Technology Leadership Workshop Schedule for 2014-2015:  Our Technology Leadership Workshop series are geared as professional development and peer networking opportunities for school district technology coordinators and directors and technology integration facilitators. The topics of discussion are driven by input from attendees as well as education technology market trends. Our June 16 workshop will be a Technology Leadership Un-conference, to expand on a workshop session that we experimented with in spring 2014. Please mark the following dates on your calendar for these workshops:    October 23, 2014    December 2, 2014     January 27, 2015

April 9, 2015  and   June 16, 2015

 

Clarity 21st Century Learning Assessment Tools Update:  Users of Clarity, by BrightBytes in the SW/WC Service Cooperative are invited to attend our "Clarity, I have my data, Now What?" workshop. This event will be held on Wednesday, October 15 from 9:00 - 2:00. The workshop will focus specifically on the next steps that users of the Clarity platform should be doing with the data that they collected during our 2013-2014 initial surveys and how to prepare for further surveying of your staff, students and other stakeholders on their use and adoption of 21st century learning tools and skills. If you are not a current user of our Clarity platform, please contact Josh Sumption (josh.sumption@swsc.org) to learn more. Clarity is offered complimentary to participants in SW/WC Service Cooperative's Technology Services (click here to see if your district participates), but can also be purchased as a stand-alone product.

 

This is IT2 2015 Reminders:  Our Annual Technology Conference will take place on March 5 and 6, 2015 at the Pipestone Area Schools in Pipestone. The conference will kick-off at 4:00 PM on Thursday, March 5 with our Pre-Conference Workshops and continue on Friday, March 6 with the main conference. For the past 8 years, our Technology Conference has brought local and nationally recognized education technology talent into the spotlight for all types of audiences in education including teachers and administrators alike. This year, our conference will be moving to Pipestone Area Schools to accommodate a necessary timeframe change to allow for administrators to attend both the MASA Conference as well as This is IT2! Watch for more details in the coming weeks as our applications for presenters and session announcements are made.

 

School Safety and Security Training:  Mark your calendars! Friday, October 24th from 8am - 3:30pm.  This one-day training will cover:
*Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools and Entrance Access and Visitor Control
*Facility Safe School Self-Assessment
*The Art of De-Escalation
*Threat Assessment in Schools

Teaching and Learning Update:  We are off to a running start this school year. Team members were kept busy with back-to-school staff development requests and data mining, along with planning for upcoming student activities and events. The Southwest Minnesota Career Expos will be September 23 and 24...the Conference for Young Artists will be on October 29, featuring Reza, an Illusionist from Brookings, SD.  Our team is working hard to support the many needs and initiatives our member schools are implementing.  Check out what we offering in the next few months in our Professional Development Catalog (the link is at the top of the page). Central, Lakeview, and Westbrook-Walnut Grove.  Classes continue to be held at our host site, Avera Regional Medical Center.  When students are not in the  classroom, they are hard at work at one of the 10 possible internship positions in programs such as Human Resources, Physical Therapy, Materials Distribution, and Primary Care.  Each student has the opportunity to participate in 3 internship rotations throughout the course of the school year.  If you would like more information about Project Search Transition High School, please contact Tish Kalla, Director of Alternative Programs, 507-215-1593.