What is DACA?

DACA is short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It was started by President Obama in 2012. DACA allowed some undocumented people who came to the U.S. as children to work and stay for 2 years. They could get a social security card too. In many states they could get a driver’s license. People with DACA could renew it for two years at a time. DACA did not lead to a green card or help their family members get legal status.

Information about DACA

On September 5th, 2017, the Trump Administration announced the end of DACA. The government stopped accepting new DACA applications. It is still accepting some renewal applications. The deadline for those renewal applications is October 5th, 2017.

For more information, visit www.hdesd.org/services/migrant-education/

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.

Better Together would like to introduce you their 2017-2018 AmeriCorps VISTA team. We are so excited they are here bringing their talents to support youth success in the region!

Photo: Front row (L-R)
Shenika Cumberbatch is our STEM Partnership VISTA from Orlando, Florida. She will be supporting the Central Oregon STEM Hub at the HDESD with a focus on community engagement.

Jenny Huang is our College Engagement VISTA from Boise, Idaho. She is working on building systems that focus on college transitions in Prineville and La Pine.

Jordan Trivette is our AmeriCorps VISTA Leader from Boone, North Carolina, who started in March after serving a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the NC Migrant Education Program.

Tim McCleary, our YouthCareerConnect VISTA from Fairbanks, Alaska is returning for a 2nd year of service, focusing on connecting youth to meaningful internships and careers and helping develop the Volunteer Central Oregon website.

Back Row: (L-R)
Clarissa Hinshaw is our Mentor Programs VISTA from Heyworth, Illinois. She is based at Big Brother Big Sisters in Bend with a focus on developing and implementing school based mentoring programs in middle schools in central Oregon.

Gina Beer is our Building Healthy Connections VISTA from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She serves at the Family Resource Center in Bend with a focus on increasing FRC’s capacity to deliver parenting education/community engagement with families living in poverty.

McKaelie Wolfe is our Teen Programs VISTA from Newberg, Oregon. She is based at “The Zone” an after school program for teens at the Jefferson County Middle School in Madras with a focus on capacity building, fundraising and program development.

Not pictured:
Melanie Acevedo is our Community Engagement VISTA from West Springfield, Massachusetts. She supports the 8+9 project, which focuses on the transition between middle and high school, with capacity building, program development, and community engagement.

Katie Stewart is our Latino Success Initiative VISTA from Sisters, Oregon. Her efforts support the Latino Success Initiative—which is tasked with building capacity to engage and encourage increased opportunities and resources for low-income Latino students and families.

Welcome VISTA team members…we are glad you are here!

The AP Institute of the Cascades has finally arrived!  The School Improvement program has been working on this event for over a year. There are approximately 133 registrations from Canada, South Korea, Alaska to Massachusetts and everywhere in between.  In addition to those who registered for the institute, we have 10 instructors from all over the US as well. This is the only AP Institute in Oregon and there hasn’t been one in the state since 2006. This event will save our local school district thousands of dollars and bring excellent professional development to our teachers and benefit our students by providing Advanced Placement courses all over the state.

Central Oregon Tech Trek Camp was held at OSU Cascades, as a way to inspire incoming 8th grade girls to pursue STEM fields as career choices.  According to research, girls give up science and math in about 8th-9th grade, due to a number of factors, not the least of which is intimidation by the boys in their classes.  Growing a network of STEM oriented girls for support, the premise is that girls will be more likely to continue in these fields into high school and college.  The campers will continue their support group through a closed facebook group, and through the friendships they developed over the week-long camp.

The excitement of the group was awe inspiring!  36 Girls from middle schools including Jefferson, Warm Springs, Elton Gregory, Obsidian, La Pine, Pilot Butte, High Desert, Three Rivers, Culver, and Crook County attended the camp.  Science and Math teachers at the schools nominated the girls, who were interviewed by sponsoring American Association of University Women (AAUW) members.  The committee worked all year to make the camp a success.  A number of local and statewide grants added to the success of the camp.  Camp counselors were Interns from COCC, with camp experience, and numerous STEM professionals shared their experience in workshops and at the information night.  Main sponsors were AAUW of Oregon and AAUW of Bend, partnering with OSU Cascades, and a number of local STEM related businesses and agencies.  The group hopes to double the participation next year, and aims for 100 girls by 2019.

Anyone with interest in helping on future Tech Trek Camps should contact committee chairs, Kim DeBroux,kimdebroux@yahoo.com, or Becky Munn, Becky.Munn@oregonstate.edu, or visit the web site,

http://techtrek-centralor.aauw.net/

This week, the Healthy Beginnings board of directors and the High Desert Education Service District announced that Diane Murray-Fleck has been selected as the next Executive Director for Healthy Beginnings. Murray-Fleck will replace Holly Remer, who will retire on July 1 after serving as the agency’s executive director for 16 years. Healthy Beginnings is both a non-profit organization and a program of High Desert ESD that provides free 12-point screenings to children birth through age 5. The program serves approximately 700 children annually in the communities of La Pine, Redmond, Sisters, Sunriver, Bend, Madras and Prineville. Screenings focus on development (speech, motor and concepts), behavior, vision, hearing, health, dental, nutrition, kindergarten readiness and literacy. Along with screenings, Healthy Beginnings provides parent education, referral and follow-up, ensuring families are connected to the resources they need.

“We are excited to have Diane joining the Healthy Beginnings team and we look forward to her leadership and insights that will help us expand our reach,” said Healthy Beginnings board president Jennifer Moss Lewis.

Murray-Fleck is a licensed clinical social worker with more than ten years of experience in the education and non-profit sectors. She has also been a private business owner, executive coach/trainer and national speaker.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services from Potsdam College in New York and her Masters in Social Work from New York’s Syracuse University.

“In addition to bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the Healthy Beginnings program, Ms. Murray-Fleck also demonstrates extraordinary energy and passion for this cause to promote early childhood health and development in Central Oregon,” said HDESD Deputy Superintendent Paul Andrews who will serve as HDESD superintendent beginning July 1.

Having served as chair of the Portland public school Stephenson Foundation, Murray-Fleck is also passionate about community building and fundraising.

“The mission of Healthy Beginnings is in complete alignment with who I am as a social worker, leadership coach, public speaker, parent and community member,” said Murray-Fleck.

After more than 32 years in education, John is retiring from his role as Superintendent for HDESD.

Funny thing is, John never wanted to be an educator. Born and raised in a family of teachers, he was determined to do something different. His dad was his high school math teacher, and his mom, trained as a business and English teacher, worked as a substitute.

“I was firm set on not to go into education,” said Rexford with a laugh. In college, he earned a business degree from Oregon State University while working on the docks in Newport, Oregon, where he stayed on as a fishmonger after graduation.

During the long days and nights on the docks, he learned grit, perseverance and teamwork, but he also discovered that he loved teaching. His first teaching experience was alongside coworkers as he shared the ins-and-outs of cleaning, dressing and packing fish for sale at local fish markets or for wholesale customers around the world.

After eight years of working in the salty sea air, and with a baby girl in his arms, he traded fishing lines and canning equipment for a temporary office job with the Winston-Dillard School District. It was there that he found his calling in education.

“There really is nothing more satisfying than knowing that what you do every day makes a difference in the lives of children – OUR children – and that every decision we make can have a monumental effect on the future of our world in positive, unbelievable ways,” said Rexford of his discovery.

Still, he went on to earn a master’s degree in business, just in case he wanted to return to the private sector.

“I thought I might as well have a plan in case this fuzzy-feel-good business of teaching and learning turns out to be short lived,” said Rexford.  “I plugged away learning from some of the best in the business including teachers, bus drivers and superintendents. I built budgets, I built schools, I built Lego castles in classrooms and I built relationships,” said Rexford. When he turned 40, he took his first education class and went on to earn an education administration credential at 42.

“Isn’t life funny, how it comes full circle in so many ways? I am my parents’ son, that is for sure,” he said.

In 1989 he was hired by Bend-La Pine Schools, where he enjoyed a 23-year career before accepting the position to lead the HDESD in 2012.

Under John’s leadership, the HDESD team has expanded its role as a regional leader and facilitator. Some examples include: the creation and development of Better Together Central Oregon, a collaborative community movement to ensure success for Central Oregon children from before birth to career; development of the Children’s Forest of Central Oregon in conjunction with the Forest Service and other partners; development and implementation of Cascades Commitment to ensure high school students have opportunities to achieve college credit while in high school; and convening a variety of “Hubs” for the state including STEM and Early Learning.

At the end of June, John will hand the HDESD reins to Paul Andrews who will expand the organization’s reach even further. John and Paul have worked closely to enhance partnerships within and outside of the organization while staying focused on their organization’s most important role: improving the lives of children and families.

In retirement, John plans to have a continued role in education, supporting children and families at the regional and state level. He will also continue teaching occasional graduate classes in educational administration and leadership. He is most looking forward to traveling with his wife, spending time with his grandchildren, and supporting the Oregon State Beavers.

Better Together is recruiting full-time and summer AmeriCorps VISTAs. The VISTAs will work to build capacity with Better Together and community partner youth serving organizations in Central Oregon. Benefits include relevant work experience, professional development, bi-weekly living allowance, choice of education award or end of service stipend, and being part of a great team.

To apply, please fill out an application on the AmeriCorps Website. Start date: 7/15/2017. Please feel free to contact Better Together with any questions regarding the application process.

Questions: jordan.trivette@hdesd.org

Applications can be found here!

CTE (Career & Technical Education) spent the day at Sky View Middle School in Bend for their first CTE Day! This was in partnership with Mountain View High School. Mt. View CTE teachers along with a few Mt. View high school students highlighted their programs with hands-on activities for the 8th graders preparing to forecast for next year’s classes. This was a great way to encourage CTE programs from an early start. Some of the activities included: soil testing, electric car driving, cooking Chinese fried rice, creating stickers, engineering a structure to support weight made out of paper, edible welding rods, and robotics to name a few. Thank you to the teachers and staff at both schools for putting on such a great event for the students.

During the first part of February, approximately 20 high school girls from Crook County, Culver and Madras were invited to participate in ‘Chick Tech’ at the Central Oregon Community College (COCC) campus in Madras. Chick Tech’s mission is dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers.

Students participated in soft circuits or 3D printing workshops, aimed at enhancing their knowledge and collectively taking time to recognize unique skills that women bring to technology fields. A 3D printing company from Gresham as well as professor Yong Bakos (and two students) from the OSU-Cascades computer science department were on hand to lead the workshop.

We are extremely grateful for the support of COCC and the leadership of Chick Tech in helping organize this event and hope for it to be a launching point to get even more young women here in central Oregon interested in pursuing meaningful careers in technology.