Join Better Together’s AmeriCorps VISTA team for a summer or even a full year.

Both earn a bi-weekly living allowance of $472 and an education award of completion of service. These are great opportunities to gain professional experience with non-profits and education.

SUMMER!  $1,252 education award for a 9 week term term of service.  Serve non profits with an education focus and help make lives better for students in our community!

FULL YEAR!  $5.920 education award for a year of service. VISTAs also earn a year of Non Competitive Eligibility for federal jobs!
Visit http://bettertogethercentraloregon.org/americorps-vista/ to learn more and apply.  Applications are open. Apply now for immediate consideration!

We would love to answer any questions! Please contact Shelley Irwin or Shenika Cumberbatch at 541.693.5678 or shelley.irwin@hdesd.org / shenika.cumberbatch@hdesd.org.

Today, the average person will change their career 5-7 times before finding their calling. However, High Desert Education Service District (HDESD)  Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) teacher, Susan Newman, found her calling by the age of 13.

“As a teen, I spent my weekends volunteering at a state institution with a young girl who was labeled as ‘mentally challenged,’” Newman said, “As it turned out, she was actually deaf, and just didn’t know how to communicate. From that point forward, my career path was set.”

Identifying a Need

During her time as an educator working with DHH students, Newman found that many times auditory limitations resulted in academic and social hindrances. For example, one of Newman’s students is a boy who struggles with communicating and making friends due to his auditory disadvantage. His story left Newman wondering how she could support not only his language and literacy development, but also his ability to make and keep friends.

That’s when Read With Me was born. As the brainchild of Newman, Read With Me is a simple, affordable and scalable idea that functions as a book club pen-pal program for DHH kids in Central Oregon.

“It is more than kids just sharing literature, writing book reviews and learning how to read and write,” said Newman with conviction, “It’s also about isolated children learning, sharing each other’s strengths and challenges, connecting and building friendships.”

To make this idea a reality, Newman needed help.

Supporting a Solution

By her estimates, it would take just over $4,000 to incubate Read With Me the first year. Luckily, the High Desert Education Service District (HDESD) provides investment funding each year through the internal innovation process, i4Education. As a result, i4 supports new innovative ideas such as Newman’s, that have the potential to increase excellence, equity and efficiency of HDESD services and aims.

“Regardless of rank or authority, educators are empowered to bring their ideas forward through a predictable process,”  said HDESD Director of Innovation, Anna Higgins, “Through this process they receive idea coaching and support from expert entrepreneurs to refine their pitch and test their idea.”

Only about 12 months ago, standing in front of the i4 panel, composed of a business leader, two HDESD staff, one school board member and a local superintendent, Newman pitched her idea.

“Imagine if we could close the gap between kids with DHH and their typically developing peers. The wide gap related to language, communication and friendship building skills. For a relatively low investment, we can prove the impact,” Newman said in her captivating presentation.

Evaluating the Results

Already, the results of Read With Me are incredibly positive. With the help of the HDESD and additional assistance from Barnes and Noble, students involved in the program get to keep the books they read and form lasting friendships. This has directly impacted their learning experience as well, and many of the students have seen significant progress in their reading and relational ability.

“The developmentally challenged student is benefitted by learning the words from a peer, not a teacher. It’s somehow easier now to make mistakes and stumble over words. Two kids connect, they say ‘hi’ to each other in the hallways moving from class to class. A new respect for each other and their disabilities emerges and this creates a ripple effect,” said Newman in regards to the impact she has witness as a result of Read With Me.

Never one to settle, Newman hopes to continue spreading Read With Me across Oregon and beyond with the help of HDESD and other partners that are interested in promoting student success. Additionally, Newman is committed to the student relationships that have been formed among the ten pairs of participants and is planning an event celebrating their success. This will also give the chance for some students to meet face-to-face with their pen-pal for the first time.

Written by: McKenna Boen

Congratulations to Janet Goewey, Physical Therapist, for receiving the Judy Rowe Exemplary Therapist Award at the Therapy in Educational Settings (TIES) Conference last week.  Janet has worked for the ESD since 1997 and is retiring after many years as a Physical Therapist.

“When my name was called to be a recipient of the Judy Rowe exemplary therapist award, I felt such honor.  I had met Judy Rowe at Holladay center in Portland back in the 1980’s and knew her to be a great therapist.” — Janet Goewey

Judy Rowe Exemplary Therapist Award – This award is named for an Oregon therapist who was known for her professional expertise and dedication.  Judy’s philosophy and work ethic was etched in everything she did.  She firmly believed that “what we attain too easily, we esteem too lightly, and it is of little value.”  The award is presented in her name to honor Oregon therapists who are nominated by their peers in education-based practice.

The Children’s Forest is excited to announce their first Children’s Forest Awards Luncheon, happening on Thursday, June 21! This event will celebrate the inspirational work by community organizations, businesses, public agencies, teachers, and youth to connect children and families with the wonder, science, and adventure of nature.

Date:  Thursday, June 21, 12 noon – 1:30 PM
Location:  Aspen Hall, Bend
Tickets:  $30 (includes lunch).  Purchase tickets here.

They are currently accepting nominations for 6 Awards Categories:

• Teacher of the Year
• Environmental Educator of the Year
• Outstanding Youth
• Inclusion Award
• Innovation Award
• Children and Nature Supporter
• Nominations are due by May 4. To learn more about the categories and how to make a nomination, visit http://www.childrensforestco.org/childrens-forest-awards/

An incredible day of ideation to creation at the Redmond School District Make-a-thon. 80+ participants age ranging 12-84yrs old and made up of Redmond Middle school students, regional educators, Computer Science students from OSU-Cascades and Ridgeview high school, industry partners and community volunteers. A true example of agile learning.

Occupational therapy is the only profession that helps people across the lifespan to do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations). Occupational therapy practitioners enable people of all ages to live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, and prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability.
Common occupational therapy interventions include helping children with disabilities to participate fully in school and social situations, helping people recovering from an injury to regain skills, and providing supports for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes. Occupational therapy services typically include:

• an individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person’s goals,
• customized intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach the goals, and
• an outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan.

Occupational therapy practitioners have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment and/or task to fit the person, and the person is an integral part of the therapy team. It is an evidence-based practice deeply rooted in science.

High Desert Education Service District has 11 Occupational Therapist serving 550 students. For more information on OT services, check out http:\\www.hdesd.org/services/ot-pt/

Pictured here is Occupational Therapist, Nancy Hitchcock, teaching pre-handwriting skills to this youngster.

Brenda Krueger met Jaylee King when she was 8 years old. Although the two spend a few hours together every day now, their first interaction was evidence of the work ahead of them. Jaylee, who was born with DiGeorge Syndrome, is totally blind, nonverbal, and extremely tiny. Consequently, Jaylee has had to overcome overwhelming obstacles caused by DiGeorge Syndrome that most people simply never have to face.

Expertise
This is where Krueger comes in. As a teacher for visually impaired students with nearly 20 years of experience, Krueger works for the High Desert Education Service District (HDESD) alongside other professionals in order to improve student outcomes regardless of disadvantages and disabilities. As a result, she travels to schools in the Jefferson County, Redmond, and Bend-La Pine School Districts serving students from the ages of birth through 22 years.

Jaylee, for example, sees Krueger in a classroom setting where she has learned to use a communication device, write in braille, and identify others around her. These successes are especially impressive given the fact that Jaylee disliked interacting with others or using braille only 2 years ago. In fact, when Krueger and Jaylee first began working together, they would only get through about 30 minutes of instruction and participation. Now, that time has increased by threefold to an hour and a half.

Strategy
This progress has occurred largely due to Krueger’s ability to see potential in all kids, regardless of what others may say of them. By allowing her students to own their personal learning process, Krueger is able to pioneer, experiment and listen in order to create an environment where her success as a teacher produces and encourages the success of others.  For example, Krueger quickly observed that Jaylee loved music and thus began incorporating songs and playlists as a form of reward for hard work. She also integrates tactual tools such as velcro, straws and magnets into every learning exercise so that Jaylee is able to communicate using materials that correlate to people, objects and ideas.

However, one of Krueger’s most effective strategy may be her ability to write tactual original rhymes and books about Jaylee’s favorite subjects, such as pickles, in order to develop interest and a desire to learn. In Kruegers own words, “She loves reading pickle stories and then at the end we eat real pickles and cut real pickles up.”

When Jaylee turned ten, they celebrated with different types of cake and a handmade “book of tens.” Additionally, Krueger recently observed Jaylee’s swim practice in order to write her another story about an activity that she loves. With a smile in her voice, she states that, “I enjoy creating stuff, and sometimes it flops. I just try to make it real for her.”

In the future,  Krueger and the other  teachers, therapists and school staff working with Jaylee hope to conquer braille and increase communications. Krueger also notes that she’d like to get a better grasp on what Jaylee does and does not understand when it comes to reading in braille and imitating words. In the end, Jaylee is similar to other kids who have had to overcome overwhelming challenges. She loves music, snacks, and learning in an environment where the experiences are real and interesting. Her progress over the past 24 months has been astounding and future development is equally exciting and made possible by the HDESD and people like Krueger who are intent on engaging students to succeed.

Written by McKenna Boen
Photos Courtesy of Brenda Krueger

The High Desert Education Service District is proud to announce the 9th Annual Central Oregon PBIS Conference scheduled for Monday, April 23th, 2018 at The Riverhouse Convention Center in Bend.

About the PBIS Conference
The goal of the Central Oregon PBIS Conference is to provide schools and districts evidence-based tools and strategies in order to implement all aspects of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). MTSS has been shown to improve overall school climate, maximize academic achievement and address the specific needs of all students in early intervention through high school.

The conference offers sessions in school-wide PBIS, academic interventions, successful interventions for students with challenging behaviors, and effective data-based decision making.

New This Year: Special Session for Administrators
Leadership to Maximize SW-PBIS
Dr. Chris Chris Borgmeier and Verne Ferguson, MS
Implementing and sustaining SW-PBIS requires strong leadership at the building and district level. This session for school and district leaders will focus on ways to maximize efforts and investment in SW-PBIS by moving beyond “train and hope activities” to effective long term systems change. Proven strategies will be presented that administrators can use to maximize efforts to improve school climate, reduce problem behavior, improve classroom practices, and implement supports for students with challenging behavior.

Group with Administrator Discount: $75 off total registration
If you register three or more attendees and at least one of them is an administrator, you will receive $75 off the total registration price. In order to receive this discount, you will need to register the attendees together in the same form.

To register: http://pbisconference.org/

Marylou Paterson will do whatever it takes to get a child ready for school. As a result of her determination to help children succeed, she has worked as a nurse for over 45 years in four different states. After moving to Bend in 1989, Marylou served as one of Bend-La Pine’s first district nurses. Oftentimes commuting from Tumalo to La Pine to help students in need, she did anything and everything from medication distribution to catheterizations. It was during this time that Marylou heard of Central Oregon’s Healthy Beginning’s program through the High Desert Education Service District. With a shared passion for providing medical attention and advocacy, Marylou became a volunteer for Healthy Beginnings immediately after retirement to help provide free health screenings for children who have yet to enter school.

Partnering with parents to raise healthy kids

Characterized by a kind demeanor, instant likability, and years of experience, Marylou is known for her ability to calm toddlers and preschoolers, connect with parents, and accurately assess needs.

Working most frequently at the health and behavior screening stations, Marylou states that she has, “met very few parents who don’t want the best for their child. Healthy Beginnings is a way for them to see if they’re doing well or if they need to do more or even if they can help others… you don’t have to have a sick kid to come to Healthy Beginnings.”

Besides providing obvious health benefits, screenings also foster and build community, as parents of young children have the opportunity to meet and support each other. Similarly, Healthy Beginnings is designed to work alongside other advocacy organizations by providing more time for check-ups in conjunction with other pediatric appointments.

Helping kids start kindergarten ready to learn

In addition to these partnerships, Healthy Beginnings volunteers often boast years of experience which culminates in free health screenings from health professionals with diverse backgrounds and expertise. However, the volunteers often self-identify simply as professionals who just “love children.” In Marylou’s own words, “The best parts of volunteering are the moments with the little tiny babies,” and thanks to Healthy Beginnings screenings, these babies are later able to enter kindergarten prepared — something that only 60% of most Oregonian kindergarteners are equipped to do according to Oregon Learns.  

Providing more than just health screenings

Besides attending screenings, Marylou also recommends that parents help their kids by substituting time in front of electronics with human interaction and encouraging healthy lifestyles early on. Having worked with hundreds of families and children over the course of an impressive career, Marylou knowingly acknowledges that, “parenting is the hardest job there is, and anything we [Healthy Beginnings] can do to help is worth it.” Whether that means eye checks, nutritional education, or both, Marylou and other volunteers like her are dedicated to helping the children and families of Central Oregon the best way they know how.

For more information on Healthy Beginnings, the free screenings, or volunteering, please click here.

Written by McKenna Boen

Last week kicked off the start of an exciting partnership with Stanford University’s d. School K12 Lab and the design firm IDEO. 20 school leaders from the Central Oregon region took part in School Retool – a fellowship that helps school leaders to redesign their school cultures to foster innovation in teaching and learning. The High Desert Education Service District, together with Innovate Oregon and the Construct Foundation, is bringing this unique opportunity to Central Oregon.

For more information on School Retool: http://www.schoolretool.org/

In today’s Bulletin, December 7, 2017, Janet Stevens wrote a great article about the Alyce Hatch Center. Here’s a portion of it:

Though I had read about it earlier, my first real exposure to the Alyce Hatch Center occurred in 1989, shortly after my younger daughter, Mary, was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition that includes intellectual disability.

It was a scary time in my life. Although her dad and I had suspected Mary might have a disability, it didn’t become official until a week shy of her third birthday. Neither I nor her father knew quite what to expect or how to go about expecting it.

Pediatrician Mary Brown told us about the Alyce Hatch Center, if I remember correctly, and before long, Mary — tiny, skinny little Mary —enrolled in the school NW Juniper and NW Newport avenues.

The center was named for the late Alyce Hatch, a Bend woman who had given a lifetime of herself to volunteer causes in the area, many of them involving children. It had begun life in the basement of the United Methodist Church in the 1970s, and got a new name and new building in 1984.

Today, the center is the hub of services for Bend children from birth to age 5 with a variety of special needs. It’s run by the High Desert Education Service District, which offers similar services throughout Central Oregon. More than 200 children attend school at Alyce Hatch Center daily, a number that will surely increase by spring, says Diane Tipton, director of early childhood education for the ESD. Regionwide, the ESD oversees early-learning programs for more than 600 children.

To read the full article, you can find it here.

High Desert ESD and Career and Technical Education partnered with Sky View Middle School to launch Innovate Oregon (Innovate Oregon’s) Make-a-thon program in Central Oregon. At the Make-a-thon, teams comprised of middle school students, educators, and industry professionals. These teams gathered for an afternoon of creating solutions using electronic circuit boards.

Pictured here is Shawna Bell, HDESD financial analyst, and Reid who worked together on a circuit board. Reid, who is a 7^th grader said, “This is the best programming I have ever done in my entire life.” Pretty cool considering Reid placed 13th out of 60 at state for robotics.

The Make-a-thon model brings together a diverse set of perspectives (students, educators, professionals) in a non-typical environment where teams are challenged to learn, design, and create a solution together.

The need for a USAjobs Youth Workshop was born out of the Central Oregon STEM Hub’s Natural Resource Pathways Workgroup over the last year. Partners recognized that youth encountered a multitude of challenges in navigating the federal hiring process in order to gain a seasonal position with a public land agency. These challenges include a short window to apply, the need for a highly technical and specific resume to demonstrate qualifications, and an increasingly large and competitive pool of applicants.

The next workshop will be held on November 8 from 9 to 1pm at the Ochoco National Forest Supervisor’s office, 3160 NE 3rd Street in Prineville, Oregon.

In Miss Louise early childhood speech and language class, these youngsters are working their letters. They are using wood pieces from Handwriting Without Tears material to learn the alphabet. In today’s class, they are learning how to make the letter ‘D’ using the big line and big circle and matching them to the letter on the paper.

Roberta DePompei from the University of Ohio brought her passion and expertise to educational professionals, community organizations and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) team members to our fall Regional TBI training. The importance of developing social language, anatomy of the brain, and how to best support the family who lives with TBI were just a few of the many topics shared.

For more information on TBI, visit our site.

The Migrant Education program is looking forward to serving their preschool students and families this year by providing each child with a back pack filled with school supplies. To get the incoming students ready, the Migrant program will work with preschool students and their families to develop a learning plan that will ease the transition to their first year of school. The goal is to help make their learning experience a fun and rewarding one.  Jamie Benton is pictured here getting the back packs ready for their new home.

 “El Programa de Educación Migrante se adapta a los estudiantes de preescolar”

El programa de Educación para Migrantes está deseando servir a sus estudiantes y familias preescolares este año proveyendo a cada niño con una mochila llena de útiles escolares. Para que los estudiantes recién llegados estén listos, el programa migrante trabajará con los estudiantes de preescolar y sus familias para desarrollar un plan de aprendizaje que facilite la transición a su primer año de escuela. El objetivo es ayudar a que su experiencia de aprendizaje sea divertida y gratificante. Jamie Benton se muestra aquí para conseguir las mochilas listas para su nuevo hogar.

These teachers attended, ‘Ambitious Teaching’ a Math-in-Real-Life Cohort meeting.

In the photo they are working on a geometry assignment; trying to fold a square piece of paper and cut out polygons with a single cut. It actually involves a mathematical theorem that says every pattern (plane graph) of straight-line cuts can be made by folding and using one complete straight cut.

Teachers were feeling the disequilibrium that their students experience when they don’t understand how to solve a problem easily.

Dave Burke, assistant superintendent for the ESD, welcomed the Administrative Leadership Team (ALT) on Thursday, August 24 with a packed agenda. The ALT consists of supervisors and program managers who oversee the 20+ programs under the ESD umbrella. The retreat focused on collecting powerful feedback, processing innovative ideas and prioritizing organizational culture. In the photo, Karina Smith, (left) Migrant Education Program Coordinator collaborates with Geraldine Casimiro, Oregon Mexico Education Program/Language Interpreter Coordinator.