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North Country Scholars
North Country Education Services and the North Country School Administrators Association recently recognized thirty outstanding students in the thirteen high schools within the NCES service area. The valedictorians, salutatorians, and outstanding Career and Technical Education students from the North Country gathered at White Mountains Regional High School on May 19th for the fifth annual scholar recognition ceremony.
In attendance were, front row, from left, Halie Olszowy, valedictorian, Littleton High School; Alley Lydon, valedictorian, Woodsville High School; Stephanie Ingalls, salutatorian, Woodsville High School; Katie Schutt, valedictorian, Groveton High School; Brittney Soucy, Outstanding CTE Student of the Year, Hugh J. Gallen Career and Technical Center; Lindsey Hadlock, salutatorian, Littleton High School; Shannon O’Connor, valedictorian, Lin-Wood High School; second row, Heather Purnell, Outstanding CTE Student of the Year, Mount Washington Valley Career Technical Center; Katherine Badger, salutatorian, Kennett High School; Liza Townsend, valedictorian, Kennett High School; Natalie Dostie, valedictorian, Colebrook Academy; Ashley Desroches, salutatorian, Pittsburg High School; Jennifer Taylor, valedictorian, Lisbon Regional High School; Martha Wells, salutatorian, Colebrook Academy; Marcus Chase, valedictorian, Pittsburg High School; third row, Nate King, salutatorian, Lin-Wood High School; Kayla Galipeau, salutatorian, Gorham High School; Danika Leblanc, salutatorian, Berlin High School; Matt Record, valedictorian, Berlin High School; Kyle Aubut, Outstanding CTE Student of the Year, Berlin Regional Career and Technical Center; Vincent Hanslik, valedictorian, Profile High School; Maggie North, salutatorian, Profile High School; Molly Bromley, salutatorian, Lisbon High School; back row, Mitchell Galasyn, valedictorian, White Mountains Regional High School; Danielle Ennis, salutatorian, White Mountains Regional High School; Caleb Mason, salutatorian, Stratford High School; Brendon Lynch, valedictorian, Stratford High School; Joseph Cassady, salutatorian, Groveton High School; Earl Brady, Outstanding CTE Student of the Year, Arthur T. Paradice Regional Career and Technical Education; Ethan Evankow, valedictorian, Gorham High School. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Grima)
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Mini-Grant Showcase
On March 21st, thirty-five teams from across New Hampshire gathered in Meredith to showcase the projects that were the outcome of technology integration mini-grants. The grants were awarded through the NH Department of Education Title IID. Six of the teams receiving funding were from the North Country.
From left to right: Profile School, Northumberland School District, Milan Village School, Josiah Bartlett School, Littleton School District and White Mountains Regional School District.
Short videos of each project will be available soon. Check the NCES website for a link.
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Technology Integration in Elementary Classrooms
Paula Churchill, NCES's Technology Integration Specialist, recently spent time modeling movie making for a plant life cycle lesson in a first grade classroom at Milan Village School.
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Students planted sunflowers and then observed plant growth over a three week period. They recorded their observation into a Excel spreadsheet and took a photograph each day.
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Using MovieMaker software, students placed the photos in sequence, made decisions about titles and information from their observations to share and inserted a graph depicting the plant growth over time.
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Each student had hands-on use of an interactive pad that operates like a remote mouse. Sitting at their desks, they were able to "drag and drop" photos into the proper sequence in the movie timeline.
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| Kindergarten students joined the first graders as they put the finishing touches, including a soundtrack, into the movie. As a group they discussed ways to improve the project next year. Ideas included using a solid-colored background when snapping photos of the plant and having students sing and record the song to be used as the soundtrack. |
The first grade class shared their sunflower movie with the NH Department of Education Commissioner, Virginia Barry, who visited the school a bit later that morning.
The co-teaching and modeling of technology integration activities at Milan Village School was made possible through the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation - North Country Region. Seven Coos County schools participated in the project.
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Lines from Lori
Coos County Symposium
In May I participated in the Coos County Symposium. The event brought together just over 100 people from the region for three days to advance North Country connections, dialogue and action.
One of the speakers was Lewis Feldstien, President of the NH Charitable Foundation and co-author of Better Together: Restoring the American Community. He spoke on social capital and the value of networks. One of the points that Lew made was how, within each of our fields, many of us have extensive networks within that discipline - a vertical network per se. The beauty of the Symposium was the opportunity to extend horizontal networks outside of our regular domain.
It was a meaningful experience to meet so many new people committed to this region and to learn more deeply about initiatives underway. I highly encourage participation if you are invited to a future Symposium.
Moving into the next school year
As the school year comes to a close, remember to look back at the year and celebrate accomplishments. We have shared a few highlights in this issue and know there are many more. Congratulations to Milan Village School on being recognized with the New Hampshire 2010 Elementary School of Excellence award. Feel free to pass along notable events and accomplishments to share with our readers.
You may recall that NCES's new Executive Director, Ray Healey, came on board this month. He has been very busy in his first week, meeting with superintendents and special education directors and getting out to the areas that we serve. With Ray taking the helm, I will return to my regular functions of coordinating professional development, managing special projects and writing grants. In the coming year, you can expect a focus on Response to Intervention and continuation of our efforts in helping teachers with meaningful technology integration. We continue to explore funding opportunities for the partnership we formed with the Mount Washington Observatory and Tufts University Center for Engineering Educational Outreach for middle and high school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programming.
Enjoy the remainder of the school year!
Lori Langlois
Associate Executive Director
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Neurodevelopmental Approach to Differentiated Instruction
This two-day interactive course is designed to help educators examine their teaching approach to students with learning differences. It offers an
introduction to functions of the brain that impact teaching and learning. Participants will gain increased confidence in understanding struggling
learners and ways to better manage the needs of all students in the classroom. The course will provide teachers with tools to identify and select effective
instructional strategies to meet specific needs. The information will be framed in the context of RtI principles.
Objectives:
- Understand the neurodevelopmental learning functions of the brain (attention, language, higher order thinking, memory, neuromotor skills, social skills, spatial and sequential ordering)
- Identify the most common breakdowns for students in the areas of reading, writing and math by analyzing student work
- Begin to link practical strategies to specific underlying breakdowns in reading, writing, math and study skills, leveraging the students' strengths and areas of interest
- Begin to connect individual student learning needs to specific instructional strategies
Dates: July 21 & 22, 2010
Time: 8:30 to 3:30
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Instructor: Betty Reed, Center for School Success
Cost: $350
Registration: Please register by calling NCES at 800-268-5437 or 603-466-5437 or by emailing becky@ncedservices.org. Purchase orders may be faxed to 603-466-2907.
Optional Graduate Credit: 1 Plymouth State University graduate credit available ($172/in state; $191/out-fo state +$25 registration fee). Registration form for graduate credit available first day of course.
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"Doing" RTI: What Does It Really Mean?
For: Teams that are new or relatively new to RTI.
Date: Thursday, July 8 and Friday, July 9, 2010
Location: Grappone Conference Center, Concord, NH
Presenter: Shannon Harken
Cost: $100/person
Sponsored by: NH Department of Education
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RTI: What Does It Really Mean? Part II
For: Teams that are experienced with RTI and/or have previously participated in an institute with Shannon Harken.
Date: Monday, July 19 and Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Location: Grappone Conference Center, Concord, NH
Presenter: Amelia Van Name Larson
Cost: $100/person
Sponsored by: NH Department of Education
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Military Life
According to the University of New Hampshire’s NH Demographics – Children of Military Families – August 2009, there are 4033 children of NH military families throughout New Hampshire. The primary objective of the J1/CC Education Outreach Committee is to provide awareness of the unique challenges that military children face to educators of New Hampshire schools and to foster a politically neutral classroom to help support the military child.
Tips for Teachers: Shand Wentworth, Military and Family Life Consultant
1) Reaching out to military students within your school
2) Emotional reactions to deployment
Tackling Tough Topics: Elisabeth Swiriduk, Care Coordinator, Special Education Instructor
1) Cycles of Deployment
2) Fostering Resilience in Kids
Educators’ Insight: Ken Grey, Operation Military Kids
1) Promoting a positive classroom environment for military kids
2) Ideas for integrating military and non-military kids
Date: August 18, 2010
Time: 9:00 to 11:00
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Cost: Free
Registration: RSVP to Becky Ring at 800-268-5437 or becky@ncedservices.org
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New Hampshire K-12 Schools E-Rate Information and Connectivity Consortium Update
In the spring of 2008, an ad hoc group of NH educators, with the assistance of the New Hampshire Department of Education, began exploring the possibility of forming a purchasing consortium. A number of K-12 schools expressed interest in forming the "NH K-12 Schools Connectivity Consortium" to provide group buying power primarily for a high speed data and voice network for schools throughout the state of NH in order to enable a managed service provider solution that would also be able to offer much needed technical assistance to schools with limited technical resources. Information on the current status of this effort and plans for the future will be discussed. This part of session will be a 30 minute overview of the eRate process: the goal of eRate, timelines and required forms. This is suitable for those new to eRate.
Part two of this workshop will provide information on the definition of a "managed service provider" solution and the roles and responsibilities inherent in providing "managed services" to a statewide consortium. There will be time to discuss benefits to NH schools in seeking a managed services approach that would be beyond current practice of purchasing connectivity without managed services on a district-by-district basis. To provide context to the discussion, we have invited a representative from ENA, a managed service provider, to discuss their approach to this work in other states and how a consortium approach might benefit New Hampshire districts. We will also cover updates on CIPA and community usage of E-Rate funded services. This segment is suitable for those who have been working with eRate and are interested in learning more about the managed service provider model.
Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 from 1:00 – 3:00
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH (also CACES and GMPDC on 7/15)
Cost: Free
Registration: RSVP for the NCES location to Becky Ring at 800-268-5437 or becky@ncedservices.org
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Conte Connections: Exploring the Health of the Connecticut River Watershed
Join the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) and the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge for an exciting day of discovery and learning.
- Workshop participants will study in-depth information about the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (Connecticut River watershed), the vital functions the watershed performs in the natural world and its significance as an ecological system.
- Participants will go out in the field and explore both the physical and chemical parameters of a local river.
- Workshop content and activities will be closely linked to Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut standards for learning.
- Participants will leave the workshop equipped with several experiential and inquiry-based activities and experiments.
- Graduate credit and Continuing Education Units are available to all participants.
Where: Nulhegan Basin Visitor Station, Brunswick, VT
When: Thursday August 12, 2010 from 9:00-4:00
Who: 4th through 8th grade teachers
Cost: FREE
For more information or to register: Contact Beth Roy at (802)359-5000 x232 or broy@vinsweb.org.
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Moodle for Educators
Interested in learning about why you should use Moodle, how Moodle can improve student learning or how to make your Moodle class appealing and effective? Ron Danault a WMRHS teacher will answer these questions and teach you how to: create a course, create user accounts, update user profiles, upload files and folders, work with images, create hyperlinks, create assignments, and use other features of Moodle. Participants in this three morning series may host one class at no cost on the NCES Moodle server for the 2010 / 2011 school year.
Instructor: Ron Danault
Dates: Monday, August 2, Tuesday, August 3 and Monday, August 9
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Location: NCES Conference Room
Meal: Light Continental Breakfast
Cost: $100/person (Limited to 20 participants)
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