team. Most likely the dress code represents little, if any, departure in practice of dress for AEA 267 staff members as dressing professionally has always been a hallmark of our staff. If you are interested in looking at the specifics of the Waterloo CSD dress code, please refer to the district’s website.

http://www.waterloo.k12.ia.us/

Ordering food for courses, meetings and workshops just got easier! A “point person” has been established in each of the three main conference facilities (Cedar Falls, Clear Lake and Marshalltown) to handle all orders for meals and break food. This change will result in more efficient use of agency resources and better adherence to newly established guidelines regarding what the agency will provide for meals and snacks. A form for ordering food and contact information is now available on both our public and staff websites at: http://www.aea267.k12.ia.us/pd/index.php?page=food_order_forms

Last spring, the agency provided employees with a new tool that allows them to selectively target local school district staff members when sending email. By October 1, a wide variety of choices for targeting AEA 267 staff with email will also be available. This will greatly enhance communication internally!

Here’s an example: You are a member of the agency literacy team and you want to send out an email message and flyer to the following groups of local school district staff members—high school principals, secondary language arts/English teachers, journalism teachers and speech teachers in every district served by the agency. Because you want to ensure that other agency staff members who need to know about the offering do, you include AEA 267 team representatives and speech and language staff in your mailing as well. Just like that, you have ensured that the key audiences for your information were targeted.

Need more information?  Visit the staff website (username: aeastaff/password: aea267ia) at http://www.aea267.k12.ia.us/staff/index.php?page=contactmanager

Would your group like a demonstration of AEA Contact Manager? Contact Beth Strike, Communication Specialist or Deb Culp, Administrative Assistant/IT.

Congratulations to Lynne Campbell, AEA 267 Consultant for Science, who participated in the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program 20th Anniversary Summit (E20) earlier this summer in Washington, D.C. The summit brought the wisdom of practice from over 170 Einstein fellows from around the nation.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met July 7, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a program review of the Iowa Core Curriculum from AEA staff including an update from the past year and a glimpse of future plans.
• Motioned to hire Courtney Draude, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 3); Jessa Patterson, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 4); Amber Hanson, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 4); Lesa Rieken, Teacher of Early Childhood Special Education (Aplington Elementary); Regina Barth-Wroten, Teacher of Early Childhood (Castle Hill); Patricia Anderson, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 5); Bruce Bailey, Teacher of Multi Disab/Res (Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School); Jamie Van Erem, Physical Therapist (Sector 7); Ashley Caslavka, Teacher of Multi Disab/Res (Reinbeck Elementary); Carol Bryne, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 1); Ryan Dougan, Teacher of Multi-Disab/Res (Sumner-Fredericksburg High School); Jill Steele, Occupational Therapist (Cedar Falls); Andrea Haaland, Teacher of Multi-Disab/SCI (Tripoli Elementary); Stephanie DuRocher, School Psychologist (Sector 9); Heather Foster, Teacher of Multi Disab/Res (Clarksville Jr & Sr High); Debra Sand, Teacher of Multi-Disab/Special Class with Integration (West Cedar Elementary, Waverly).
• Heard a second reading of Board Policies #402.2 and #101.6.
• Heard a first reading of Board Policy #603.6 Inventory regarding the agency’s intangible assets of $200,000 or more.
• Approved the 2010-2011 Fiscal Agreement with Cedar Valley Promise.
• Approved IASB membership for 2010-2011.
• Approved the amended contract with Iowa Department of Human Services for services provided at the Iowa State Training School, Eldora.
• Approved the classroom lease agreement with Lutheran Services for Bremwood classrooms.
• Approved the 2010-2011 transportation contract with EPI and Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments.
• Approved the 2010-2011 classroom rental contract with Central Christian Church/Small World.
• Approved the lease agreement with South Tama CSD for office space.
• Approved the AEA 267 Reorganization Plan update.
• Determined legislative priorities for 2011.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met August 11, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the AEA 267 Clear Lake Office for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Took a tour of the remodeled Clear Lake Office.
• Accepted with regret the resignations of Vickey Basgall, School Social Worker (Sector 1) and Sarah Ries, Speech-Language Pathologist (Marshalltown), both effective as soon as a suitable replacement is found.
• Motioned to hire Jennifer Feldpausch, Teacher of Early Childhood Special Education (Gladbrook-Reinbeck); Charlotte Haselhuhn, School Psyhologist (Sector 3; Heather Monat, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sectors 9 & 8); Julie Gowans, Special Education Consultant (Sector 9); Katie Lyons, Teacher of Early Childhood Special Education (LaPorte City Elem.); Erin McElligatt, School Psychologist (Sector 8); Sara Speth, Teacher of Multi Disabilities/SCI (Dysart Elem.); Katie Stevenson, Teacher of Early Childhood Special Education (Castle Hill); and Keely Thorn, Teacher of Hearing Impaired  (Denver Elementary).
• Tabled a second reading of Board policy #603.6 Inventory in lieu of a first reading of a new policy on Capital Assets.
• Reviewed the current mileage reimbursement rate and motioned to keep the current mileage rate of $.37 per mile.
• Approved Physical Therapy Contract.
• Approved 2010-2011 agreements with Four Oaks Partners. Approved contracts with North Iowa Community Action
• Approved classroom lease agreement with Lutheran Services for Bremwood classrooms.
• Approved potential membership of a new AEA 267 Advisory Group as required by recent legislation.
• Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.

What is RSS?

RSS most commonly refers to Really Simple Syndication.  It is a format for delivering regularly changing or updated web content from sites of your choosing. (RSS in Plain English is a video that provides a clear and simple explanation of RSS for those that want further explanation: http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english)

How to Read an RSS Feed

You will need an RSS feed reader or aggregator to grab, or subscribe, to an RSS feed.  There are multiple RSS readers available. In fact, most web browsers now have RSS readers built in to them.

Firefox PC (referred to as Live Bookmarks) http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/23351/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=1547

Firefox Mac (referred to as Live Bookmarks)  http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/81185/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2330

Internet Explorer 7 http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/26537/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=1637

Internet Explorer 8 http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/79061/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2284

Safari http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/79704/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=2306

Google Reader – www.google.com/reader.  Google Reader is one of the more popular RSS readers.  The following link is a Getting Started Guide for Google Reader: http://www.google.com/support/reader/bin/answer.py?answer=113517

Questions? Contact Deb Versteeg, AEA 267 Digital Teaching and Learning Coordinator.

During the week of July 26, the Personnel Office will be sending out information to all certified staff on Educator Quality (EQ) Professional Development (PD) and Iowa Core Curriculum (ICC) Professional Development for 2010-11.  This PD is in addition to your regular contract days/salary and is paid for from these funds.  Since some of the courses start in August, we wanted to get the information out as soon as possible.  This information is being sent to your home address.

As you are keenly aware, my last day with AEA 267 is quickly approaching. Please consider this to be my sincere goodbye to each and every one of you.

As I retire, I do so with a mix of feelings; happy about the new phase of life that I will be entering and sad that I will be leaving so many wonderful friends and colleagues. The previous 15 years with the Area Education Agency system have been some of the most rewarding of my career. To have served as the chief administrator of an organization and system so driven to excellence has been an incredible experience.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors has secured two outstanding individuals to lead the agency beginning July 1. Roark Horn is highly respected around the state both for his leadership expertise as well as his approachability and respectful nature. Dr. Anne Sullivan will bring a wealth of experience as well as an energy well suited for the complexity of our agency. Both will hit the ground running on July 1. I encourage you to make them feel welcome and support them as they both lead you and learn from you.

1967--the year Dean received his BA degree in Math Education from the University of Northern Iowa (you gotta love the socks!)

Thank you so much for making my time at AEA 267 such a positive experience. I will remember you all with fondness.

2010--AEA 267 retirement open house with former board members and current AEA 267 board member, Darrel Lind.

David Giese, Director District 8

David Giese, a retired educator living in Marshalltown, has been elected to the Director District 8 position on the AEA 267 board of directors. Giese will represent the districts of BCLUW, Eldora-New Providence, Grundy Center, Marshalltown and West Marshall. His term will expire in 2011. Giese was sworn in during the June 2 board meeting. Welcome, David!

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met June 2, 2010 at 4 p.m. at the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Welcomed newly elected board member, David Giese, who was administered the Oath of Office by Board Secretary Kerri Wilson.
• Accepted with regret the retirement of Paula Goetz, Special Education Principal (Devonshire School) effective August 1, 2010; Gayle Anderson, Special Education Consultant (Hampton) effective June 30, 2010; and Tom Adams, School Social Worker (Lenihan); effective December 31, 2010.
• Accepted with regret the resignations of Rebecca Eness, Speech-Language Pathologist (Clear Lake); Dennis Ford, School Psychologist (Castle Hill); Heidi Podhajsky, Speech-Language Pathologist (Reinbeck Elem); Kathy Kline, Teacher of Multi Disabilities-Resources (Sumner/Fredericksburg High School); Michelle Unwin, Teacher of Multi Disabilities-Special Class w/Integration (LaPorte City Elem.); Cynthia Lang, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Devonshire); Jeanne Sexe, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Devonshire); Dan Hummel, Teacher of  Behavioral Disorders (Devonshire); Susan Goodsell, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Devonshire); Jamie Hickman, Teacher of Physical Education (Devonshire); and Jeanna Cripe, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders all effective end of the 2009-10 school year.
• Recalled the following staff to employment: Randy Etscheidt, Teacher of Physical Education (River Hills); Timothy Malven, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Bremwood); Sarah Rottinghaus, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Castle Hill); Jack Smith, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Castle Hill); Katheryn Stainbrook, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Castle Hill); Penny Sturges, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (Four Oaks, Gerard); William Aguiar, Teacher of Behavioral Disorders (TBD).
• Heard the first reading of revised board policy #402.2: Health Insurance for former employees.
• Heard the first reading of new board policy #101.6 Advisory Committees.
• Renewed agreement with Iowa Falls CSD for Sector Office lease.
• Held a strategy session for collective bargaining.
• Ratified collective bargaining contracts for 2010-2011 with AEA 267 Education Association and CWA.
• Held an exempt session to discuss non-union staff and administrative salaries for 2010-2011.

See related Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier article.