Carla J. Nigro Spirit Award Nominations

The Carla J. Nigro Spirit Award Committee is now seeking nominations for the 2018-19 Carla J. Nigro Spirit Award. Please help us honor Carla by sharing this email with staff in order to recognize someone who shares the spirit of making a difference in the lives of others.

Carla was a School Psychologist at Loess Hills AEA 13 who had an enthusiasm for life. Carla lost her life to cancer in September 2010 but will always be remembered for her great spirit in the way she demonstrated a positive outlook, a friendly nature, a selfless attitude, and a passion for helping others.

This annual award is being given to acknowledge a Green Hills AEA Special Education Representative (school psychologist, school social worker, or special education consultant) who exemplifies Carla's spirit in his/her daily work with students, parents, teachers, and coworkers. The recipient of this award will receive a gift certificate, a plaque to honor his/her commitment to others, and will be acknowledged by peers at a GHAEA Professional Learning Team meeting.

Additional information can be found in the attached nomination form. Nominations for this year’s award should be submitted by March 31, 2019.

Nomination Form
Carla J. Nigro Photo
Past Winners

Master Gardener Grant

Master Gardeners of West Pottawattamie County offers grants up to $50.00 for districts in Pottawattamie County to help provide horticulture education to students. The grant will be used to purchase materials and related supplies for your classroom’s horticulture plan.

Interested, but not sure where to start? Contact Abraham Lincoln teacher and master gardener, Dustin Potter, at dpotter1@cbcsd.org

See flyer here

Coach it Further with Peter DeWitt

Announcing another great opportunity to hear from Peter DeWitt; former principal, current author and international speaker!
Didn't attend the Collaborative Leadership Institute last Fall? No problem! Join us for an afternoon session where Peter will share NEW key ideas around being an instructional leader and how leaders can best coach each other. You won't want to miss this! Highly recommended for administrators and instructional coaches.

See flyer here

Girls Go CyberStart

Governor Reynolds announced Iowa's partnership with SANS to offer the Girls Go CyberStart competition. CyberStart encourages participants to explore their interests in cyber studies, learn more core cybersecurity skills, and build confidence in problem solving. This year, at least 10 Iowa high school girls will receive a $500 scholarship to help them pay for college.

Girls Go CyberStart is a free, forward-thinking cybersecurity skills program designed to educate and inspire high school girls to discover the opportunities and rewards offered in cybersecurity. It is open to all female students in grades 9 through 12, regardless of their prior knowledge or experience with cybersecurity and information technology. Playing alone or on teams, participants solve challenges to gain points and advance through levels, earning prizes along the way.
Iowa's students will be competing against students from 25 other states including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

For more information, visit girlsgocyberstart.org and cyber-fasttrack.org. To see the types of challenges the students will face in the games, please visit https://go.joincyberstart.com.

Social Emotional Resources

You can never have too many social emotional resources for parents and teachers. Check out the list of resources below from NCPMI.

Making Life Easier

BackPack Connections

Family Articles

Substitute Authorization Courses

Green Hills AEA spring Substitute Authorization courses are here! See the flyer here!

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

1. Suicide Risk Assessment Training -  Course #GH-14561 
1. March 7 at the Halverson Center
2. AAIMS Progress Monitoring Training - Course #168598
1. March 26 at the Avoca RO
3. Substitute Authorization - Course #154170
1. March 26, March 27, March 28 at the Halverson Center

Note:
Updated Course Disclaimer/Course Refund Policy - effective 2/21/19
Questions? Contact Michelle Lidgett, Registrar, mlidgett@ghaea.org or 844-366-0503.

How to Access Your Transcript

Need to renew your license and/or certificate? Access your transcript electronically at any time!

1. Log in to your account in the AEA Professional Learning Registration System
2. Click on the Home button
3. Scroll to the bottom right-hand side of the page to the "My Courses" heading
4. Click on "My Transcript"
5. Click on the "Print Official Transcript" button to generate a .pdf (cumulative transcript)

Questions? Contact Michelle Lidgett, Registrar, mlidgett@ghaea.org or 844-366-0503.

Interested in Teaching a 2019 Summer Course for Green Hills AEA

If you would like to teach a 2019 summer course for Green Hills AEA, please fill out the Course Proposal in the statewide online registration system by March 25th - See below for instructions on how to do this.

Learning Supports Symposium Break-out Sessions

Break-out sessions are being added regularly to this two day experience! Our first session in the Spotlight is:
"Teens for Love" Youth Programming - presented by Emmalee Bowlin, Director of Youth Engagement at Please Pass the Love.

We know that empowering our young people and giving them a voice can dramatically change the culture in schools. Our goal at Please Pass the Love is to increase mental health supports in our schools and a large piece of that is our youth programming. Through our Teens for Love program and our annual Youth School Climate Leadership Summit, we empower students to become leaders and mental health ambassadors in their schools. They have a voice and we help them find it. In this session, you will learn about our youth programming and what it takes to get a club started in your school. We will have a panel of our youth leaders that will share their stories and their experience with T4L and the annual Summit.

Lewis Central Trade Exploration Day

Lewis Central had their fourth annual Trade Exploration Day on February 14, 2019. They invited students from school districts all around the area to participate in this morning of exploration. Students had access to post-secondary representatives from institutions and organizations that provide training, certification, or degrees in the trades. Thank you, Lewis Central, Joe Vinchattle and Lu Peverill for your work providing this opportunity for our students! Enjoy the show.

Digital Learning Day

Every day could be digital learning day, but there is one day a year “dedicated” to digital learning and that is the last day of February, the 28th. Our Digital Leaning Specialists are here to help you celebrate. Check it out!