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.
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.
Last week the Communications Department sent out the fourth and final issue of the Educator Connection newsletter for the 2018-19 school year. The Educator Connection is intended to keep educators in the Heartland AEA service area better connected to our agency and to the many programs and services we offer to educators, students and families. The newsletter is emailed to educators and automatically archived on our agency website. Anyone can also subscribe to the newsletter via the webpage. May 2019 Educator Connection
Summer’s Almost Here! Watch for a Heartland AEA Van at Your District Admin Building Twice a Week
Ordering Printing, Lamination & Graphic Design from Heartland AEA is Easy This Summer
Educators Who Support EL Students: Gather Your Team and Head to Our Kids Summer Institute
Say Bienvenido, chào mừng and أهلا بك to Your Students with Our Posters and Bookmarks
Read Aloud Questions for Your Students? Using These Questions from Heartland AEA - Yes!
Mark Your Calendars for June 17 -- We’re Giving Away Books!
Your 3rd-5th Grade Researchers Are Going to Love This New Digital Resource: PebbleGo Next
Myron Dueck Presents: Standards-based Learning, Grading and Reporting-Implementation Considerations
Visited the New Iowa's AEAs Professional Learning Registration System Yet? Here's How!
Ready for Something New in Tech Integration? Join Us at the Heart of Innovation Summer Summit
Human Resources has received various questions asking for clarification around the one-hour agency holiday leave that is been offered to employees prior to official agency holidays. As a reminder:
This hour of agency-provided leave applies to employees who are at work at the end of their scheduled workday prior to a holiday.
This leave does not apply to staff who have taken other forms of leave for the full day or at the end of their scheduled workday (sick leave, vacation, OPL, etc.) that day.
We recognize the hour of holiday leave does not apply to all staff all the time, but we hope it is recognized as a goodwill gesture for those who have not used other forms of available leave. If you have any further questions, contact Tony Chiaramonte, Director of Human Resources, at ext. 14534.
The recording of the April Lunch and Learn: Know Your Numbers with Hy-Vee Dietician Ashley Danielson is ready for viewing. Links to recipes referenced in the session:
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)
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!
In response to Iowa’s new requirement that school districts provide at least one hour of annual training on suicide prevention, intervention and postvention, the Iowa AEA Directors of Special Education and AEA Learning Online have developed training that meets the state’s requirements. Information about AEA Learning Online’s Postvention Training and a link to additional training options are also noted below. AEA Learning Online Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention Training The AEA Learning Online Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention Training was developed by an Iowa AEA Suicide Prevention work group to support school districts in meeting the suicide prevention and postvention required training. This training is provided at no cost to districts. Training Objectives
Increase awareness of the problem of youth suicide
Know the suicide warning signs and risk and protective factors
Understand the role of a “Gatekeeper”
Locate school and/or community resources for at-risk students and their families
Understand the role of postvention
Know school district suicide prevention and postvention policy and/or contact person
School staff may use their AEA Login to access the training. Individuals may register in the AEA Learning Online system if they do not have an existing account. AEA Learning Online Postvention-only Training The AEA Learning Online Postvention Training module was developed to support school districts in meeting the suicide postvention training content requirement. This is a postvention-only training module that is intended to be used with other training opportunities that do not include postvention, such as Kognito or Lifeguard training. Including this postvention-only module with such training opportunities would help ensure a district meets Iowa’s full suicide prevention and postvention training requirements. The online postvention training is offered at no cost to Iowa school districts and AEA staff.
Additional Training Options This is an overview of additional training options that provide the required suicide prevention and postvention content.
Registration for Teacher Quality (TQ) courses and study groups will begin Aug. 16 and end Sept. 13, 2019. TQ courses and study groups are offered as an additional opportunity for professional learning for Heartland AEA Certified staff. TQ courses meet for 15 hours off contract time, and participants are eligible for a stipend upon completion of the course. All Certified staff members are eligible to register for these opportunities. Staff members who registered for the DMPS Summit on School Climate and Culture for TQ won’t be eligible to participate in another TQ opportunity for pay unless they are teaching a class. In addition to study groups developed by Job Alike Groups, staff will be able to develop their own study group proposals. Study groups must have at least four participants, and one participant must agree to be the study group facilitator. The content must align with Heartland AEA’s four goals and/or support a specific job-alike function. Study group proposals created by groups of staff members can be turned in Aug. 16-Sept. 13, 2019. The Professional Development Office will work with interested participants in writing their study group proposal and support them in entering the proposal in the AEA Professional Learning Registration System. Study groups can begin on Oct. 1. if books arrive on time. Those who complete a TQ course or study group and meet eligibility requirements will be provided a stipend. The amount of the stipend is established after registration closes, as the stipend is determined by the number of participants. For reference, during the 2018-19 school year, eligible participants received $700 for completing a course/study group, and facilitators received a $750 stipend for facilitating a course/study group. This stipend can fluctuate from year to year. TQ Timeline for 2019-20
Determine TQ proposals: Study Groups for Summer 2019: Submitted June 14 (Rare)
TQ Classes and JAF Study Groups for 2019-20: Due June 30, 2019
TQ registration open: Aug. 16-Sept. 13, 2019
TQ proposals for staff-generated study groups due: Sept. 13, 2019
TQ courses and study groups held: Oct. 1, 2019-June 30, 2020
If you have any questions, contact Kevin Fangman, Chief Academic Officer.
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.
Google has rolled out a new Write Now, Send Later feature within Gmail. You can now schedule your emails in Gmail to be sent at a later date and time. Just write your email as you normally would, then schedule it to be sent at a more appropriate date or time. How It Works When drafting an original email or reply in Gmail, you’ll now see an arrow next to the “Send” button.
Clicking this arrow now gives you the “Schedule send” option.
After clicking “Schedule send,” you can pick the specific date and time you’d like the message to be delivered.
There is also now a “Scheduled” folder in Gmail. Scheduled messages will appear in the “Scheduled” folder while queued to be sent. If you have any questions regarding this feature, contact Tim Weets or Marquis Jones in the Internal Technology Department.
