Member Newsletter
  March 2016  
 
April 27th is Administrative Professionals Day ... and we have a special day planned for Administrative Assistants!  Rick Olson will be our guest speaker on "Out Of This World Customer Service".  For more information and to register, click here.

The Annual Law Seminar for School Administrators will be held on April 7th from 9am - 1pm in Marshall. For more information and to register, click here.  
  
2016-17 Contract Renewal Process: 2016-17 contracts have been emailed to school superintendents by Annette Miller, Director of Finance. We are asking districts to submit/electronically sign their contracts by April 1.  Please contact Annette with any questions at annette.miller@swsc.org.  
Click the cover image at right to read the
Winter 2016 Professional Development Catalog
 

and the cover image at left to read the
Winter 2016 Review!
   
  
Administrative Updates

Cooperative Purchasing Connection News: We are excited to announce that Innovative Office Solutions was awarded the office supply RFP. This new partnership allows us to bring our members the best available service, options, and value in the marketplace, including:
  • Office, facility and break room supplies and furniture;
  • A Dedicated customer service team;
  • Free delivery with no minimum order;
  • Accurate and consistent pricing;
  • Backorder notifications;
  • Express integration.

    • Visit www.innovativeos.com/cpc to register and get started with our new office supply partnered vendor.

    Education Updates
     
    The World of Robots - Science & Nature Conference:
    Early Registration deadline is March 22
    Final Registration deadline is March 24
    Online registrations are now available, which we encourage people to use. This conference will be held on May 11, 2016 at SMSU. We will have a number of new and exciting topics this year. Some of the topics are rockin rollercoasters, sun & wind power, robots, your heart, sphero mazes, GSP, animals, un-mixing colors and so much more.www.swsc.org/sn

    Congressional Art Competition
    : U.S. Representative Collin Peterson's office is accepting online submissions for the 2016 Congressional Art Competition. The winning artwork will be featured for one year in the Cannon Tunnel, which connects the House Office Buildings to the U.S. Capitol. This is a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent across the country. The Competition began in 1982 as an opportunity for Members of Congress to recognize and encourage the artistic talent of their young constituents. Since then, more than 650,000 high-school students have participated in the nation-wide contest. The grand prize winner will be flown to Washington, D.C. in June for a reception honoring his or her artwork, which will be on display for one year. Two semi-finalists will have their artwork displayed in Peterson's district offices. Submitted artwork may be up to 28 inches x 28 inches x 4 inches (including the frame) and may be up to 3 inches in depth. Accepted mediums include:Paintings - including oil, acrylics and watercolor, Drawings - including pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink and markers, Collage (two-dimensional), Prints - including lithographs, silkscreen and block prints, Mixed Media, Computer Generated Art and Photography. More information is available at http://collinpeterson.house.gov.The deadline for all submissions is Monday, April 25, 2016. 
     
    Thousands of Free eBooks Available for Students: The White House announced the launch of the Open eBooks App, an initiative that will provide thousands of free ebooks to all students in Title 1 and military base schools, along with all special education students. The free app will work on a wide variety of devices and allows users to access books that are normally not free. Ten major publishers, including Penguin Random House and National Geographic, provided the books. To create the app and curate the eBook collection, the White House partnered with the Digital Public Library of America, First Book, and The New York Public Library, as well as digital books distributor Baker & Taylor and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Any adult who works in a Title I (or Title I eligible) school, or a program or library that serves at least 70% of children from in-need families, can sign up with First Book. Once registered, educators can request access codes for Open eBooks. Students may borrow up to 10 books at a time and replace each book with a new book as many times as they'd like. To get access to the app, they-or an adult working with them-can download the app and enter credentials provided by a person registered with First Book to enable access to the eBooks. To sign up for Open eBooks and get the app, visit OpeneBooks.net.
     
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