The Channel

The Creative Services staff greatly appreciates the partnership that we have had with our local school partners and staff members over the years to provide printing services. In that spirit, we wanted to let you know about some slight changes going forward.

For those customers who have used our “Digital Storefront” ordering system, it will be discontinued at the close of the day on April 14 and orders will need to be submitted using a simple form found on the Creative Services section of the website. Additionally, the cfprintshop@aea267.k12.ia.us and clprintshop@aea267.k12.ia.us addresses will also be discontinued for receiving orders. Van mail and walk-in orders will still be happily accepted (although we love it when you use the new order form when possible!). This change will help us get to your orders more quickly and streamline work and billing for our staff.

Here are a few tips to make your experience with the new order form a success:

• Before you sit down to place an order using the form, please have all the information in front of you regarding how you would like the order completed including paper color, quantity, finishing details (like stapling, hole punch, etc.)
• If you have an attachment that goes with your order, please note that you will receive an email (after you submit your order) that provides you with a link to upload your attachment. Don’t be alarmed if this takes a minute or two.

Thank you for your business! If you have questions, please direct them to Dave Johnson or Beth Strike.

Ultimately our mission at AEA 267 is to support educators, parents, and the communities we serve as we work together toward one ultimate goal–to improve student learning. As we think about this mission, we want our staff members to work as efficiently and productively as possible and we feel that Gmail and Google Calendar provide opportunities for our staff that they may have not had before.  Therefore, the agency has decided to move forward and begin implementing these tools with all staff yet this spring.  This decision is aligned with all the other Area Education Agencies (AEAs) in the state of Iowa and a majority of the schools we serve.

In order to support staff, AEA 267’s transition team has identified early adopters.  These early adopters will be working with the tech integrationist  team to support the transition. These individuals were moved over on April 10th while all other users will transition to the new system on May 15th.

Communication will be key during this transition, including opportunities for staff to ask questions before the move and access an FAQ page. We will communicate when this process begins and when it is complete, you will also be informed of any implications you may encounter during this transition.  In addition, we will provide multiple opportunities to learn the new system through face to face, virtual, and online tutorials given by our experienced instructional technologists.  A number of those opportunities have already been scheduled and you can take advantage of as many of these opportunities as you would like! Check out the offerings!  Keep an eye out for additional information about this move in the coming weeks.

Our goal is to ensure a smooth transition, and provide the necessary support so that any issues or bugs are worked through by the end of the year.  This will enable us to return from summer ready to focus our time, attention, and energy on providing excellent services to our students, teachers, and families.

As announced in the December Intersections, all media materials will be housed in the AEA 267 Marshalltown office next year. What follows are some specifics of the transition this summer:

• The Clear Lake and Cedar Falls media materials will be moved during the summer to our Marshalltown office. All our lending libraries will be closed June 15-July 31 to accommodate the moves
• Please return all items checked out from the lending library by June 9, 2017 so that the materials can be included in the move. If you absolutely need items over the summer, please contact the AEA lending library so that we can record the summer check-out.
• There will be van delivery this summer between offices once a week.
• You will be able to order materials via the online catalog for the 2017-18 school year beginning July 31.

What follows are some specifics of the transition during the school year:

• The vans will run between the Clear Lake, Cedar Falls and Marshalltown offices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the school year.
• If you order materials from the lending library, a central location to pick up your materials in the Clear Lake, Cedar Falls and Marshalltown offices will be established.
• Districts should notice little difference-each district will continue to receive once a week van delivery, although the delivery day may be different next year

Thank you in advance for your patience in the fall as we get everything up and running. If you have any questions about ordering or materials please call 800-735-1539 and ask for the media department. reservations@aea267.k12.ia.us

General questions may be directed to Jerry Schnabel at: 319-268-7638 (jschnabel@aea267.k12.ia.us) or Cheryl Carruthers at: 641-844-2499, ccaruthers@aea267.k12.ia.us

(L to R) Sam Miller, David Barajas, Tammy Barajas, and Karl Kurt at the 2017 AEA Boards Conference.

David Barajas, CEO of the Marshalltown Regional Partnership, has been named a Friend of the AEA by Iowa’s Area Education Agencies. Barajas received the award during a presentation at the AEA Boards of Directors’ Conference on March 30 in Johnston. This is the first year for the awards and it is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate outstanding individuals for their contributions to education and the AEA system.

The Friend of the AEA acknowledges contributions by policymakers, citizens, board members, school district partners, businesses, and organizations who have been great partners and demonstrate strong support for furthering the mission of Iowa’s AEAs.   

Barajas was nominated by Debra Holsapple of Marshalltown High School who stated that: “As a business leader in the community, David is always looking to support the students and members of Marshalltown Community Schools. Barajas has been instrumental in bringing Project Lead the Way Biomedical and Engineering programs to a reality at Marshalltown High School.  Barajas has also been involved in raising funds to complete renovation projects at the school.”

“It is our pleasure to select David Barajas as a Friend of the AEA,” said Sam Miller, AEA 267 Chief Administrator. “ He has been a great supporter of the Marshalltown Community School District, and actively participates in the work of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies.”

The Iowa Legislature established Iowa’s Area Education Agencies in 1974 to be an effective, efficient and economical means of identifying and serving children from birth to age 21 who require special education services. This decision was a result of the federal law mandating a free, appropriate, public education for children with disabilities. Since that time, Iowa’s nine AEAs continue to provide services to every public school district and accredited, nonpublic school in Iowa. While Special Education comprise about 80 percent of the services offered, the mission of Iowa’s AEAs it to improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children.

Please plan to attend one or more of the upcoming retirement open houses honoring AEA 267’s 2017 retirees. The celebrations will be held on Tuesday, May 16 in the Cedar Falls Conference Center; Wednesday, May 17 in the Clear Lake Office; and Thursday, May 18 in the Marshalltown Office from 3:30-5 p.m. at all locations.

These celebrations present a wonderful opportunity to congratulate our honorees and recognize them for their dedication and years of service. Those being honored this year include:

Cedar Falls

• Judy Bodecker, Educational Assistant at River Hills School
• Ronald Danielson, Educational Assistant at Woodhaven Youth Shelter
• Donita Dust, Speech Language Pathologist
• Janice Dykstra, Consultant
• Mary Hanneman, Special Education Consultant
• Kim King, School Psychologist
• Sandy Lichty, Sp Ed Consultant
• Chris Merkel, School Social Worker
• Cindy Millett, Early Childhood Special Educator
• Connie Olsson, Educational Assistant at River Hills School
• Brenda Reiher, Detention Center Teacher, N IA Juv Detention Center
• Dennis Sinclair, Area Director of Special Education
• Vicki Uhlenhopp, Special Education Nurse-Instruction, River Hills

Clear Lake

• Shirley Crippin, Speech Language Pathologist
• Dennis Molln, School Social Worker
• Mary Moritz, Itinerant Teacher of Vision Impaired
• Barb Oelberg, Print Technician
• Nancy Prins, Speech Language Pathologist
• Jill Schager, School Social Worker

Marshalltown

• Donita Anders, Early Childhood Educator
• Carol Bottom, School Psychologist
• Jane Boyle, Service Area Secretary
• Stan Ernster, Speech Language Pathologist
• Linda Langland, School Social Worker
• Mark Proescholdt, Van Driver
• Carol Sandholm, Special Education Consultant

Open enrollment for annual benefits has been set for May 1-17. All benefits-eligible employees must complete this process even if you are declining insurance, resigning or retiring. The deadline is May 17.

If you are considering retirement at the end of the 2016-17 year, please let the Human Resources office know as soon as possible. This will help to ensure that plans can be made for future staffing and also to celebrate your years of service with the agency.

Please contact Shirley Horak for more information.

Looking for clipart or photos to add to your presentation?  Worried what copyright allows for usage?  iClipArt is the answer for you.  iClipArt is a purchased online database with over eight million images.  You can choose anything from clipart, photos, web clipart, sounds, animations and videos. Learn how Laura Rinnels from our Clear Lake office uses it to enhance her work.  Need to know the agency username or password? Contact Media Services for all the information you will need to get started.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met Monday, April 10, 2017 in the Cedar Falls Conference Center. The board packet is available online and the minutes will be published online after approval at the next month’s board meeting.

Sam Miller, AEA 267 Chief Administrator

As an organization, we’ve made a lot of change this year. Choosing a new name, purchasing a new facility, selecting the next Executive Director of Special Education, implementing a regional administrator model, making shifts in personnel to better align with district priorities…as a system, we’ve tackled a lot.

The research on change tells us that, if not managed well, too much change at once can lead to a decrease in organizational efficiency. Put simply, people within the organization become distracted by a “what’s going to happen next” preoccupation rather than being attentive to their role in helping the organization succeed and continually innovate. The leader’s role is to stay out front, keep reiterating the vision, and embrace opportunities to listen to the concerns and expressions of anxiety that others may be feeling. This can be exceptionally challenging in an organization as complex and geographically spread out as ours–but it can still be done.

As we move through the coming months, I want to express again to you that I am interested in your feedback and it is often used to refine and improve decision making. As an example, we’ve used staff feedback around meetings to make improvements to our Regional and Discipline meetings for 2017-2018.

Call, email, stop by (if your travels bring you to Cedar Falls) or set up an appointment to visit. My role is to make clearer the rationale for the decisions that we are making and listen to how they impact you in your role within the agency. I welcome those conversations, and always appreciate the opportunity to discuss the rationale and factors that guided our decision.  I think these honest conversations help all of us to stay on the same page.

Later this spring, I plan to organize a series of meetings at each of our three offices to talk further about our vision, priorities, and how the changes we have made  will positively impact the student, schools, and families we serve.  These meetings will present another opportunity for you to learn more and ask questions that you may have.  

While change can be challenging, it’s an outgrowth of an organization that is dedicated to continuous improvement and in tune with the needs of those it serves. As the author John C. Maxwell points out, “Change is inevitable…growth is optional.” Let’s be an organization that continues to grow and thrive.