The Channel

Dr. Monte Selby
August 14th Keynote Speaker

The August 14 all-staff meeting is quickly approaching and represents a great opportunity for us to learn, connect, and explore our new facility in Cedar Falls. Click here to see the schedule for the day as well as details for the afternoon team meeting. As in past years, we ask that you please carpool with other employees to defray mileage expense and help to ease parking concerns. If you are in the Clear Lake or Marshalltown Office, carpooling arrangements are being organized by either Chad Pinkston (Marshalltown) or Dr. Carol Sensor (Clear Lake). Please reach out to one of these individuals to sign-up for ride sharing if you have not already received information.

We are excited to be bringing back last year’s planned main speaker, Monte Selby. If you remember, a plane issue kept Monte from presenting last year. We were fortunate to have a back-up plan last year and more fortunate that Monte was available this year!

Dress for the day is casual. Flips flops, shorts, polos, etc. are all fair game! If you would like, bring a pair of walking shoes to enjoy the trail outside our new Cedar Falls office. We hope you will look forward to learning, great food, team building, and door prizes. It’s going to be a great day!

On July 5, many of the year-round Cedar Falls-based staff began moving into our new digs at 1521 Technology Place. While the majority of staff are settling in, the print room will not be completed and ready until closer to August 1. In addition, professional learning classes and workshops are still being held at our former location at 3712 Cedar Heights Drive until August 14.

In addition, renovation work in the Marshalltown office as well as the installation of new furniture and other touch ups in the Clear Lake office are nearing completion.

Here are a few photos from this summer’s work! A huge thank you to everyone involved.

Expense reimbursements must be submitted and approved before July 10th to be eligible for payment. Requests for June mileage may be submitted for reimbursement after the last day worked in June.

The wait is nearly over. In just a few short weeks, we will officially become Central Rivers AEA! While the branding committee has been working behind the scenes for several months to get ready for the transition, you can help by doing your part after June 19. Please take the following steps:

Change your voicemail greeting.
Whether you are off contract for the summer or not, please ensure that your voice mail has a standard greeting that incorporates our new name.

Example of standard greeting:

Hello, this is Sam Miller, Chief Administrator of Central Rivers AEA. I am away from my office or on the phone right now but your call is very important to me. Please leave your name and number and the best time to reach you and I will return your call within 24 hours. If you would like immediate assistance, please contact my assistant, Lori Thomas, at extension 8201. Thanks and have a great day!

Example of greeting for vacation/extended absence:

Hello, this is Sam Miller, Chief Administrator of Central Rivers AEA. I am away from my office until (date) but your call is very important to me. Please leave your name and number and the best time to reach you and I will return your call when I return. If you would like immediate assistance, please contact my assistant, Lori Thomas, at extension 8201. Thanks and have a great day!

Update your email signature.          

On June 19, your email address will automatically change to centralriversaea.org. (We will keep your old email address active for a period of time to ensure that your email forwards to you.) You will need to update your email signature to reflect this change so that it looks like this:

Sam Miller, Chief Administrator
Central Rivers AEA
Street Address (the office where you receive your van mail)
City, State & Zip (the office where you receive your van mail)
Phone number where you can be reached on a daily basis
Insert our new Central Rivers AEA logo. (Logo with Instructions)

Update your social media accounts.     

Although your social media accounts should be personalized to you and not official agency accounts, you might mention where you work in your profile. Please remember to update that information to Central Rivers AEA.

On June 19, we will launch a brand new website. Watch this short video to learn what’s changed and where to find things!

A huge variety of items, sizes, colors, and options await you in the new Central Rivers AEA logo apparel e-store. Order anytime! Free shipping to Clear Lake, Cedar Falls or Marshalltown Offices.

Here are the basic instructions on how to place an order:

• The first time you place an order, you will need to Create A New Account for the Webstore.
• When setting up your password, it must be a total of 8 characters and 2 of 3 of alphanumeric and special characters (ex: !@#) Make note of your Username/Password for future shopping.
• Fill out everything in red.
• Add items to the cart, by choosing a size (please refer to the sizing information under the color swatches to make sure you are ordering the correct size), color and quantity.
• Once you are done shopping, click on Checkout.
• On the next screen in the shipping box, you have two options for delivery. You can have your order delivered to one of our three offices (Cedar Falls, Clear Lake or Marshalltown), free of charge. You will need to pick up your order at that location. For this option, click the drop-down box and choose the location as well as enter your first and last name in the appropriate boxes. The second option is to have the order delivered to your home address by UPS. There will be a charge for this that will be calculated during the checkout process. For this option click the New Address tab and fill out the required information.
• You then need to fill out the Billing box.
• Lastly, carefully review your Order Summary to make sure everything is accurate including size, color, logo color choice)
• Once everything is filled in and reviewed, click Submit Order. Your order will then deliver in approximately two to three weeks.
  

Logo colors description:

• The All Black logo will be a black/silver logo on the left chest
• The All White logo will be a white/silver logo on the left chest
• The Full-Color logo will be the logo in full color on the left chest
• The Tone on Tone logo will be the logo in a thread color that is a shade lighter or darker than the shirt color itself on the left chest.

Questions? Contact Beth Strike, Director of Creative Services at 319-273-8222. We’ll have samples at the August 14 all-staff meeting.

Mark your calendars! Our first all-staff meeting as Central Rivers Area Education Agency will be held on August 14 at our new headquarters at 1521 Technology Parkway in Cedar Falls! We will start the day with social time and registration from 8:30-9 a.m. and are planning a fun day complete with recognitions, inspiration and “edutainment” by Monte Selby. Plan to end the day by 3:30 pm or before depending on the work group.

Summer hours will begin on June 12 and run through August 11. Official office hours will be 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. during that period.

If you are going off contract for the summer, please ensure that your voicemail greeting and “out of office” email message indicate who is handling inquiries in your absence along with when you plan to return. (See related story.)

Due to the late retirement of Edie Penno, Jody Albertson has been selected to lead Region 4 as a full-time Regional Administrator. Congratulations to Jody and best wishes to Edie!

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs) are pleased to announce that for the 2017-18 school year, students and educators will continue to have access to many of the same digital resources they have come to depend on as high-quality, reliable instructional resources. In addition, two new resources will be available for upper elementary and middle school students.

Statewide resources continuing in the next school year:

• AEA Digital Library
• BookFLIX
• Britannica School
• CultureGrams
• Gale Resources
• iClipArt for Schools
• Learn360
• SIRS Issues Researcher
• Soundzabound
• TeachingBooks.net
• Teen Health & Wellness
• TrueFLIX
  

New resources coming for upper elementary and middle school students:

• FreedomFLIX
• ScienceFLIX

Two resources will be discontinued at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year:

• Atomic Learning
• AP Images

For more information or assistance with AEA Digital Resources, Cheryl Carruthers.

Selection Process Note: The statewide selection committee and RFP review process included AEA library professionals, Iowa Department of Education consultants, AEA content experts and teachers. Final selections were made after surveying teachers and students for their patterns of usage and preferences, examining past years of database usage and receiving and reviewing proposals from more than 30 vendors.