Kentucky Teacher

The 2012 Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) Conference, Shining Light on Giftedness: Empowering Families and Communities, is July 13-14 in Milwaukee. Registration closes July 2.

This annual conference addresses social emotional needs for the gifted.  

For more information, go to www.sengifted.org/archives/2233.

It’s important to emphasize efforts to both prevent and address bullying in Kentucky schools.

The following comments from Kentucky Board of Education Chair David Karem were included in the board’s June “Board Notes” newsletter:

“At its June 6 meeting, the Kentucky Board of Education received a briefing on how the Kentucky Center for School Safety and the Kentucky Department of Education provide support and guidance for school districts on the issue of bullying. The board had asked for the briefing due to the increased attention that bullying is getting from the media and the number of inquiries that the board is receiving.

Associate Commissioner Susan Allred began the presentation by saying that in order to deliver on the goal of ensuring that all students are college/career ready, bullying cannot continue. The board wholeheartedly agrees, and moreover, we emphasize that a zero tolerance for bullying must exist. All students are entitled to a safe learning environment. Thus, the board is asking all school districts to redouble their efforts to eliminate the bullying of any student, whatever the reason.” Continue Reading

More than 50,000 students in 125 Kentucky elementary schools will enjoy fresh produce in the 2012-13 school year as part of a federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) implemented through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The FFVP provides all children in participating schools with a variety of free fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the school day. It is an effective and creative way of introducing fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snack options. The FFVP also encourages community partnerships to support the schools when they offer free fruit and vegetables to children during the school day.

The goal of the FFVP is to:

• create healthier school environments by providing healthier food choices
• expand the variety of fruits and vegetables children experience
• increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption Continue Reading

Ten alternative education programs have been selected as Best Practice Sites in an effort designed to recognize the work of educators and programs that serve at-risk students.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) began the project in 2009 to highlight exemplary practices in A5 and A6 programs in public school districts. A5 programs are school district-operated and -housed instructional programs that provide services to at-risk students with unique needs, and A6 programs are district-operated instructional programs that are located in non-district facilities or schools that serve youth who are considered state agency children through the Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC), the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Community Based Services and/or the Department for Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services.

 The programs were nominated in three categories:

• Category 1: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
• Category 2: Culture, Support and Professional Development
• Category 3: Leadership, Resources/Organization and Planning Continue Reading

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has implemented a new EGRANTS web submission system.

The system was made possible with Education Jobs Fund (Ed Jobs) grant funding. Ed Jobs will be the first grant type to be submitted via the new system. Additional grants will be added to the system in the near future.

Prior to submitting your next project budget report for Ed Jobs, please contact your local Web Applications Administrator Point of Contact (WAAPOC) and request to be given permission for the Grants Data Collection Application. Once you have the needed access, submit a project 4411 budget via the new web-based system at https://odss.education.ky.gov/grants/. Submission instructions are available upon login. For questions, contact Tim Cooper at (502) 564-3930 or Kay Kennedy.

Each year, districts are required to submit a Minority Educator Recruitment and Retention (MERR) report on their efforts to increase the percentage of minority teachers. In years past, the report was due by Oct. 1.

As a result of the implementation of the redesigned system, the MERR report will be due on or before July 31.

The new Kentucky Educator Placement Service (KEPS) application will open statewide beginning July 1, and the old KEPS will officially close June 30. Once the old KEPS closes, districts no longer will have access to postings in that system, so it is imperative that the editors complete the hiring information in the annual MERR report prior to the July 31 deadline. The MERR Web application will be open to complete the MERR portion of the report on July 1 and close July 31.

To assist districts with the reporting process, KDE will provide step-by-step procedures in an e-mail to all district KEPS contacts/editors. If the district contact has recently changed, contact Candace Souder at (502) 564-1479.

Students ages 12-18 from school- and community-based arts programs in the Southeast region are invited to submit their original artwork for the Young Artist Award, Art Education Partnership’s (AEP) national spotlight of talented visual artists.

The winning submission is featured on the cover of the National Forum program booklet and the student receives an honorarium, along with special recognition at the opening session of the Forum. The deadline for entries has been extended to July 9, 2012.

The theme of this National Forum is Arts Learning Without Borders.

Those interested may send an original work of visual art that responds to, reflects, or is inspired by the following quote:

 Study the science of art.

Study the art of science.

Realize that everything connects to everything else.

– Leonardo da Vinci Continue Reading

 By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Helen Wheelock tells an interactive story to incoming kindergarten students as teachers from around the state observe during the Next Generation Arts Academy at Model Laboratory Elementary School (Madison County).

Drama artist Helen Wheelock’s use of voice animation, mixed with call and response and sprinkled with a touch of silliness, held her students’ rapt attention as she read  Ruby in Her Own Time in a Model Laboratory Elementary School (Madison County) classroom last week.

“Flap, flap, flap, fly,” she said, elongating the final letter and raising it in pitch as she thrust her outstretched hand upward. “Let’s all say that.”

Dutifully, the students repeated every word, just as Wheelock had said them. She asked the students to fill in details in the story, like where did the little bird fly, and responded reassuringly to their answers.

After she finished, Wheelock told the students she got the story from a book. They couldn’t wait to get their hands on it.

The audience was not elementary students but teachers – one of whom would later say Wheelock “had us eating out of the palm of her hand” – who were learning how to use storytelling and other art forms to develop early literacy skills in their students. Continue Reading

The White House Rural Council recently announced the U.S. Department of Education’s new online community of practice group for rural schools.

Virtual communities of practice provide a platform for educators to connect to resources, tools, colleagues, experts, and learning activities, both within and beyond schools.

Rural school leaders and teachers can join this online community by logging-on here, creating an account and choosing the Rural Schools group. As membership grows, rural educators will be able to connect with peers in their home states and across the nation to exchange ideas and learn from one another. To learn more, click here.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is pleased to annouce that the review process for the 2012 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program RFA is complete.

Awards are now posted on the department’s website here.

Awards are contingent upon available funding and regions, districts and schools meeting all programmatic and budgetary requirements.

For information about the regions receiving funds or if you have budget-related questions, please contact Deanna Tackett at deanna.tackett@education.ky.gov or at (502) 564-5625. If you would like copies of your score sheets or have questions related to the application process, please contact Jason Kendall at jason.kendall@education.ky.gov or at (502) 564-2351.