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

New Guide Aims to Help You Communicate About Heartland AEA

Have you ever had questions about the Agency’s logo and color scheme? About what templates are available in Google? About how to submit a project to Creative Services? Or that the Agency even has a Creative Services Department? The answers to your questions are now just a page away in the new “Your Guide to Communicating About Heartland AEA.” 

The Agency’s Communications and Creative Services Departments have collaborated to produce this guide that will make communicating for and about the Agency just a little bit easier. Sections of the guide cover information such as: 

• Proper Use of the Agency’s Name, Logo and Colors 
• Preferred Agency Fonts 
• Agency Social Media 
• Document, Form and Slide Templates 
• How to Engage Creative Services in Projects 
• Proper Use of Names of Agency Locations 
• How to Order Agency Identification & Promotional Items 
• How to Promote Agency Services 
• Proper Use of Photos and Images 
• Agency Email Signature 

If you have any questions, reach out to the Communications Department.

Reminder: Have You Learned What ALICE Stands for Yet?

As Heartland AEA continues to make improvements in our agency’s safety and security, all staff are required to complete the online ALICE training once each school year. By the end of the 2021-22 school year (June 30, 2022), all Heartland AEA staff members should take the hour-long online training to become familiar with the ALICE program and the techniques it teaches in response to an armed intruder event. 

ALICE stands for: 

• Alert: Get the word out! “Armed Intruder in building” instead of “Code Red,” or “Bring the purple folder to the office.” Use clear, concise language to convey the type and location of the event. 
• Lockdown: Good starting point. We will continue to lockdown in secure areas. Inform: Communication keeps the intruder off balance and allows for good decision-making. 
• Counter: Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control. 
• Evacuate: Reduce the number of potential targets for the intruder and reduce the chances of victims resulting from friendly fire when help arrives. 

In short, using the ALICE method will give you more tools to use in the event of an armed intruder/active shooter. We want to provide you with the knowledge that if faced with a life or death situation there are methods that can be applied to enhance your chance of survival. 

 

 

 

Again, you are expected to complete the ALICE online training by the end of June 2022. 

The training has been assigned to all Heartland AEA employees in the AEA Learning Online Learning System. 

Access the Training

Visit the AEA Learning Online training site. Enter the email and password used for your AEA Login and click log in. 

Assistance 

If you need assistance accessing the site, contact Dawn Peitzman, Professional Learning Assistant
. If you have any questions about the training or the ALICE program in general, contact Dustin Gean, Operations Manager, Emergency Response & Safety Team Lead and Certified ALICE Trainer.

Reminder: Daycare, Preschool or After School Expenses? You Need to Enroll in the Dependent Care FSA by Nov. 30!

Online enrollment for 2022 Dependent Care FSAs will be open to eligible employees from Monday, Nov. 1 through Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, at 4 p.m. 

Full-time employees and Certified Union employees working a 96-day contract are eligible to participate. Eligible part-time CU employees with a 96-day contract must contact Juliette Houseman to enroll via paper.

 
 

Dependent Care Flex is a pre-tax benefit account used to pay for eligible dependent care services, such as preschool, summer day camp, before or after school programs and child or adult daycare that you incur in order to allow you (and your spouse, if married) to work. If married, both spouses must be working to claim dependent care expenses. 

A dependent is defined as: 

• A dependent of the employee who is under 13 years of age 
• A dependent or spouse who is physically or mentally disabled 

The maximum amount your family may flex per calendar year is $5,000 ($208.33 per pay period). 
All dependent care expenses for the 2022 plan year must be incurred between January 2022 through Dec. 31, 2022, and must be submitted to BRI for reimbursement by March 1, 2023. 

To Enroll 

• Log in to Employee Online. 
• For more detailed instructions and screenshots to guide you through Enrollment, view How to Enroll in Dependent Care. 


• NOTE: IF YOU ENTER AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN “0” IN EMPLOYEE COST PER PERIOD, THEN THAT AMOUNT WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM YOUR PAYCHECK PER PAY PERIOD. 

 



If you have any questions, contact Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist.

We Don't Want You to Leave, But If You Let Us Know, You Could Get an Incentive

Last year, Heartland AEA filled 60+ vacancies in all employee groups. It has been to the Agency’s advantage to enter the recruitment cycle as early as possible. 




 

For 2021-22, the Heartland AEA Board of Directors has approved an Early Notification Incentive for staff who notify Heartland AEA of their intent to resign or retire after the fulfillment of their current contract or employment term (for Classified staff) by Dec. 10, 2021. Details are listed below.



 

Early Notification Incentive Process & Requirements 

• This year all staff, including Certified, Classified and Management staff, may take advantage of the early notification incentive. 
• Certified Union and Management staff who do not plan to return to Heartland AEA for the 2022-23 school year must submit early notification letters of resignation that are effective at the end of the 2021-22 work year. 
• Certified Union and Management staff must fulfill their contractual obligations to be eligible. 
• Classified staff must serve the full number of days as identified in their employment notifications or through June 30, 2022, if no days are specified, in order to be eligible. All early notification letters must be received in the Human Resources Department by 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2021. 
• Heartland AEA’s Board of Directors acts on early notification letters no later than its regular meeting on Dec. 14, 2021. 
 

Early Notification Incentive 

A $1,500 early notification incentive will be paid on June 30, 2022, to employees fulfilling these requirements. 

If you have any questions about the early notification incentive, contact Nia Chiaramonte, Director of Human Resources.

Reminder: Holiday Streakers Registration is Open! Sign Up for Exercise and Giving!

Registration is officially open for the 9th year of Holiday Streaking! The Holiday Streakers Board (including Eric Weichers, School Psychologist/JO) is hoping to build on the 750+ participants and over $28,000 donated to last year's recipient families. With over $98,000 total donated over the last five years, you can be a part of breaking the $100K threshold this year! 

Streaking is easy (and not quite as risque as it sounds!): Run/Walk 1 mile or complete 15 minutes of intentional exercise of your choice each day from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. Not only will you be creating healthy habits to end 2021 right, but you will also roll right into 2022 knowing you did something good for yourself and others. 

Holiday Streakers is again supporting some incredible families during the holidays; our recipients will be revealed the week of Nov. 15-19.

 Join us in providing them with much-needed financial, emotional and spiritual support! For just $30 (less than $1 a day!), you get a t-shirt with this year's Gingerbread theme, as well as access to Streaker Central, our online community and recording platform. 

But thanks again to COVID's effects on the mail system, you will need to register by Nov. 12 to get your shirt by Thanksgiving. All registrants will receive a shirt, but if you want to start your Streak with shirt in hand, register now! 

Check out the Holiday Streakers website for additional details or go straight to Streaker Central to register. Remember, Holiday Streakers was the original: they were virtual well before it became so trendy! Whether you are an original Streaker or just stripping down to give it a try, join Streaker Nation by registering today! 

Remember: Holiday Streakers will be reimbursable under the Wellness Program for up to $20 and would be a GREAT donation/exercise opportunity that can be done through social distancing during our continued pandemic times!

Will You Consider Joining a Listening Circle to Talk About Achieving a Functional Work-Life Balance?

Registration for the next round of Listening Circles has been a little bleak. Will you consider signing up for a session? 

Our Heartland AEA SEBMH group has designed and scheduled another round of Listening Circles. In this round, we will revisit our topic from Round 2 and consider how to create and maintain a functional work-life balance. We will be drawing upon the ideas in this article from Edutopia. We encourage you to read the article prior to participating; however, it is not required. 

As a reminder, the goal of Listening Circles is to create a brave space for staff to be heard, free of judgment, and with no fear of consequences for speaking their truth. It is believed that this practice will be helpful for building and maintaining a healthy community in which ALL staff feels connected and respected. 

How to Participate 

Listening Circles have been scheduled at various times throughout the day to accommodate as many schedules as possible. Registration for each circle will be capped at eight participants to allow for meaningful sharing from all participants. If you are interested in participating as a group, feel free to have your group members sign up for the same time or contact your SEBMH regional lead to see about setting up a separate time for your group to engage in a circle. Listening Circles with fewer than 3 participants will be canceled and those participants will be encouraged to register for another circle time. Registration for all sections will be open soon! 

Sessions 

Nov. 9 (T) 9:30-11:00 a.m. -- Stacey Warren & Aimee Schuppe 

Nov. 9 (T) 12:30-2:00 p.m. -- Rebecca Carver & Lauren Vanderhorst 

Nov. 10 (W) 12:00-1:30 p.m. -- Brianna Sayre Geiser & Andrea Matheson 

Nov. 11 (Th) 1:00-2:30 p.m. -- Jean Boger & Rebecca Carver 

Registration 

Course #: 190735 HL - Heartland AEA Listening Circles

This Week’s Mission Monday: Have a Conversation with a Co-worker About a Favorite Book, Show, Movie or Podcast

Mission Monday is the creation of Mark Johnson and Sam Stecher. As teachers, coaches and leaders, they desired a way to consistently create connections and a sense of community in their school buildings. 

Heartland AEA and our Development Team for Safe, Supportive, Welcoming Environments want to bring this idea to our settings. Use the “Mission Accomplished” form to indicate when you have accomplished a mission, and you’ll be put in a monthly drawing for cool prizes! 

Mission for Week of Nov. 1: Have a Conversation with a Co-worker About a Favorite Book, Show, Movie or Podcast

Mission Accomplished Form

Have You Updated Your Computer’s Operating System and Antivirus Yet? If Not, It's Time!

Please remember to upgrade your computer's operating system to macOS Big Sur by Nov. 12, 2021. 

For anyone who hasn't already done the upgrade, please use the instructions below. There is a slight change in step 9 that you need to pay special attention to. If you have any questions or concerns, contact Mike Permann (515) 473-6705 in the Internal Technology Department. 

NOTE: If you don’t have your Time Machine drive with you, DO NOT attempt to do the upgrade until you have access to it. 

Details

You need to perform a Time Machine backup and restart your computer before starting the upgrade. It’s very important that you restart your computer prior to attempting the upgrade as it may not run properly if you don’t. We will be using the Self Service application to deploy macOS Big Sur to your computers. The process has been customized and looks slightly different than what you would experience if installed from the Mac App Store. There are 3 basic phases to the process. 

• Download Phase - download the installer using Self Service. (20 minutes to 180+ minutes - depends on the speed of your connection - e.g.10 Mbps internet takes about 180 minutes to download) 
• Preparation Phase - preparing your computer for macOS Big Sur. (1 to 5 minutes - depends on the age of your computer) 
• Installation Phase - installing macOS Big Sur. (20 to 40 minutes - depends on the age of your computer) 

The amount of time the entire process takes depends on the speed of your connection and the age of your computer. For example, if a new computer is being upgraded and the needed “Install macOS Big Sur” installer is already located in your Applications folder, the process could take as little as 20 minutes. While updating an older computer from your internet at home could take more than 2 hours. No matter where you attempt the upgrade from, you must connect your power adapter to your computer if you have a laptop before starting the process. Don't use your computer for anything else during this process. Don't interrupt or force power off your computer during the process as unexpected things can occur. You need to perform a Time Machine backup and restart your computer before starting the upgrade. Do NOT perform the upgrade without a current Time Machine backup. 

Please watch the short (4 minutes 5 seconds) video of the upgrade process before attempting the upgrade. Portions of the video have been edited to shorten the overall length of the video. 

Basic Instructions 

1. Open the Self Service application located on your dock or in the Applications folder. 
2. The macOS Big Sur upgrade can be found under the OS Categories section on the left side of the Self Service window. 
3. Click the Upgrade button and read the short description. Click the Upgrade button to begin the process. Download Phase - (If the current macOS Big Sur installer is already on your computer this part will be skipped) 
4. Wait patiently for the download to complete. 

Preparation Phase 

5. Wait patiently while the preparation phase completes. The computer will restart once the preparation has been completed and the installation phase will begin. If the computer is at the preparation phase for more than 5 minutes, something is wrong. Press the Command and Q keys on the keyboard to abort the upgrade. Then Quit Self Service and restart your computer and return to step 1. If the process fails again, contact the IT Department for assistance. 

Installation Phase 

6. The installation process shows an estimate of the amount of time remaining. The computer will restart at least one time during the upgrade process. If needed, firmware upgrades may be automatically installed on your computer forcing additional restarts. 

7. After the Installation Phase completes, log into your computer and choose About this Mac from the Apple menu to verify macOS Big Sur was installed. 

8. In Self Service, click the Update button on the Update Casper Inventory task located under the Utilities category to update your computer's inventory with Casper. 

9. Quit Self Service then open it back up so the program refreshes. Click on the Utilities category and click the Install button on the Symantec Endpoint Protection Install Big Sur policy to install the new version. If you see some dialogue boxes appear saying “System Extension Blocked”, just ignore those messages. Once the installation completes, you will be presented with a dialogue box telling you the software was installed and your computer will restart. Click the OK button to proceed with the restart. Be sure to click the OK button and NOT the Restart button. 

10. After the computer restarts and you log back into your computer, go to the Symantec Endpoint Protection menu item located at the top of your screen on the menu bar and choose Open Symantec Endpoint Protection. It can take a couple minutes before that icon appears. Verify that it says “You are protected” then Quit Symantec Endpoint Protection. That completes the upgrade to macOS 11 (Big Sur) and Symantec Endpoint Protection installation. 

If anything unexpected happens during installation or you receive any sort of error message, please record the error message completely, or take a photo of the message and contact Mike Permann for assistance. When you've completed updating the OS, you should check Self Service for any application-specific updates that need to be installed. If there are, you should install them for best compatibility with macOS Big Sur. 

A notification will appear shortly after the upgrade to macOS Big Sur is completed. You can click that for information on what’s new. Or you can click here to see some more information about macOS Big Sur.