Goodbye to a dear friend of NCES, Mr. Robert Bellavance
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 We are sad to report the passing of long-time NCES board member, Mr. Robert Bellavance. Mr. Bellavance was integral to the organization in its very early years, serving on the founding board prior to NCES' incorporation in 1971. After retiring as Superintendent of Schools for SAU 20 in 1992, he remained an active Member-at-Large with NCES, serving through 2016 and chairing the Finance Committee for many of those years. That is an impressive 46 years over service to the North Country's educational community through his years of affiliation with NCES.
For those of you who have attended meetings or professional development at NCES, then you have probably spent time in "The Bellavance Room." That space is named after this highly dedicated gentleman that many of us had the pleasure of working with over the years.
Obituary for J.L. Robert Bellavance
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Expanding Access to School Tours - Informational Session
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NCES is working with EF Tours to explore ways to expand access to educational tours for students in North Country schools. We have begun to collect information on planned trips and foresee an opportunity to increase the choices available to students through some "light" collaboration between schools. Lori Langlois (NCES) and Maggie Lenahan (EF Tours) will convene a group of interested trip leaders and/or principals on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 from 4:00 - 5:00 at NCES (with an option to participate through Zoom). This will be an informational meeting and does not require a school to commit to leading a trip or involving students from other schools in a planned or future trip.
RSVPs are required (by Feb 6th please) via this online form or calling NCES, M-F, 8-4 at 603-466-5437.
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Edscorn on Autism Coming in May!
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 NCES is excited to welcome back CarolAnn Edscorn for a full day of professional development on autism spectrum disorders. CarolAnn Edscorn is a dynamic and moving speaker who describes her full life as a person with autism.
CarolAnn will provide a brief review of the updated definition of autism from the from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and then cover sensory integration; behavior management concepts, and social relationships--including Inclusion.
Date: Monday, May 14, 2018
Time: 8:30 to 3:00
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Cost: $75 staff from NCES member schools, $95 associate members, $115 all others
Register: Online or phone 603-466-5437 M-F 8-4.
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Electricity, Renewables, and Climate Change Workshop
Where: North Country Education Services, 300 Gorham Hill Road, Gorham NH 03581
When: Friday, February 16, 2018, 8 am to 3 pm (with a 1-hour break for lunch)
Who: Middle and high school teachers
Cost: $175/person. Includes 6 hours of PD and a free kit rental.
Facilitators: Brian Betournay, program manager for the New Hampshire Energy Education Project, and VEEP staff
New Hampshire teachers now have access to curriculum support kits and professional development with the launch of the New Hampshire Energy Education Project in 2017. NHEEP is offering the standards-aligned teacher trainings and kits packed with real, hands-on equipment throughout the state. Brian Betournay is the dedicated New Hampshire staff person: be in touch at brian@veep.org.
In this six-hour workshop, teachers will get their hands on a variety of resources to help make learning about electricity, the environment, and climate change fun and engaging for students in grades 6–12.
This training will also support teachers’ understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and how to make students’ thinking visible. We will discuss formative assessment strategies, phenomena, and storylines, and, most importantly, provide training on how to use all the VEEP gear that teachers can borrow to support energy and climate education.
Teachers will leave with an example storyline that supports the Electricity, Renewables, and Climate Change equipment kit, and each teacher will receive a free kit rental.
Register: http://veep.org/nhenergyed/
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There is still time to get involved in this year's North Country Student Film Festival.
Theme: North of the 44th Through Our Eyes
This theme was chosen to give our students living north of the 44th parallel a voice to highlight the positives of the region. This film festival is an opportunity to expose an audience to new concepts, stories, ideas, and ways of thinking about the region North of the 44th. Let your students' films showcase the wonderful people, places, ideas taking place in our schools and communities!
Film submission deadline: February 16, 2018
Film Festival: Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Rialto Theatre, Lancaster NH
Award Categories:
- Partnerships North of the 44th
- Innovation North of the 44th
- Life North of the 44th
Additionally, awards will be given to recognize these film characteristics:
- Best Technical Merit
- Best Cinematography
- Best Picture
- Best Originality
Learn more
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Mindfulness Teacher Workshop:
Free Preview of the Educator Summer Camp
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Lead by Erin Woo, M.Ed., this session will introduce how the practice of mindfulness provides the foundation for bringing our best intentions to our teaching – connecting with our students, compassion, self-awareness and ability to respond skillfully to whatever arises in each moment rather than reacting in habitual and sometimes unhelpful ways. Teachers will learn about mindfulness, the latest brain science, engage in mindfulness practices and leave with tools and techniques to cultivate mindfulness in the classroom.
As noted below, a comprehensive training for educators to implement mindfulness practices in their classroom is planned for this coming summer. This free session is a great opportunity for potentially interested educators to get a better sense of what would be entailed in integrating mindfulness practices in the school setting.
Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 (postponed from January)
Time: 4:00 to 5:00
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Cost: Free
Register: Online or by calling 603-466-5437 M-F 8-4
Read more about the instructor, Erin Woo, below.
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Mindfulness for Educators Summer Course
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Mindfulness for Educators is an experiential learning program for teachers interested in incorporating mindfulness into the life of the classroom. Mindfulness complements social emotional learning practices by promoting stress management, emotional well-being and cognitive performance. In this course you will explore mindfulness in a way that enhances your own innate capacities for resilience, focus and well-being.
Mindfulness is a powerful approach to working with daily physical and emotional stress. Brain scans show the regular mindfulness practice significantly alters the functioning and structure of the brain. Studies show that teachers who practice mindfulness reduce feelings of burnout and ineffectiveness, and increase their sense of well-being, happiness, and empathy in the classroom. Students who use mindfulness strengthen their concentration and improve their ability to regulate their emotions.
Teachers will have the opportunity to develop a personal mindfulness practice during the online portion that takes place in the four weeks leading up to the course. This emphasis on a personal mindfulness practice will continue in 3-day live course and will provide the foundation for learning how to integrate mindfulness into the classroom. During the three day-long classes we will explore topics such as neuroscience, stress physiology, embodied teaching, mindful listening communication, and mindfulness practices to share with students, through dialogue, individual reflection, and practice teaching.
This course consists of 8 hours of online work and 3 days of instruction. The in-person instruction will take place at NCES on July 16 - 18, 2018 from 9:00 am - 3:30 pm. The online coursework will require approximately 2 hours per week for 4 weeks and will run June 17 - July 13. The online portion will contain two optional live video sessions that will be held June 24 and July 8 from 7 - 8 pm. These sessions will be recorded and posted online for those who can't make it.
Course Dates
On-Site Classes: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday July 16 - 18, 2018 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Pre-Session Online Coursework: June 24 - July 13
Online Live Classes: June 24 and July 8, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Cost: $435 staff from NCES member school, $500 associate members, $600 all others
Register: Online or by calling 603-466-5437 M-F 8-4
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Instructor
 Erin Woo, M.Ed., loves sharing mindfulness with teachers because it combines her passion for teaching children with her delight in sharing mindfulness with adults. She works as a Program Developer and Lead Teacher at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School where she also did her training. She is certified to teach mindfulness throughout the Mindfulness in Schools Project and did the Mindful Schools Year-Long Teacher Training. She teaches mindfulness to students in local elementary and high schools.
Erin is the director of White Pine Montessori, the school she founded in 2008. She is Adjunct Professor of English at NHTI Community College where she teaches a mindfulness-based communications course. She teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and leads a weekly meditation group. She has been practicing mindfulness since 2006 and is dedicated to sharing the benefits of mindfulness with others.
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PD Opportunity with Code.org through UNH STEM Collaborative
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 Hey North Country educators, do not miss out on this incredible opportunity!
Applications are now open to become a part of the first New Hampshire teacher cohorts of the CS Discoveries (grades 6-10) and CS Principles (grades 9-12) programs. The 2018 Professional Learning Program for middle and high school teachers begins with a five-day, in-person summer workshop, with four additional one-day follow-up workshops throughout the year. Together with a cohort of teachers from various backgrounds, you’ll enjoy dedicated time to deliver lessons with your colleagues, dive deep into the curriculum and tools, and experiment with inquiry-based approaches to teaching.
Teachers who apply and are accepted to the program commit to:
- Attending the five-day, in-person summer workshop (likely in Phoenix). Registration and travel costs will be provided by Code.org.
- Attending four local one-day, in-person workshops (normally on Saturdays)*
- Teaching the course during the 2018-19 school year
- Supporting the recruitment and enrollment of a diverse group of students in the course, representative of the school’s overall student population.
Principals will need to certify that the school will run the course during the 2018-19 school year, and that the applying teacher is assigned to teach the course. Applications close on March 30, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
If you have questions, please reach out to Laura Nickerson at laura.nickerson@unh.edu.
*Lori Langlois at NCES and Bill Church at WMSI are eager to support a North Country cohort. They have submitted a separate grant proposal to help defray the travel expenses for the Saturday follow-up sessions and there is a possibility of a more northern location if there is a big enough group. If you apply, please let Lori know too at lori@ncedservices.org
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Tech Users Monthly Virtual Meeting
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 The Tech Users Group is a statewide group of K-12 educators who share how they are successfully using technology in their classroom. Meetings are held monthly through Zoom, a video conferencing app that is free to download and use. All you need is a computer with audio that connects to the internet.
If you are interested in attending, wish to join the mailing list, or have questions email Brenda Tilton at b_tilton@sau58.org or matt@ncedservices.org.
Presenter: Varies by month
Date/time: Monday, February 12, 2018 from 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm
Cost: Free
Register: Email matt@ncedservices.org
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Deadline for the 2018 Cohort is February 16th!
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Participants will be guided through an experiential process of self-reflection and self-discovery where they understand their own competence in each of these Life Skills (based on Executive Functions of the brain), probe why this Skill is important to their own lives and take responsibility for proposing strategies to improve this Skill in themselves. They will connect their experiences to the research on this Skill in children's lives--why it is important and how it can be promoted--through videos that present the most respected and compelling child development research on the Skill in accessible ways. And learn evidence-based strategies that participants can use to promote this Skill in children.
For: Only Coos based Pre K, K and Preschool educators, including special education staff
Cost: Free for Coos based educators
Dates/times:
- March 3, 2018 from 8:00 to 3:00 PM
- March 17, 2018 from 8:00 to 2:45 PM
- March 31, 2018 from 8:00 to 1:00 PM
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Register: Email Ann Auger to register at ecevisions@gmail.com
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Beyond the Basics:
Key Updates and Legal Trends in Special Education
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Dates: Friday, March 9, 2018 and Friday, April 13, 2018
Time: 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Lunch, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Session Time
Location: NCES, Gorham, NH
Cost: $275.00 per person for both days
It’s everywhere! As you know, special education impacts nearly every aspect of the school environment and school principals are involved in everything from running IEP team meetings to addressing parent concerns to disciplining students with disabilities. This two-day professional development opportunity designed just for principals, assistant principals, and special education administrators will cover the basics of special education law and provide practical tips to ensure your school complies with state and federal laws.
Presented by: Drummond Woodsum’s special education team.Workshop highlights include:
- From Referral to Placement – A review of the special education process, including how the recent revisions to the state’s special education rules have changed this process.
- Paraprofessionals – When are they needed and what can they do? The rules have changed!
- Student Discipline – Beyond the due process rights that are afforded to all students, state and federal law provide additional protections to students with disabilities. Get up-to-date on these laws.
- Just what is a FAPE? - A look at the school’s duty to provide a FAPE in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Endrew F. decision.
- Special Education vs. Section 504 – Understand the differences between these two complex laws and how they both apply in your schools.
- Available Resources – No one has all the answers – find out what resources are available to address day-to-day concerns and questions.
- A discussion of real life issues that are occurring in your buildings – bring your questions!
Who should attend?
This conference is for principals, assistant principals, and special education administrators – new and experienced administrators will benefit from this workshop. Principals and special education leaders are urged to sign up as teams. Teams of two or more people who sign up from the same district/SAU will receive a $25.00 per person discount.
Registration Deadline: Monday, February 26, 2018.
Registration: Download the registration form here.
Questions regarding this offering should be directed to NHASEA at 603-224-7555)
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The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.
Tips, tools, and resources for educators and parents freely available include topics of:
- Teaching gratitude
- Social-emotional skills
- Self-compassion
- Strengthening democracy
- Science of happiness
- Teaching empathy
- Adopting a growth mindset
- and much, much more
Learn more at ggsc.berkeley.edu
NCES Online Professional Development Library & Educational Student Texts
Want to enhance your ebook collection? Check out the hundreds of educational ebooks available to NCES member schools:
NH Pilot with NBC Learn
The State of New Hampshire is piloting NBC Learn from January 1 through May 1, 2018. Open to all public, charter, and private schools in NH. During the pilot period, there is no cost to all participating districts, schools, or teachers. There is no limit to how many engagements taken during the pilot program.
NBC Learn, the education arm of NBC News, provides relevant and engaging resources for classroom, blended, and online learning. Leveraging nearly 80 years of historic news coverage, documentary materials, and current news broadcasts, NBC Learn gives students and teachers access to thousands of video clips from the NBC News archives, including historic moments – from the Great Depression to the Space Race to the latest political coverage. NBC Learn also offers Emmy-award winning original STEM content, lesson plans, and classroom planning resources, to enliven instructional material as well as stimulate critical thinking and debate.
Explore Free Resources from NBC Learn
Learn about NBC Learn in the Classroom
Learn more about the NH pilot
Looking for help with substance abuse or mental illness but don't know where to turn?
Granite Pathways Regional Access Point Services is a statewide network, accessible by phone or in person to help New Hampshire residents struggling with addiction, to get the timely, supportive services they need; helping both individuals and families navigate the complex systems of care to real solutions.
Call 1-844-711-HELP or visit: granitepathwaysnh.org/rap/
Brain Building Basics for Early Elementary Students
Vroom is free app to turn shared moments into brain building moments. Whether it’s mealtime, bathtime, or anytime in between, there are always ways to nurture children's growing minds.
Elementary educators, Vroom also shares various free printable materials to share with parents. Here's an example...
Need information or have parents who need resources?
From health, to housing, to crisis response, 211 is a one stop/call spot for resources and assistance. Visit 211nh.org or call 2-1-1, accessible 24/7 and completely confidential.
The 2-1-1 team can help with:
- Clothing and thrift shops
- Community services & organizations
- Consumer services
- Crisis services
- Discrimination assistance
- Domestic & sexual violence services
- Education - GED instruction, computer classes
- Employment services
- Food pantries & nutrition programs
- Health care services
- Housing - homeless prevention, shelter,
tenant’s rights
- Legal assistance
- Mental health care & counseling
- Mentoring
- Military, family & community network
- Parenting programs
- Smoking cessation programs
- Substance abuse services
- Support groups
- Transportation
- Utility assistance
- Youth & family services
- Veterans services
- Volunteer opportunities
- Wellness programs
Support NCES with a tax deductible donation
Free Training Available with Drug Recognition Experts through NCHC
In an effort to create awareness around the current trends in substance misuse among youth, the North Country Health Consortium has enlisted the help of local law enforcement certified as Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) to provide training to school personnel. NCHC is coordinating the DRE program to share this knowledge to the educational sector. Training can be completed in 90 minutes. For information on scheduling training this free training, please have your school administrator contact Greg Williams, Substance Misuse Prevention Coordinator/Young Adult Strategies Supervisor phone: 603-259-3700 x295 or gwilliams@nchcnh.org.
Minecraft Vacation Camp
at WMSI
With the opportunity to explore new worlds and face unique challenges in a team, this two day Minecraft vacation camp is designed to excite and inspire participants about creative problem solving! Challenges will include interactive group character movement through obstacles, survival group builds, craft-a-thons, resource challenges, and much more! Participants will also get to code basic games and structures in Minecraft using Python, a clever text-based programming language! At the end of our two days, participants will walk away with a fun-filled experience including exposure to text-based programming, group resource sharing, circuitry fun, and much more!
For: Ages 8-10 and 11-13
When: February 26 & 27, 2018 from 9-2
Where: WMSI's classroom space at WREN, Bethlehem, NH
Learn more
Contact Information
North Country Education Services
300 Gorham Hill Road
Gorham, NH 03581
ncedservices.org
603-466-5437
nces@ncedservices.org
NCES is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
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