BI-COUNTY BRIEF - SEPTEMBER 2009

Volume 7, Issue No. 2                                                                              September 2009

WELCOME NEW TEACHERS
New teachers in the bi-county region can expect to socialize, have a delicious meal and gain valuable information at the New Teacher Welcome Dinner on Thursday, September 17 at 4:30 p.m. at St. Patrick's Parish Center in Ruma.  Hosted by Dr. Marc Kiehna and the Monroe-Randolph Regional Office of Education, the event will feature talks by ROE personnel on services available, professional conduct, curriculum mandates and certification, at-risk students and programs and initiatives.  The guest speaker, Mary Saggan from West County Psychological Associates, will discuss "Dealing with Difficult Parents," something every new teacher will benefit from hearing.
New teachers and their principals have received invitations, but they are requested to RSVP by phoning the ROE at 618-939-5650 or faxing the flyer to 618-939-5332 by September 10, 2009.

COLUMBIA GETS "NEW" BUILDING
Superintendent Settles, Principal Beczkala and many others are excited—their term exactly—about renovation of the old Columbia Middle School (formerly known as the Columbia Unit School) at 113 South Rapp.  Damaged by fire in 2003, the building has housed the unit office, a senior citizens center and a church.  Work has begun, however, to prepare the site for kindergarten and first-grade classes beginning in the fall of 2010.  Improvements include a new heating-ventilation-air conditioning system, windows, flooring, kitchen, restrooms and parking lot.  Approximately 28 classrooms with fresh coats of paint will be created.
Moving Columbia CUSD's youngest students into new quarters will open up space for the unit office and more students at Parkview Elementary.  "We are excited about being able to renovate a long-standing facility that will afford our district the space needed for future growth for many years to come," commented Superintendent Ed Settles.  Elementary principal Michael Beczkala agrees, adding "We are excited about the opportunity to create a school building where there will be a total focus on the K–1 student."

I-BIOTECH PROJECT IN FULL SWING
Local science, math, agriculture, elementary and special education teachers are participating in the exciting Illinois Math Science Partnership Program that began this summer.  This partnership among the I-BIOInstitute, Illinois State University, Monroe-Randolph ROE, Jackson-Perry ROE, FCAE and U of I Extension is designed to provide teachers opportunities to build background knowledge in biotechnology and to learn how to transfer it to their classroom.
I-BioTech participants had a busy July, attending first a 3-day Biotech TalentSparks! Teacher Conference in Chicago and another three-day workshop centered at Red Bud High School.  Activities included hands-on laboratory sessions, scientific presentations and industry site visits.  Activities such as "Seafood Forensics," "Beano Lab," and DNA electrophoresis labs gave the teachers an opportunity to conduct experiments in biotechnology that are easily replicated in the classroom.   A demonstration from the Field Museum's Veggie Van provided an interesting look at the application of biofuels.   Scientists from research and industry also spoke to the teachers to explain the biotechnology aspects of pharmaceuticals, medicine and agriculture.   A highlight was a talk from a researcher who is studying the possibilities of regenerating damaged heart tissue.
Teachers also participated in behind-the-scene tours of Abbott Corporation in Chicago and Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis.  Both events were fascinating activities that provided a glimpse that few experience of the biotechnology industry.
Additionally, I-BioTech includes several online activities, and participants will review websites, simulations and media, learn about action research, develop lesson plans and do readings and journaling during the 2009–2010 school year.
Pictured are Terry Meyer and Becky Thompson, science teachers from Red Bud High School, and Lisa Breithaupt, science teacher from Waterloo High School, participating in a DNA extraction lab at the TalentSparks! Teacher Conference in Chicago.

DO YOU HAVE HOMELESS STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASSROOM?
Most likely you do.  The McKinney-Vento Homeless Children & Youth Act defines homeless as lacking a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence, such as sharing housing (doubled up with grandparents, another family, etc.) or living in motels/hotels, campgrounds, cars, parks, public spaces, substandard housing or an abandoned building.
How do you know?  Look for chronic hunger and tiredness, erratic attendance and tardiness, poor grooming and personal hygiene, clothing that draws attention, consistent lack of preparation for school (coming in without books, supplies, homework or papers signed), extremes in behavior (withdrawal, extreme shyness, nervousness, aggression or anger) and resistance to parting with personal possessions.  Sometimes the student will even talk about the lack of permanent housing with his peers in the classroom.  If you become aware of this situation, be sure to report it to your building's homeless liaison.  Help is available.

FOOD SERVICE TRAINING IN NOVEMBER
Food service directors and head cooks, a USDA Food Distribution Program and Illinois Commodities System Training will be held Wednesday, November 18 from 8:00 to noon at Four Points by Sheraton at 319 Fountains Parkway in Fairview Heights.  Register at http://webprod1.isbe.net/cnscalendar/asp/EventList.asp.

WARD OFF FLU THIS FALL
Teachers and students using common sense can help minimize the effects of seasonal and H1N1 flus this fall:
·         Wash hands frequently with soap and water.
·         Cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.
·         Stay home with flu-like symptoms for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

LEARN WHATEVER FROM MIT FOR FREE
Have you ever considered taking a course in furniture making?  And what if that course were available at MIT—the nation's TOP engineering school and third most selective behind Harvard and Yale—FREE?  And you could wear pjs, coffee cup in hand, in bare feet?  Unimaginable?  Not totally, because MIT now offers everyone the next best thing: MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW).
What is OCW?  Not an MIT education.  No degrees.  No certificates.  No access to MIT faculty.  What it is is a free, web-based publication of 1900—yes, you read that right—undergraduate and graduate courses taught at MIT, from furniture making to sailing to airline schedule planning to molecular and cellular pathophysiology.
Have your students go or go yourself to http://ocw.mit.edu to explore "Photography and Truth," "The Anthropology of Sound" or "Race and Science."  The choices seem endless, so you may have to check out "Brain Structure and Its Origins" when yours gets fried.  But do not despair: there is also the course "How to Learn (Almost) Anything" to save the day.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sept. 16, 2009	Bus Evacuation Drill Day	All Schools, All Students
Sept. 17, 2009	Guidance Meeting (DATE CHG)	SWIC, Red Bud - Conf. Rm.	9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Sept. 17, 2009	New Teacher Dinner	St. Patrick's Parish Center	4:30 p.m. -
Sept. 25, 2009	English Language Learners	SWIC, Red Bud - Perf. Arts	8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 28, 2009	Adm. Acad.: Content Area Reading	SWIC, Red Bud - Room 152	8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 5, 2009	TRS Information Meeting	Waterloo High School - G101	4:30 p.m. -
Oct. 6, 2009	TRS Information Meeting	Sparta Lincoln Middle - Lib.	4:30 p.m.
Oct. 7, 2009	Mentoring-Communication	SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 123	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9, 2009	Adm. Acad.: Instr. Practices Invent.	Reids' Harvest House, Chester	8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 13, 2009	Mentoring-Communication	SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 123	4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 16, 2009	Hostmeyer-Sentence Patterns	TBA	8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Oct. 21, 2009	Spring Planning Meeting	ROE, Waterloo Office	9:00 a.m.
Oct. 22, 2009	Substitute Teacher Dinner	St. Patrick's Parish Center	4:30 p.m.
Oct. 23, 2009	Superintendents Council	SWIC, Red Bud - Conf. Rm.	9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Oct. 27, 2009	Cont. Area Read.-Read. for Purpose	SWIC, Red Bud - Rm. 152	8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

RETIRED TEACHERS MEETINGS

October 12, 2009	Monroe County meeting	Monroe County Annex, Waterloo	11:00 a.m.
October 13, 2009	Randolph County meeting	Ol' Farmhouse Caf'e & Bakery	12:00 noon