WEA Website:

http://wyoea.org/

NEA Website:  http://www.nea.org

Wyoming Education Portal:

http://www.k12.wy.us

Wyoming Legislature:

http://legisweb.state.wy.us/

Inside this issue:

• Let WEA Be Your Professional Development Provider This Summer
• Only 2 Days Left! Nominate a Teacher Today
• UW to Change Principal Endorsement Program—Info Meetings Scheduled
• Summer Professional Development Opportunities in Laramie

• After-School Program Guide Online
• Don’t Let Time Run Out!  Apply Now for an NEA Foundation Grant
• What Are Your Professional Development Needs? The APA Wants to Know
• Win Technology for Your School
• Free Teacher Recruitment Tool Available Online

Let WEA Be Your Professional Development Provider This Summer

The Wyoming Education Association is proud to announce 2 professional development opportunities available to you in beautiful Jackson Hole this June:

·        June 11-13—“Climb: Reaching New Heights for Association Excellence”—Emerging Leaders Training.  Register online at http://www.wyoea.org/deleteable/emergingleadersform06.htm.  

·        June 13-16—“Building Foundations for Great Public Schools”—Summer Institute.  Build foundations for Great Public Schools through impacting public policy, forging powerful leaders, and constructing solid local membership.  Learn about local capacity-building, professional issues, and moving people to action.  Online registration available at:  http://www.wyoea.org/summer%20institute%2006/registrationform.htm

UW or PTSB credit is available.  For more information on either training, contact your UniServ Director today!

Only 2 Days Left!  Nominate a Teacher Today

For the past two years, the U.S. Department of Education has been honored to present the American Stars of Teaching program. You are invited to submit a teacher's name for this recognition.  They are looking for teachers who are:

• improving student achievement, 
• using innovative strategies in the classroom, and 
• making a difference in the lives of their students.

All nominations must be submitted by Sat., April 15th.  It’s easy—just fill out the form at http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/index.html.  One teacher will be recognized from each state.  Teachers from all grade levels and disciplines are eligible.  Anyone, including school officials, community leaders, parents, legislators and students, can nominate an exemplary teacher who they believe has the qualities to be an American Star of Teaching.

UW to Change Principal Endorsement Program—Info Meetings Scheduled

The department of educational leadership at UW is pleased to announce some program changes beginning fall 2006.  The two programs which lead to principal endorsement—the masters and the endorsement—are being combined to have 4 common courses.  The 4 core courses will be delivered from 2 different points in Wyoming—Casper and Wind River area.

Two informational meetings are planned during the month of April:

Ø      Thurs., April 20, 4:00 p.m., Casper, at the Outreach School building, 951 N. Poplar

Ø      Wed., April 26, 4:00 p.m., Ethete, at the Wyoming Indian School District Middle School, 535 Ethete Rd.

Educators interested in either the full masters in educational leadership or the principal endorsement program are invited to attend. Superintendents and principals are asked to encourage aspiring school leaders to attend. If you can't attend one of the meetings, but are interested, please call the educational leadership office at 307-766-5649 to get information.

Summer Professional Development Opportunities in Laramie

Ü    Geography:   “Two Views of Wyoming”—June 26-30, 2006

Co-sponsored by the National Geographic Society and the UW Planetary and Space Center, this workshop will examine satellite imagery and then go into the field to observe what it links like on the ground.  Following the Wyoming standards for science, math, and social science, will demonstrate ways to incorporate satellite imagery into the classroom.  The 5-day workshop will be housed in Laramie with field trips to select sites demonstrating satellite imagery of the natural environment, agriculture, resource extraction, and urban-rural development.  Basic instruction will focus on: the different types of satellite imagery, how to obtain the imagery, interpretation of either computer or printed images, and classroom materials and exercises following the standards.  Scholarships will partially support housing, food, supplies, three graduate level credit hours and field travel.  The cost is $325.  Application deadline is May 15, 2006.  Please contact the Wyoming Geographic Alliance at (307) 766-6253 or planning@uwyo.edu for an application and/or more information.

Ü    Seventh Annual Summer Classics Institute:  “Life, Love and War: Rome from Republic to Empire”—June 11-16, 2006

The Wyoming Council for the Humanities’ seventh annual Summer Classics Institute focuses on the turbulent end of the Roman republic, its collapse into civil war and the rise of the Roman Empire.  Teachers, community college faculty and the general public are invited to join institute director Philip Holt and a distinguished faculty for five days of exciting study and good company.  Registration deadline is May 12, 2006.  For more information, including registration forms and a complete list of faculty and activities, visit www.uwyo.edu/humanities/programs/classics_institute.

After-School Program Guide Online

Harvard Family Research Project, in partnership with BOSTnet and United Way of Massachusetts Bay, announces the release of a new comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to understanding how to engage families in after-school programs.

"Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School" is a critical resource for after-school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program.  Program leaders, local decision makers, funders, and others interested in promoting good family involvement practice will also find the guide vital to their work.  The guide provides a research base for why family engagement matters, concrete program strategies for engaging families, case studies of promising family engagement efforts, and an evaluation tool for improving family engagement practices.

You can read the guide online or print it as a PDF at:
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/afterschool/resources/families

Don’t Let Time Run Out!  Apply Now for an NEA Foundation Grant

The NEA Foundation funds hundreds of Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants to support great ideas.  Grant amounts are either $2,000 or $5,000 per project.  Applications received by June 1, 2006, will be reviewed and notification made by November 15, 2006.

Innovation Grants fund project-based learning that significantly improves achievement for underserved students.  Learning & Leadership Grants provide opportunities to engage in high-quality professional development and lead colleagues in professional growth.  Grants are available for all subjects including the arts, literacy, science, and technology. 

Practicing K–12 public school teachers, education support professionals, or faculty and staff at public higher education institutions are eligible to apply (with preference given to members of the National Education Association).  We encourage grant applications from teachers and staff with less than seven years of experience in the profession and education support professionals.

Please visit www.neafoundation.org for details on grant programs, guidelines, examples of funded projects, and an application. 

What Are Your Professional Development Needs? The APA Wants to Know

The American Psychological Association (APA) “Teachers' Needs Survey” is gathering information about teachers' perceptions of professional development in several areas, including classroom management, instructional practices, classroom diversity, family and community outreach, and other teaching skills and knowledge informed by psychological science.  The survey will help inform public policy as well as the creation of APA professional development courses for teachers based on the needs teachers identify. 

APA is seeking a national representative sample of 1000 teachers from urban, suburban and rural schools by June 2006.  To help APA achieve this goal, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have posted the following survey link on their websites: 

SURVEY LINK:     http://surveys.apa.org/ed/teacherneeds2/ 
NEA ANNOUNCEMENT:     http://nea.org/takenote/apa05survey.html

Win Technology for Your School

To support K-12 schools across the nation with the latest technology products, Samsung has launched its third annual Samsung’s Hope for Education online essay contest.  Over $1.4 million in Samsung technology and Microsoft education software will be awarded.

Open to any legal resident of the U.S. (minors must have parent permission), participants can nominate a public K-12 school by submitting an original essay of no more than 100 words describing: “Do you know of an individual student or teacher, or groups of school children who are missing out on opportunities because they don’t have access to technology?”  The essay contest ends on June 30, 2006.

For additional information, please visit www.hopeforeducation.com.

Free Teacher Recruitment Tool Available Online

Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim's documentary TEACH is now available online for free at www.teachnow.org. This half-hour program follows the challenging and rewarding first-year experiences of four public school teachers. TEACH was produced for use as a powerful teacher recruitment tool for schools of education, public libraries, community colleges, and organizations that support teaching. With your help, the film can reach many teachers in the making.  Log on now to see the powerful film everyone is talking about!