ARSA REPORTStoolbox2.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/accnt...• New Resume System Activation Code Page 7 • ARSA Executive Board Page 9 • Nominate Your ARSA Teacher of the Year

ARSA REPORTSOfficial Publication of the Arizona Rural Schools Association

in this issue...

Moving On With the LegislatureBy Bill Blong

As we move into the New Year, ARSA is looking forward to a productive year. FY 2013 brought another year of budget shortcomings to critical K-12 education programs. It’s time to reaffirm the commitment to education in the state by supporting equitable programs that address the needs of public schools students. Federal dollars only represent an estimated 10% spent of the cost of education in this state. Arizona still ranks near the bottom for per pupil spending but somehow beats the national average of money spent in the classroom.

Our state legislature faces a number of challenges again this year and one that has been kicked around and picked apart since 2008 is funding K-12 education in the state. Federal grants you have become more and more competitive over years and states find themselves competing against other states for limited funds. States need additional monies to build new assessments and data accountability systems in order to compete. These costs are passed along to the school districts, and rural districts in particular find themselves at a disadvantage with limited manpower in their district to write competitive grants.

The Governor’s plan includes a 1.4% inflation factor increase to the base level (due to a lawsuit) and plans to permanently suspend the formula used to fund classroom materials, supplies and capital funding. On another issue, she proposes to complete a statewide fiber network and plans to pay for it by charging districts $15 per student over 6 years. Reliable high speed internet and bandwidth needs to be in place before all Arizona students are able to take on-line assessments, but reducing the amount given to districts is not the answer. There is no doubt that having enough broadband statewide is critical to improving education and economic growth, but we must take it one step at a time.

Arizona arguably doesn’t spend enough on education and it is a significant issue. They are now working to expand the voucher system by increase empowerment scholarships that should expand private school attendance and reduce the financial burden of students attending private schools. I have yet to see a correlation between increasing school choice for Arizona students and improving education in the state.

There is still a lot of room to get to where we need to be, and sometimes you wonder why our Legislature works so hard to solve problems we don’t have. Good schools happen when you have high-quality teachers and strong leadership. Rural schools are filled with those dedicated professionals, but they need the resources to be competitive. The value in training a literate society and preparing the youth for tomorrow is crucial for the survival of a community. Public education use to be a public service. Your influence is needed to keep it that way. Be informed, be a part, and speak up for education in this state.

Page 1 • Letter from the

Executive Director

Page 3 • Teacher of the Year

Page 5 • Core Six Book

Review

• New Resume System

Activation Code

Page 7 • ARSA Executive

Board

Page 9 • Nominate Your ARSA

Teacher of the Year

• Share Your Expertise

Page 11 • ARSA Teacher of

the Year Nomination

Form 2014

Page 12 • Save the Date!

Winter 2014

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Torie Ellison 2013 Arizona Rural Teacher of the Year

I was born in the small town of White Deer, Texas to Edward and Mina Herring and raised by my Granny on a small farm ten miles outside of town. Growing up playing school was my favorite pastime and she made me a classroom in our farm house basement. In first grade, I got into trouble retrieving materials out of the classroom trash can. We made an agreement then on, I would no longer go into the trash and my teacher would save all of her extras for me. I attended West Texas A and M University in Canyon, Texas graduating in 2005 in Elementary Education, with a SPED K-12 certification. Throughout college I worked as tutor and after graduation I taught 5th grade for two years in a rural community in Texas. In 2008 I got married to my amazing husband Chris, and we moved to Odessa, Texas where I taught 3rd grade until my husband’s job transferred us to Aurora, Colorado. I was sad to leave my home and my family in Texas, but excited about taking a job teaching moderate needs special education. I loved it!!!! Special education was truly where I found my deepest passion. After living in Colorado for two years we decided to move closer to family in Casa Grande, where we are still living with our cute little fur baby of a dog named Flounder.

I am currently teaching for the Toltec Elementary School District in Pinal County in Arizona City. Teaching special education for the severe and profound has stolen my heart and soul. There have been so many amazing memories and successes in teaching this group of children. We see new sparks fly and fires ignite everyday as we mainstream into Kindergarten. It is an awesome wonder to see them grow and interact with their peers. The children I teach hold my heart each and every day. My goal in life is to make an imprint on people’s hearts and lives. I believe I do that every day with my students, I love and believe in them and have high expectations for all of them! What makes me a successful teacher I believe is my passion for these students and always teaching with love.

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He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, can be taught; teach him. He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep; wake him. He who knows, and knows that he knows, is a prophet; follow him.

Persian apothegm

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The Core Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core by Harvey F. Silver, R. Thomas Dewing, and Matthew J. Perini and published by ASCD.

The following is a book review regarding strategies to assist in the implementation of the Arizona College and Career Readiness Standards. The Antelope Union High School staff used this book, The Core Six: Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core for a recent professional development activity. The staff completed the book in teams and presented their findings as part of this activity. The authors of Core Six assume that any schools using the ideas in the book are already deep into the new standards. The book presents strategies that can provide a central focus for faculties and assist in creating a common ground that may improve performance and increase student engagement. The Core Six Areas Include: Reading for Meaning, Compare and Contrast, Inductive Learning, Circle of Knowledge, Write to Learn, Vocabulary’s CODE

Reading for Meaning is designed to help students develop skills used by proficient readers, which will aide in making sense of rigorous texts. This strategy helps improve the management of text complexity, evaluating and using evidence, and developing core reading skills.

Compare and Contrast focuses on conducting comparative analysis of academic content, conducting comparative reading of two or more texts, and integrating information from multiple sources.

Inductive Learning supports students to find patterns and structures built into the content through an inductive process. This strategy serves to build pattern discovery, make logical inferences, support thinking with evidence, and academic vocabulary mastery.

Circle of Knowledge is used to foster discussions that engage all students in deeper thinking and improved communication. The strategy builds the following skills: speaking, listening, presenting as a whole, integrating and evaluating information, and peer collaboration.

Write to Learn integrates writing into daily instruction with a focus on college and career readiness. This concept develops higher order thinking skills through writing, writing in text types including arguments, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives.

Vocabulary’s CODE improves vocabulary instruction and retention. This area focuses on crucial vocabulary terms toward mastery, improving literacy in reading, writing, speaking/listening, and language and building background knowledge as a foundation.The Antelope faculty divided into six teams, each team read and prepared a presentation for the staff and provided lesson plan ideas and classroom strategies related to the team’s particular CORE. The book was well received by the staff and provided various engagement ideas to use in the classroom. In particular, the faculty mentioned engagement as a strong point of the book and felt that integrating more writing into the daily curriculum will improve all-around mastery. Laura Campbell from the Yuma High School District provided a related professional development presentation for the staff to coincide with the book activities. Please contact me if you have any questions utilizing Core Six for PD.

Book Review by Dr. Andrew L. Smith, Superintendent of the Antelope Union HSD

New Activation Code for our RESUME SYSTEMLooking for Teachers? The Resume System is a service to our members looking to fill positions for the 2014-2015 School Year. The activation code changes each year, so ARSA members are invited to set up an account to access the current applicants. We purge old resumes from the Resume System on our website each year in February so you have recent candidates to choose from. We are going to TARIAT at NAU in March to invite prospective teachers to post their resumes, and we also solicit through postings at universities, job fairs, and web resources around the country. Feel free to call contact us you have any further questions.

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President Kit Wood Mobile School District

President-ElectKarl Uterhardtt Tombstone Unified District

Secretary/ Treasurer Wes Brownfield Chino Valley Unified District

Past-President Kathe Ketchem Retired

County Superintendent Janice Shelton La Paz County School Superintendent

Higher Education Patty Horn Northern Arizona University

Business Advisor Tim O’Malley The O’Malley Group

Regional Representative NE - Lance Heister Winslow Unified District NW - John Warren Topock School District SE - Justin DeMellow Pinal County

SW - Andy Smith Antelope Union HSD

Maricopa Region Robin Berry Palo Verde School District

Executive Director Bill Blong

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Page 9

Henry Ford

Nominate Your Teacher of

the Year before April 1st

The ARSA Teacher of the Year Program

recognizes the hard working, outstanding

teachers you have in your schools.

It is open to Arizona Rural Schools

statewide.

The paperwork is minimal, and it can be a

life changing experience.

Take a moment to nominate that teacher

in your school.

Teachers will be recognized from every

county in the state and one will represent

Arizona at the national convention.

Don’t let the urgent outweigh the

important!

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

Share Your Expertise at our

2014 Annual Conference

ARSA is currently accepting

Presentation Proposals for the 2014

Annual Conference to be held at Little

America September 18-20th.

You can download the form from our

website at www.azruralschools.org.

Proposals will be accepted through

April 1, 2014. Please contact us if you

have any questions.

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ARSA  TEACHER  OF  THE  YEAR  2014  

INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  NOMINATIONS    

The   undersigned   hereby   nominates   the   following   teacher,   who   has   made   significant  contributions  as  a  classroom  teacher,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Arizona  Rural  Schools  Association  TEACHER  OF  THE  YEAR.    TEACHER’S  NAME  ___________________________________________________    SCHOOL  ___________________________  DISTRICT  ________________________    COUNTY  ___________________________________________________________    Your  Nomination  Packet  must  include  ALL  of  the  following:    

• Your  letter  of  Nomination  describing:  o The   contributions   the   teacher   has   made   as   a   teacher   with   students   and  

colleagues.  o The  impact  the  teacher  had  made  with  students,  parents,  and  the  Community.  o The  accomplishments  the  teacher  has  achieved  within  the  rural  school.  

 • The  completed  Nomination  Form  in  the  format  it  is  presented.    It  may  be  reproduced  on  

a  computer;  however  the  format  must  remain  the  same  including  the  number  of  spaces  designated  for  each  area.  

 • The  Signature  Page  (Only  one  signature  is  required.)  

 Do  Not  Substitute  This  Form  with  A  Resume  Or  Vita  

 SIGNATURE  OF  NOMINATOR  ______________________________________________________  

 Telephone:  _____________________      e-­‐mail:___________________________________________________  

 Nominations  Close  April  1,  2014  

Please  limit  nominations  to  one  teacher  per  school.    Thank  you!    

The  entire  application  is  available  on  our  website  or  contact  us  for  more  information.    

William  Blong,  Executive  Director,  PO  Box  3123,  Parker,  AZ  85344  Phone:  928.575.4501;  email:  [email protected]; (fax)  928.575.4502;  

Arizona Rural Schools AssociationP.O. Box 3123Parker, AZ 85344

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDPHOENIX,AZ

PERMIT NO.750

Save The Date!

September 18-20, 2014Little America•Flagstaff, AZ

Arizona Rural Schools Association2014 Annual Conference

REGISTERNOW!

Registration forms are currently availableon our website: www.azruralschools.org