Our Mission
To provide services and leadership, in partnership with families, schools and communities, that improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth.

Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success

All-Staff Meeting Follow-Up

Thanks to everyone for the great turnout for last Friday’s All-Staff Meeting at Adventureland! While the weather could have been better, we were pleased to see the Palace Theater full of Heartland AEA staff strutting their purple and green! 

Congratulations to all staff members celebrating milestone work anniversaries. We are better for having you here!  

I don’t know about you, but I appreciated the chance to hear from Denison consultant, Bob Lewis, about the progress we are making in creating a high performance culture along with his suggestions for improvement. I encourage you to connect with the existing planning councils to help us continue this important work. We are fortunate to have the opportunity every day to impact lives and build futures. Let’s continue to make this a great year! 

Paula Vincent 
Chief Administrator  

• APC PowerPoint 
• Denison Culture Survey PowerPoint 
• Denison Culture Survey Infographic 
• Systems Blueprint 
• Agency Infographic – This was given out as a laptop cling to all staff in attendance. If you were not at the meeting to receive a cling, let the Communications Dept. know so we can send one to you. 
• Celebration Slideshow 
• Impacting Lives, Building Futures Video 
• Photos 
• APC Ice Bucket Challenge Video – The Behavior Capacity Building team challenged APC members to complete the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge at the All-Staff Meeting. As you can see, they didn’t back down from the challenge!

Wellness Update: Financial Wellness Workshop to be Held Again on Oct. 22

Did you know that 80% of workers polled nationally indicate they want their employer to provide financial wellness education? Consider where we are as a society today: 
• 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck – Wall Street Journal 
• 30% of Americans have outstanding loans on their 401(k)s – Business Record 
• #1 cause of stress is money problems and money fights – multiple studies 

Because money can be such a stress factor in the lives of people, Heartland AEA Wellness is excited to announce that we again will be offering a Financial Wellness Lunch & Learn this fall called “Budgeting and Planning for Emergencies.” 

This session was previously offered last summer, and due to demand, will be back on Oct. 22 from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Johnston REC. 

Whether you are looking to pick-up a few nuggets of information or you need a financial overhaul, this 90- minute workshop will teach you all of the basics of how to handle your money well. 

If you are interested in attending, register before Oct. 17 using the link below. All are welcome, but registration is required because space is limited to the first 50 participants who sign up. If you’re unable to register, it is because the registration is full. http://heartlandaea2.eventzilla.net 

If you have any questions, contact Tony Chiaramonte, Human Resources Manager, at tchiaramonte@heartalandaea.org or ext. 14534.

New Walking Workstation to Rotate Between Agency Offices

The Agency’s new walking workstation is now available in the Johnston Regional Education Center. It is set up across the hall from the sound booth. It is available on a first come/first serve basis for now, and we ask that you please use it at a reasonable pace, so as not to disturb others in your work area. We also ask that you please use it for a reasonable length of time so others may enjoy it as well. In the coming months, it will be moved around to different offices, stopping for a month or two at each office. This story from NBC News highlights why it’s so important for people with office jobs to do a lot less sitting! If you have any questions, contact Tony Chiaramonte, Human Resources Manager, at tchiaramonte@heartalandaea.org or ext. 14534.

Fitness Center Discounts Available Through Wellmark’s Blue 365

The Healthways Fitness your Way program available through Blue 365 is waiving their enrollment fee through Oct. 3, 2014. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Blue 365, it is a program available to all Wellmark members that provides discounts to wellness-related products and services. The Healthways Fitness your Way program offers access to a network of fitness centers across the county and works similar to a PPO network. For $25/month, a Wellmark member can get access to participating fitness centers. To look up participating fitness centers in your area, simply register at www.blue365deals.com/WellmarkBCBS and put in your zip code to pull up a list. Other discounts are listed in this Blue 365 flyer.

Registration Now Open for Teacher Quality Courses and Study Groups

The list of courses and study groups with registration information is now available. The deadline to register for Teacher Quality courses and study groups is Oct. 3. Most courses and study groups will be held November through June. A few offerings will start in October. Last year eligible staff members were paid $500 to participate in a course or study group. The amount for 2014-15 will be determined when registration closes on Oct. 3. Participants register by going to the Agency’s professional development catalog. A frequently asked questions document has also been created. 

There are two types of offerings: courses and study groups. The dates for the courses are listed, but as we did last year, you will register for the study group and study group participants will form their own groups. If a staff member wants to participate in a study group and can’t find colleagues to join the group, then Sue Schirmer will assign a study group. 

If you have any questions, contact Sue Schirmer, Professional Learning & Leadership Consultant, (sschirmer@heartlandaea.org), Wendy Robinson, Director of Instructional Services, (wrobinson@heartlandaea.org) or Kristi Upah, Regional Director (kupah@heartlandaea.org). Your supervisor or job-alike facilitator can answer general questions about the process. If you have any questions about your TQ payment, contact Kevin Fangman, Executive Director of District Services, at kfangman@heartlandaea.org.

Questions & Answers From August Regional Meetings and Educational Systems/IEP Trainings

A question and answer document was created to answer questions that were collected during the August Regional Meetings and Educational Systems/IEP trainings from this fall. Please use this document to review the commonly asked questions. If you have any further questions, contact your regional director.

Updated Information on Literacy Internal Capacity Building Strand

Early childhood and school age participants for the Internal Capacity Building Literacy Strand will not have sessions on Sept. 24, 25, 26 and 30. You will have Internal Literacy Strand meetings in Nov., Feb. and April. If you have any questions, contact Wendy Robinson, Director of Instructional Services, at wrobinson@heartlandaea.org or ext. 12307.

New Teacher Leadership & Compensation System Virtual Community Created

Iowa’s AEAs and the Iowa Department of Education announce the opening of a new virtual community to support the Teacher Leadership and Compensation system. The purpose of this site is to bring teacher leaders and administrators across the state together to access resources and learning opportunities and to collaborate as we strengthen teacher and administrator leadership. 

This community is an Agora site developed by AEA PD Online. To participate in the community click here. Community Resources include: 

• Self-Assessments – Teachers and administrators will be able to complete surveys, which will help identify areas of need in relation to the Learning Supports Framework. 
• On-Demand Learning – Community participants will find learning opportunities that address the seven focus areas of teacher leadership. The searchable database includes articles, learning modules, websites, videos and more. 
• Community Forums – Participates will have different forum spaces in which to participate, each with a different overall focus. Join in on the discussion, or just choose to follow the conversation. 
• Events – This is a statewide calendar of learning opportunities for teacher leaders and administrators to support the seven focus areas. Participants can search the calendar and find professional development opportunities to address identified areas of growth for teachers and administrators. 

All resources on the site can also be explored by each focus area: Adult Learning, Collaborative Culture, Communication, Content Pedagogy & Assessment, Systems Thinking, Data and Organizational Leadership. 

Resources and learning opportunities will continue to be added to the TLC On-line Community. The Event Calendar is currently the most developed section. Events will be added as they become available. The other areas are at the beginning stages of development, but will soon be a robust source of resources. If you choose to enroll in the community, you will be able to sign up for notifications as well as to participate in community activities. 

If you have questions about the Agora site, contact Lora Rasey at lora.rasey@iowa.gov or 515.281.6719.