BI-COUNTY BRIEF - NOVEMBER 2009
| Volume 7, Issue No. 4 | November 2009 |
HERMAN ALBERS TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Recently retired journalism teacher Herman Albers from Coulterville High School will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Journalism Education Association Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Washington, DC later this month. Albers, who is one of only 7 recipients nationwide, accumulated an impressive array of regional and state awards for his district and students, including 22 Blue Banner Awards and 12 SISPA Golden Dozen Awards, during his 34 years at Coulterville.
Albers currently serves on the Illinois Regional Press Association Board, is a member of the Journalism Education Association and Illinois High School Association's Journalism Advisory Board and works part time as an English and social studies teacher at the Regional Office's alternative school known as Red Brick. He and his wife Karyn will travel to Washington, DC from November 12–15 for the convention and to receive his award.
ILLINOIS HISTORY EXPO 2010
Junior high and high school students are encouraged to compete in the Illinois History Expo in one of four categories: research paper, exhibit, media and performance. Winners from the regional competition on May 27, 2010 (Research papers are due February 18, 2010.) at SIU-Carbondale, Department of History, Faner Hall will advance to statewide competition in Springfield on May 6, 2010. Awards, like the $500 Abraham Lincoln Association awards for the best research paper and the best media project on Lincoln, and scholarships, like the Illinois College Scholarships awarded for the best research papers on the Civil War and Illinois, are given out at the Expo. The Regional Office of Education can provide a Student Handbook or you can get more information from Jo Ann Argersinger jarger@siu.edu and Pete Harbison pete.harbison@illinois.gov.
JIM CORSI ADDS TO RECOGNITIONS
Gibault Catholic High School teacher and coach Jim Corsi excels inside and outside the classroom. Not only was he recently inducted into the Illinois State Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame, he has now been named Outstanding Economic Educator in the State of Illinois. Mr. Corsi finds a way to integrate economics learning into all history and economics classes he teaches, either from an historical or current events perspective. When he came to Gibault 17 years ago, there was no formal economics curriculum. A class discussion on the stock market back then has evolved into today's students' regularly participating in the Stock Market Game with many other schools in Illinois and across the nation. His principal Russel Hart gives us the bottom line: "Mr. Corsi's success in the classroom is due to his work ethic and passion for education. He does things the right way and for the right reasons."
PPROJECT CITIZEN TRAINING NOVEMBER 12
The award-winning Project Citizen program will again be offered in Illinois Congressional District 12 by Dr. Marc Kiehna, Regional Superintendent of Schools. In FY 2009 Patti Berry's class of Coulterville sixth-graders represented Illinois and received one of 14 superior ratings at the National Conference for State Legislatures for their project, "Take a Seat if You Can." Project Citizen is a curricular program for middle school students that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. Entire classes of students work cooperatively to identify a public policy problem in their community. They then research the problem, evaluate alternative solutions, develop their own solutions in the form of public policy, and create a political action plan to enlist local or state authorities to adopt their proposed policy. Participants develop a portfolio of their work and present their project in a hearing before a panel of civic-minded community members.
Teachers interested in Project Citizen can receive training on Thursday, November 12 at 9 a.m. in Room 152 at the SWIC–Red Bud campus. There is no fee for the training, and lunch will be served. Teachers who participate in Project Citizen will receive a free set of classroom books. To register for the Project Citizen workshop, call the Monroe-Randolph Regional Office of Education at 618-939-5650.
TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL COAL CALENDAR CONTEST COMING UP
Fifth through eighth graders can showcase their drawing and writing skills in the 22nd Annual Coal Calendar Art and Essay Contest, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Posters, which must be reproducible, may be done in marker, crayon, watercolor, ink, acrylic or tempera paint. Essays should be 1–2 pages, neatly handwritten or typed and double spaced on one side only. Information pamphlets and a sample calendar have been sent to the schools, and artwork and essays with completed entry forms must be received by March 5, 2010.
CLIFFORD COMES TO THE BI-COUNTY REGION
Clifford the Big Red Dog is at the Regional Office of Education, but he can also be at your school for that special class or event. The latest addition to the ROE Resource Library is an adult-sized Clifford costume that can be checked out weekly from our Waterloo office by phoning Audrey Hicks at 618-939-5650. Delivery specialist Juanita Kent will bring Clifford to your school for an enthusiastic person to wear, and children of all ages will be delighted.
CELL PHONE SAFETY AND COURTESY
Students of all ages use cell phones. Teachers can impart valuable safety and courtesy tips that will protect students and those around them:
Be safe: Those pictures aren't private. Any picture or video you send via a text message can be forwarded.
Be safe: Sexting isn't cool. Schools are facing lawsuits and children are losing their lives because of it.
Be safe: Your digits are personal information. Posting phone numbers online can increase the risk of spam, scam, identity theft, online predators and harassment.
Be safe: Don't talk/text and drive. Safe driving requires concentration. Use an earpiece or pull over to use your phone.
Be courteous: Avoid cell yell. Most phones' microphones can pick up a whisper, and everyone doesn't need to know your business.
Be courteous: Adjust your ring tone. Keep it soft inside.
Be courteous: Just turn it off. During meetings and public events, set your phone to silent.
Be courteous: Use texting. Texting makes sense for public places.
Check out more tips at www.simplek12.com/cellphonesafety.
EXERCISE HELPS KIDS LEARN
Increasingly, researchers are finding that brain activity and brain development are enhanced by physical exercise. In other words, exercise helps kids learn in school. According to Dr. Antronette Yancey, Director of the Center to Eliminate Health Disparities, when kids have been active, they pay better attention to their subjects, are less disruptive in class, feel better about themselves and are less depressed or anxious.
An observer in Rene Mitsui's class might see her second graders balanced sideways on one hand and one foot. They are practicing yoga. Mitsui has found that it helps her students become more aware of their bodies and reminds them of how to be still.
Marcia Corby, an eighth-grade math teacher, keeps her students' minds sharp by making sure they are on their feet as much as possible during her 45-minute class periods. Her students often do cooperative exercises, such as throwing mini beach balls around, during one-minute "brain breaks."
First-grade teacher Michael Sova exclaims, "I see, I see!" His class immediately asks, "What do you see?" "I see caterpillars crawling on a branch!" responds Sova, and the children hit the floor and begin inching around the classroom. "It's all about physical activity stimulating the mind, reaching different learners in different ways," Sova explains. "I think kids are all kinesthetic learners to varying degrees." Keep in mind this year that exercising your students' bodies will also exercise their minds.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
November 3, 2009
IBioTech
SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 217
8:30 a.m. -
3:30 p.m.
November 4, 2009
Ind. & Mentoring Leadership Team
SWIC, Red Bud - Conf. Room
9:00 a.m. -
11:00 a.m.
November 5, 2009
Technology Recycling Day
Red Bud/Columbia
November 12, 2009
Project Citizen Training
SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 152
8:00 a.m. -
2:00 p.m.
November 13, 2009
Principals' Meeting
SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 152
8:30 a.m. -
10:30 a.m.
November 17, 2009
Best Reading Practices Grades 4-12
SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 152
8:00 a.m. -
3:30 p.m.
November 20, 2009
Technology Coordinatros Workshop
Monroe County Annex
8:00 a.m. -
4:00 p.m.
December 8 2009
Best Reading Practices Grades 4-12
SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 152
8:00 a.m. -
3:30 p.m.
December 11, 2009
Guidance Counselors' Meeting
SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 152
9:00 a.m. -
12:00 p.m.
December 17, 2009
Superintendents' Council Meeting
To be announced
9:00 a.m. -
12:30 p.m.