Our Mission
To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.
Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success
The Agency is looking forward to another year of employee engagement through staff presentations at our All-Staff Meeting!
Save Sept. 27, 2019, on your calendar for a “most of the day” meeting that will again feature an afternoon of presentations from YOU! This year, we’ve decided to take a little different approach. Our call for presenters this year will allow you and your colleagues the option of choosing to present an afternoon session or a morning informational table or both!
- Morning informational tables: New this year, if departments or workgroups would like to showcase their work via a table display, that option will be available from 7:30 to 9 a.m. before the meeting begins.
- Afternoon presentations: 20 minutes in length and can be presented in any format you prefer. Topics can be personal or professional, and some themes to think about are wellness and personal empowerment.
How to Submit a Proposal
If you or a team of your co-workers are interested in having a table or doing a presentation, complete this presentation proposal by June 15, 2019. After all proposals have been submitted, you will be notified if your presentation or table display has been accepted.
When planning your presentation, think about whether it reflects, educates, touches on or celebrates areas that we’ve emphasized as an organization, such as:
- Core Values: Caring - Proactive - Collaborative
- Mission: To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.
- Goals: Increase learning growth, Decrease gaps in achievement, Increase annual graduation rates, Increase post-secondary gateways
- Wellness: Heartland AEA’s Five Elements of Wellness: Career, Community, Financial, Social, Physical
Topics can be almost anything that is inspiring within our work throughout the Agency as well as personal topics that don’t fall too far outside the wellness/volunteering categories.
This approach to learning during our All-Staff meeting gives us a unique opportunity to feel the pulse of the Agency in just a few hours, to celebrate together, learn together and get re-connected. These presentations showcase your expertise, your passion and your innovation. So, don’t be shy—show your work! Submit your presentation application by June 15, 2019!
If you have any questions, contact the Communications Department.
Education stakeholders are encouraged to take a survey about how Iowa is meeting the needs of students with dyslexia.
The Iowa Department of Education is teaming up with the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital to distribute the survey on behalf of the Iowa Dyslexia Task Force. The task force was established by the Iowa General Assembly in 2018.
The survey’s intended audience includes parents of children with reading difficulties, public school administrators, educators and paraprofessionals; area education agency professionals; and higher education teacher training faculty.
The survey is completely anonymous and voluntary, although participation is strongly encouraged so that the task force can have a comprehensive collection of information about dyslexia response in Iowa. The survey closes on May 31.
Survey results will be detailed in a report to the Governor and General Assembly in November. This report will be available to the public.
As we begin to wind down the school year, we want to remind you of the requirements that must be met to complete this year’s Wellness Program. You have until May 31, 2019, to complete all the requirements AND submit them on the Wellmark Wellness website.
To complete the 2018-19 Wellness Program, you need to complete:
*All Baseline Items
- Annual physical exam
- Health assessment (completed online in your Wellness Center)
- Dental screening (exam with your dentist)
- Survey about Heartland AEA benefits (accessible here and in link provided in your Wellness Center)
- WebMD assessment (complete the memory assessment in your Wellness Center)
- Biometric screening (either through a Hy-Vee dietician or annual exam)
*2018-19 Working on Your Well-Being
Preventive (Complete 3 Activities)
- Hearing exam
- Eye exam
- Flu shot
-
Self-exam
- Ergonomic challenge
-
Wellness Preventative assessment
- Current age and gender-specific exams
Community/Social/Emotional (Complete 3 Activities)
- Attend Lunch & Learn on (Face-to-face/Zoom)
-
Nutritional/Weight loss programs, e.g.: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig
- Take Charge of Stress
- Create a goal on the WebMD Online Healthy Coach
- Donate blood
- EAP Podcast or Article on Stress Management
Financial (Complete 3 Activities)
- Take Financial Control of your Health Benefits Scavenger Hunt
- Attend financial Lunch & learn
- Take Financial Assessment
- Donate to local school
- EAP Podcast or Article on Financial Wellness
- Take Financial Course
Physical (Complete 3 Activities)
- Achieve 12,000 steps per day for a week
- Participate in an organized walk/run/bike event
- Perform exercises for healthy knee/hip/joint/back/shoulders once a day for a week
- Read EAP article on fitness or nutrition
- Attend a nutritional Lunch & Learn (Face-to-face/Zoom/recorded)
- Participate in a Fitness Program
Career (Complete 3 Activities)
- Recognize another staff member in the HeartBeat
-
EAP Podcast: Choose a Featured Audio of Your Choice
- Volunteer 4 hours on behalf of Heartland AEA
- Read Staff Playbook
- Read a book
- Attend a nutritional Lunch & Learn (Face-to-face/Zoom/recorded)
-
Take a personality profile to know yourself better
Challenges (Complete 3 Challenges)
- The Invitational: 9/19/2018 – 10-23/2018
- Gratitude Attitude: 11/15/2018 – 12/12/2018
- Rethink Your Drink: 12/31/2018 – 1/27/2019
- Mission My Community: 2/13/2019 – 3/12/2019
- Hit Your Stride: 4/1/2019 – 5/13/2019
- Money Makeover: Choose your date! Start any time between 10/1/2018 – 4/30/2019
Reminder
- New staff hired in 2018-19 will earn a Fitbit (optional) and $150 cash for completing the entire Wellness Program.
- Staff hired prior to 2018-19 will receive $250 cash for completing the entire Wellness Program.
Coming in 2019-20…
The Agency will have a new wellness vendor, Interactive Health, which will feature a new portal and new programming. (Please note that Wellmark will continue to be our health insurance provider.) Stay tuned for more details! And we’ll once again kick off the new wellness year at the All-Staff Meeting!
2019-20 work calendars have been added to the Employee Dashboard for all staff who need to complete a work calendar. The link to this function is found in the Calendar Online Forms folder on the Leave Online tab. You may need to log out and log back in to your Dashboard before you start the calendar process.
The calendar presented will be the default calendar based on your individual pay assignment. This will look very similar to the Online Calendar View function. However, functionality is built into the interface to allow the personalization of the calendar to reflect your schedule. This is done by simply clicking on the day in question.
Each time a day is clicked, it will change to one of the following:
- Blue X – represents a non-working day
- Green / – represents a half working day
- White Space – represents a full working day
- A yellow H represents unpaid holidays and a yellow H followed by an asterisk (*) represents paid holidays. Sundays and holidays cannot be changed.
- At the top of the screen, two numbers will be presented.
- The number on the left is the number of working days based on the days selected as such—in other words, the total of the white spaces (full days) and green slashes (half days).
- The second number is the number of days expected to work based on the pay assignment. These two numbers must match when the calendar is submitted.
- When the calendar is submitted, it will be routed to your current supervisor just as a leave request would be. And, just as with a leave request, the supervisor will review and can approve or reject the calendar. Applicable emails are sent to you and your need-to-know person as well. A help doc named “Calendar Online Entry Documentation” is available on the Help tab. This document describes in detail all the functions of the interface.
- If you are transferring regions, please work with your new supervisor to fill out your calendar. It will still go to your current supervisor for approval but check with your new supervisor on specific days.
- Once approved, your 2019-20 calendar can be viewed by you, your supervisor and your need-to-know person.
- Also, all subsequent changes to the 2019-20 calendar must be submitted via the Calendar Exchange Online request system after July 1, 2019.
- The working days calendars are due before you leave for the summer or June 7, 2019, whichever comes first.
If you have any questions, contact Whitney Anderson, Human Resources Generalist, at ext. 14432.
Iowa’s AEAs are pleased to continue providing consistency with their preschool programs for the 2019-20 school year for districts and community partners in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) for 4-year-old children. Iowa’s AEAs will continue to cover the full cost ($3 per child) to access the online data system and iPad app for preschool programs that are currently using or are interested in starting to use the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (myIGDIs) for literacy screening for preschool learners during the 2019-20 school year.
Read full article…
On July 28-29, 2019, The Center is hosting an annual convening where educators will have the opportunity to visit the Waukee Innovation and Learning Center to learn about mastery learning, deeper learning, authentic assessment and anytime/anywhere learning.
The featured speaker at Learners at the Center: Are We Future-Ready? will be Anthony Kim, who will speak about transforming education to increase community collaboration and increasing learner agency while moving beyond brick-and-mortar schools. This event is open to any PK-20 (teacher prep and admin prep) learner/educator/leader looking for ways to create learner-centered environments.
Registering: Registration
Presenting: If AEA consultants are interested in presenting at the Summer Convening, talk with the administrator for your work team or your regional director.
Call for Proposals
Instructions and tips to make this process easier. The deadline for submission is May 17.
The agenda for the May 14, 2019, Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting is available.
We are pleased to share the dates for 2019-20 Agency Directed Learning. Please make sure to review the instructions on the first page of the document, as groupings and assignments are a little different this year. The dates document is also linked on the Agency Directed Learning site as well.
2019-20 Agency Directed Learning Dates
If you have any questions, contact your supervising Director or Martha Condon, Director of Professional Learning.
As a mentor, you share your time, welcome new staff and support new staff by building their capacity as they join our Heartland AEA team. Mentoring is a personally and professionally fulfilling experience that also helps our agency retain great employees. Note that this program is for mentors and mentees who are Certified Union staff members.
- Mentors of first-year staff provide 20 hours of one-on-one coaching and support for their mentee, are provided with mentorship training and in return will receive a $1,300 (gross) payment and the personal satisfaction of knowing that they’ve made a difference in the career of the mentee.
- Mentors of second-year staff provide 15 hours of one-on-one coaching and support for their mentee, are provided with mentorship training and in return will receive a $1,000 (gross) payment and the personal satisfaction of knowing that they’ve made a difference in the career of the mentee.
It’s easy to sign up! Complete the online Mentor Application by May 17, 2019. If you are a mentor this year and are interested in mentoring again, you do need to complete this form to be considered as a mentor again in 2019-20. After receiving applications, more information will be provided to mentors in the near future for next year’s mentoring and induction program.
If you have any questions, contact Martha Condon, Director of Professional Learning.
