Monday, June 24, 2013

Check Out the Redesigned Statewide AEA Website

Iowa’s statewide AEA system is pleased to announce the launch of its redesigned website at www.iowaaea.org

The redesign includes enhancements that provide improved navigation, better organization of content and use current web technologies. Enhancements to the website include:

• Clean, fresh look with easy-to-navigate layout 
• Streamlined services and resources 
• New features including “Map this” for AEA locations 
• Quick links for social media 
• Search capability 

Take a look around and send any feedback to the Communications Department at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Mom of Twin Boys Thanks AEA for Making a Difference in Her Children’s Lives

Keri Steele (Regional Director/JO) received the following letter from a parent, thanking Heartland AEA and specifically Carol Peterson (Early Childhood Special Education Consultant/AD) for the difference she has made in her sons’ lives. We are sharing the letter in The Connection since HeartBeat is on summer break. 

Good afternoon, Ms. Steele! 

I received your contact information from our AEA consultant, Carol Peterson. I had requested your information from Carol because my fiancĂ© and I both feel that Carol deserves great praise for being an amazing consultant, and we wanted to share our positive experience with you. 

I had initiated AEA’s services for my twin boys, Jayden and Jaysen, because we noticed they needed extra attention before they were to start Pre-school in August. Carol came to our home in Earlham to evaluate the boys, and was soon coming once a week to work individually with each of them. 

Each time Carol came to our home to work with our boys, she provided my fiancĂ© and I with great tips, resources, and strategies to help our children along the way. Everything that Carol showed us was easy to understand and easy to incorporate in to our routine. Many of the things she showed us as well have made our boys excited to learn, and they were soon improving each week with Carol’s guidance and help. 

Throughout this entire time working with and getting to know Carol, it has been an experience we will never forget and we are eternally grateful for. My boys would not have progressed or gotten to where they are today if it were not for Carol and all of her help and patience. Carol is such a friendly woman who made the boys feel as if they were her own. It is clear she takes her job seriously and does her best for the children she is working with. 

AEA is such a great organization and we cannot thank you all, and Carol, enough for the difference you have made in our lives and our children’s lives. I am looking forward to their first day of school in August, and to see how they progress with their specialized education plans that Carol finalized for them. I am more confident than ever that they will be successful in the years to come. 

Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for making a difference in not only our lives, but every other families’ lives that AEA helps. 

Take care, 
Stephanie A. Holtane

Carroll CSD’s Email Addresses Have Changed

Carroll CSD’s email addresses have changed. The addresses are firstinitiallastname@carrolltigers.org.