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April 2015
Director's Notes
In March, the NH Department of Education's Career Development Bureau held the third annual Girls in Technology Day at NHTI's Concord Community College and at Manchester Community College on March 18 & 19th.  
 
I was able to spend part of the day at the Concord event along with freshman and sophomores from throughout the state.  The conference featured several workshops for young women in technology related fields. Sessions ranged from biopharmaceutical manufacturing (pictured above), to engineered composites, app development, engineering design, and hard drive dissection. I even had my first taste of learning visual programming with Alice, an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story or playing an interactive game.
 
I was pleased to meet up with fellow STEM Resource Partner participant Lucy Kinney and her fellow teacher, Rachelle Gilcris, with a team of over 20 young women from Berlin High School (some pictured below).  There were also teams from Littleton High School and Kennett High School at the Concord event.
 
 
Speaking of our STEM Resource Partners, April Cartwight, middle and high school science teacher at Pittsburg School has been volunteering once a week to offer STEM activities in elementary classrooms.  For Read-Across-America week, she read the Dr. Seuss book called Bartholomew and the Oobleck, and afterwards the students made their own oobleck. Many thanks to Librarian, Ann Gray, for sending along a photo.
 
Wilson Reading System and Fundations

On a completely different subject, we have been polling schools regarding interest in Wilson Reading Systems Introductory and Level 1 Certification Training as well as for the Fundations training for Levels K, 1, 2, and/or 3. If you are interested and haven't responded to the poll yet, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. This would be for the fall of 2015.
 
 
Happy spring!  It's bound to warm up before our next issue!
 
Lori Langlois
Executive Director
lori@ncedservices.org
 
 
Dr. David Pook Returns, CCSS Writing
This workshop offers teachers and administrators alike insights into how the Common Core Writing Standards were designed and how to make them come alive in K-12 classrooms.  The morning will concentrate on the close connection between the reading and writing standards, and how to generate text dependent writing tasks based on the standards.  The afternoon session will delve more deeply into the different types of writing called for by the standards to grasp their similarities and differences, and learn more about how to assess writing using the standards—and how writing will be assessed on Next Generation assessments like Smarter Balanced.  Participants will have the opportunity to engage in best practices around generating CCSS aligned writing instruction and assessment, and attendees will receive timely constructive feedback about how to proceed with the opportunities and challenges that stem from adopting and implementing the Common Core Writing Standards. Applicable for K-12. 
 
Date: Friday, June 5, 2015 from 8:30 - 3:30
Location: NCES
Cost: Staff from full member schools $125, associate member schools $145, all others $175.
 
Registration: Register online at http://www.ncedservices.org/pook-writing or call 603-466-5437 (between 8:00 - 4:00) or email lisa@ncedservices.org. 
 
Because Mental Health Matters
Mental health is one of the biggest issues facing youth and one that is very difficult to talk about. Three quarters of all mental illnesses begin with youth and young adults between the ages of 14 and 24, one out of four Americans will struggle with mental health issues in their lifetime, and suicide is among the leading cause of deaths for teenagers, and yet we rarely have conversations about these facts or what we can do to help. 
 
New Hampshire Listens is supporting an effort to raise awareness of these issues while also providing a way to have a dialogue about it. They have partnered with Text Talk Act, which is a 45 minute activity that you can do with your students that combines social media, texting, and discussion in small groups and helps people talk about this important topic.  It’s an opportunity for participants to share their own stories, learn more about the issues, practice group dialogue, and add to a national conversation.
 
You’ll get not only the benefit of having this talk with your own youth, but you’ll also be able to access national data as well as information specific to New Hampshire.
 
Text Talk Act will be available in April and May, and you can join other schools on April 14th and May 7th and participate in a nationwide conversation. 

If you’re interested in participating, you can contact Eleanor Kane at New Hampshire Listens (eleanorrkane@gmail.com) for more information or with any questions you might have.  NH Listens can provide further details and instructions leading up to the activity, as well as resources such as letters to parents and flyers to promote the activity. Additional information can also be found at http://creatingcommunitysolutions.org/texttalkact
 
Using the Arts for Early Experiences in How the World Works
This Arts Alliance of Northern NH and VSA NH workshop will provide creative ways to use the arts in setting the foundations for science, technology, engineering and math in early childhood settings.
 
Young children learn about the world and their place in it through exactly the same processes used by mathematicians, scientists and engineers!  Exploring, experimenting, reflecting, making, acting and talking about the way things are made and how they work - these are the foundations for students’ experiences in science, technology, engineering and math, the STEM subjects currently being emphasized in our schools and universities.  Adding the “Arts” to STEM, we’ll go full STEAM ahead, exploring everything from how numbers work, how colors are made, how the wonders of the natural world happen and much more!  As always, we will use all art forms – music, dance, theater and the visual arts – and a rich array of the best children's books, including, this year, nonfiction for the very young.  Activities shared will not only encourage young scientists and mathematicians but will show how arts integration strategies also build language and expression in learners of all ages and abilities.
 
March 28, 2015 at White Mountains Community College
 
 
 
Series for North Country School Principals
There are two more workshops left in the series of free workshops for principals is sponsored and presented by Primex. The sessions are scheduled to follow the monthly NC Principals and NCCIA meetings at NCES.  Lunch will be provided.  Registration is encouraged and appreciated.
 
 
Workers' Compensation Risk Management, Coverage and Claims: April 16, 11:30 - 2:00
 
Human Resources 101:
May 21, 11:30 - 1:30
 
For details and descriptions, download the series flyer.
 
To register, email Jen Leger, Primex Education & Training Program Assistant at jleger@nhprimex.org.
 
 
Chris Nelson Memorial Grant Program for Technology Projects in Schools
The 2015-2016 Chris Nelson Memorial Grant Application period opened on March 14th.  The mission of the Chris Nelson Memorial Grant Program is to provide educators an opportunity to fund a specific project in their classroom, school, and/or district.  Projects to be funded will have a foundation in the use of emerging instructional technologies to assist and enhance content delivery.
 
NHSTE will fund three projects for the 2015-2016 school year.  Each project will receive $4000 to aid in software and hardware purchases as well as professional development for all educators involved with the project.  If you have an idea for a project that will greatly enhance the learning of your students, through the use of technology, we urge you to apply for one of these grants. Proposals are due April 18th. 
 
 
 
Education news to share?
Do you have news to share with the educational community in the North Country? Send us your announcements and stories to be included in this newsletter. We want to share and highlight the many great events, learning opportunities (students and teachers), and other positive happenings in our schools and communities. 

 
 
Lucy Calkins announced as keynote for 2016 Write Now! Conference in Conway

At this year's Write Now! Conference, held on March 21, it was announced that Lucy Calkins, author of the popular Units of Study for Teaching Writing series and the Units of Study for Teaching Reading, Grades 3-5 series, will be the featured speaker for the April 2, 2016 event. The event is expected to fill by the end of this week.  Any interested educator is encouraged to register and mail a check today if they want a chance to participate.  
 
 

Recommendations being accepted for Leadership North Country Class of 
2015-2016
 
Leadership North Country is patterned after the over 350 state, regional, and local Leadership Programs in the United States and is one of five regional programs in NH.
 
Leadership North Country enhances the skills of participating individuals by providing them with information and resources, by increasing their networks and contacts both inside and outside of the region, and by providing them with opportunities to take on new projects both individually and in partnership with each other and with existing leaders.
 

PSU School Law AD5700 Offered at NCES in July
 
Federal and state laws that apply to school systems, educational programs, and personnel will be discussed. Also covered will be the legal prerogatives available to the administrator and local boards of education. Consideration of constitutional, statutory, and case-law foundations of education systems, and the school administrator's role will be discussed. Prerequisite: AD 5010 or EP 7020.
Dates: July 7, 10, 14 & 17, 2015 from 8:00 - 4:00.
 
 

Competency Education 
 
Did you see the news announcement  in early March that NH is the first in the nation to receive federal approval from the Department of Education for piloting a competency-based assessment program in four school districts? Want to learn more about competency education? This new report released this month from CompetencyWorks.org may help. 
 
 
 
 
 
Northern Forest Explorer Interns
Interns will work with children ages 10-14 during five-day paddling trips that connect young people to the possibilities found in nature. Application deadline April 10th.
 
 
 
 
Artist Residencies: Arts Opportunities for North Country Schools
 
 
Marvelous Marvin's STEAM Tour
Using theater, circus arts and rhyming text to engage students in science, math and more. Interactive workshops and assemblies, K-6. (April 2015)

Learn more and sign up your school by calling 323-7302 or programs@aannh.org. 
 
Interested in arts related professional development and other arts-related opportunities for students and schools? Be sure to visit the Arts Alliance of Northern NH's website.
 
 
 
 
Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowship
 
 
The Louise Tillotson Teaching Fellowship program strives to raise public awareness about the value of excellence in education and to retain good teachers in the North Country schools of New Hampshire. This award is made to a select few each year.
 
Louise Tillotson — a self-made businesswoman, wife of Neil Tillotson (founder of the Tillotson Corporation and former owner of The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel), and resident of Dixville Notch — established the fellowship in 2006.
 
Each fellow receives a cash award, typically $10,000 to $15,000, to be used at his or her discretion.
 

NHSAA Aspiring Administrators Scholarship
 
In 2001, the New Hampshire School Administrators Association established an Aspiring Administrators Scholarship, and in 2005, an additional scholarship was created in memory of Charles Marston. These $1,500 scholarships are available to any current or aspiring New Hampshire school administrator who is enrolled, or will be enrolled, in an accredited graduate program in Educational Administration at the CAGS/Doctoral level. Applications are due no later than April 17, 2015.
 
 
AMC Outdoor Recreation Internships for Coos County Seniors and Community College Students
 
A partnership between the Appalachian Mountain Club, the USDA Forest Service and Coos County high schools aims at providing practical opportunities for career exploration in the outdoor field. Specific internship tracks include Mountain Hospitality, Outdoor/ Environmental Education, and Conservation & Trails Stewardship. The program provides interns with the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to outdoor interests developed while growing up in rural northern New Hampshire. Summer internships as well as ‘gap year’ internships provide the experiential learning opportunity to help determine future academic program or career interests through local colleges, universities, and employers.
 
 
 
 Education Job Opportunities
 
 
Visit TeachNorth.org for education related jobs in the North Country.
 
 
 
 
Odysseyware provides online curriculum for grades 3-12, with customizable core, elective and CTE courses, assessment & remediation tools and much more. Odysseyware is ideal as a stand-alone curriculum or for blended learning, credit recovery, RTI, alternative and special education, ESOL, 1:1 and more.
 
  
Contact:
 
North Country Education Services
300 Gorham Hill Road
Gorham, NH 03581
603-466-5437 
nces@ncedservices.org
 
NCES  is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
 
 
 
 
North Country Education Services  |  300 Gorham Hill Road  |  Gorham, NH 03581  |  http://www.ncedservices.org
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