BULLETIN - RESA2 · goals and plans. atalyst school ... Hamlin PK-8 realized that all teachers did not have the ... dent engagement is through the Instructional Practices Inven-

BULLETIN RESA 2, 2001 McCoy Road, Huntington, WV 25701

Phone: 304.529.6205 ~ Fax: 304.529.6209 ~ http://resa2.k12.wv.us Spring 2015

Inside this Edition: Catalyst Schools: The Spark Has Ignited! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Reimagining Time at Hamlin Pk-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Regional Social Studies Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Students Honored for 2015 Art Contest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Regional Math Field Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Area Students “Rock” ELA Performance Tasks!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Let the Mentoring Begin!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Student Voice/Student Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Reimagining Professional Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 RESA 2 Welcomes New Staff Members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Blended Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Follow Us on Twitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Building Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PBL Summer Institute Planned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Leading Today for a Better Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Continuous School Improvement (CSI) Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 WV Teachers Honored with Arch Coal Golden Apple Award . . . . 9 Cabell Teacher Receives Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award 9 21st CCLC Youth Education Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

CATALYST SCHOOLS: THE SPARK HAS IGNITED!

In July of 2014, two schools from RESA 2, Culloden Elemen-tary and Salt Rock Elementary, attended the first training for a new WVBE project: Catalyst Schools. The project is focused on empowerment of teachers to take ownership of their own pro-fessional learning and working together as a school wide team to address identified goals for student achievement. Learning Forward, author Joellen Killian delivered the two day training to RESA 2 and RESA 3 selected schools and RESA staffs. Schools embraced the work, creating Logic Models and working plans to begin the school year. An intense, focused dialogue occurred among the school staffs as each school de-termined how they would best become a true “learning school”. RESA 2 curriculum and instruction staff provided sup-port through specialized professional learning opportunities at each site. In September, Hamlin PK-8 School joined the Catalyst School project. The leadership team worked with RESA 2 to gain an understanding of the project and began crafting their goals and plans. Catalyst school principals meet regularly to discuss how their schools are implementing their logic models and the roles the teachers are taking on. Teachers at the schools are work-ing together to deliver professional learning to their colleagues. Each school has created unique pathways that work for their school. The most difficult piece of the project has been re-imagining time to address the particular needs of the school. However, all three schools have successfully re-imagined the time allotted to their school day. In March of this year, counties were informed that Cohort 2 would be in place for the 2015-16 school year. RESA 2 will have at least four additional schools join the project this sum-mer. The fire is burning bright!

Monthly Catalyst School discussions with principals and

central office staff.

REIMAGINING TIME AT HAMLIN PK-8

Hamlin PK-8 was selected as a pilot school for the Catalyst School initiative. One important aspect of being a Catalyst school and progressing toward becoming a learning school is reimagining time within the school day creating sustained weekly intervals for professional learning and collaboration. Hamlin PK-8 realized that all teachers did not have the opportunity to share common planning time and that it would be necessary to reimagine structures to meet the needs of educators and ensure all grade levels could collaborate. Teachers met and developed a plan to carve out a block of time for the teacher groups who did not have common plan-ning. The plan created allowed middle school students to be partnered in a mentoring/buddy situation with elementary students. Two teachers, administrators, and the school guid-ance counselor monitor the students. Teachers were then able to meet in a PLC format to examine data and determine their professional learning needs. Both teachers and students found the solution to be a

wonderful addition to the school. Students are able to assume a leadership role and the instructional pro-cess is not interrupted as students work together in educational endeavors. Hamlin continues to imagine possibilities for collaborative teaming that is so im-portant to the Catalyst school process.

Middle school students tutor elementary students and exercise

student leadership at Hamlin Pk-8 in their reimagined time format.

Spring 2015 Page 2

REGIONAL SOCIAL STUDIES FAIR

The RESA 2 Regional Social Studies Fair was held at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. Fifty-five project win-ners from the county level qualified for the regional fair. Students represented Ca-bell, Mason and Mingo counties. First place winners from each category are eligible to participate in the state event at the Charleston Civic Center. Ms. Lenora Richardson, Cabell County Director of Curriculum & Assessment, spearheaded this endeav-or. Ms. Richardson has coordinated the RESA 2 Social Studies Fair for the last five years. She re-cruits judges, secures the location, and ensures that the Regional Social Studies Fair experience is a memorable one for the student participants. We encourage all RESA 2 counties to participate in next year’s event. Students in grades 4-8 may submit a traditional social studies fair project. High school stu-dents participate in National History Day projects. For more information, please visit www.wvssfair.com.

REGIONAL MATH FIELD DAY

RESA 2 Regional Math Field Day was held on March 27th at the Southern WV Community & Technical College, Mt. Gay, WV. We had excellent participation from all six counties and our students showed their academic excel-lence throughout the day in the testing venue. The region is very proud of our students and their motivation, deter-mination and academic knowledge. RESA 2 would like to thank all the proctors/scorers who helped put this event together. A special thanks goes to our county testing coordinators: Rachel Campbell, Ca-bell County; Kirk King, Lincoln County; Scott Justice, Logan County; Rebecca Hatfield, Mason County, Judy McCoy, Mingo County; and John Waugaman, Wayne County. Our gratitude also goes to SWVCTC for hosting the event along with Logan County Superintendent Phyllis Doty. We also want to thank Logan County Board Member and former RESA 2 Council Chairperson, Phyllis Adkins for assisting with the presentation of the awards.

Parents and students anxiously await the announcement of Regional Math Field Day winners.

Scott Justice, Logan County Coordinator, and Phyllis Adkins,

Logan County Board Member,

present awards.

MFD participants take a break from testing and enjoy lunch compliments of RESA 2.

Students display their exhibits during the Regional Social Studies Fair.

STUDENTS HONORED FOR 2015 ART CONTEST

Several Huntington High School Fine Art Academy drawing students recently entered and placed in the 2015 West Virginia Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest. In the competition level for grades 10-12, first place went to Autumn Brinegar, second place was received by Teresa Ward, while Megan Matt, Rebeckah Damron, Nate Brumfield, and Jacob Kelly all received honorable mentions. In the 7-9 grade student competition level, first place was awarded to Cahley Farrell, second place received by Kathleen Korstanje, while honorable mentions went to Sophia Haddox and Colten Craft. A copy of the students’ artwork will be on display at The Refuge Visitor Center at The Ohio River Islands Na-tional Wildlife Refuge in Williamstown, West Virginia. All students who placed will receive a certificate, a silk rib-bon of place, along with prizes consisting of various art supplies.

Spring 2015 Page 3

AREA STUDENTS “ROCKING” ELA PERFORMANCE TASKS!

RESA 2 has been supporting local teachers and stu-dents by modeling best practices when it comes to pre-paring students for the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Lynn Davis, RESA 2’s Coordinator for Curriculum and In-struction, has visited multiple schools and classrooms across the six counties. The focus in the classroom lesson modeling has been on the NXT Gen Standards that may be addressed in the writing portion on the ELA perfor-mance task. Students and teachers have been exposed to close reading, annotation methods, how to cite from multiple sources in text, note-taking strategies and how to write opinion, persuasive and argumentative essays.

Third graders at Salt Rock

Elementary reading an

informational text prepar-

ing to write a persuasive

letter to their principal.

Third graders at Hugh

Dingess Elementary doing a

close read in preparation

to write an informational

essay.

Students at Holden Elemen-

tary working collaboratively to

cite evidence from multiple

sources to answer a text-

dependent question.

LET THE MENTORING BEGIN!

On Mondays at Buffalo Elementary School in Wayne County, the faces of RESA 2, Special Education Director, Dr. Kristi James, and Technical Assistance Support Specialist, Courtney Pritchard, have become a welcome tradition. In sup-port of the schools current Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Program, the duo meets with groups of students in third and fourth grades. With a fo-cus of responsibility, academics, appropriate behav- iors, and attendance ance, the students are able to develop a one-on-one rela-tionship with the mentors, as they set and track smart goals for success both in and out of the classroom. With a focus of becoming good decision makers, the Bison Buddies gather around tables to analyze their own student data, craft specific goals, define action plans, and progress monitor. And the learning doesn’t stop there. Once the stu-dents leave the mentor-ing sessions, they are challenged by RESA 2 staff to continue a lead-ership role wherever their feet may roam. In support for anoth-er PBIS program, Tech-nical Assistance Support Specialist, Courtney Pritchard, and RESA 2’s new Dropout Prevention Coach, Marsha Jarrell, mentor middle school students at Chapmanville Middle School in Logan County. In collaboration with the administrators and teachers, mentors meet with stu-dents with the same focus as above: how to become better decision makers, how to analyze their own data, and how to monitor their personal progress, effort, failures, and successes in order to make positive change. It is our belief that through these positive interactions with students, we will instill intrin-sic motivation, observation, and reflection in order for each student to be college and career ready.

Students at Buffalo Elementary School enjoy Mentoring Mondays!

Courtney Pritchard, RESA Technical Assis-tance Support Specialist, mentors

students at Buffalo Elementary School.

Spring 2015 Page 4

INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES INVENTORY (IPI)

Student engagement is one of the most important factors in raising student achievement. One way of measuring stu-dent engagement is through the Instructional Practices Inven-tory process or IPI. West Virginia has been promoting the us-age of IPI for many years. RESA 2 continues to support schools by offering data col-lection, IPI overviews for staffs, and trainings for new coders. Richard Lawrence, a certified IPI trainer, recently conducted two sessions at RESA 2 for new coders. Upon completion of the training process, these teachers will be able to serve as data collectors for their schools and to facilitate faculty collab-orations around the data. The collaborative conversations that occur after the collections help teachers effectively design and implement engaging learning experiences for their stu-dents and to set goals for the school to work toward in terms of student engagement.

STUDENT VOICE / STUDENT ASPIRATIONS

What do students think about school? This seemingly simple question opens the door to genuine and authentic student voice in schools, where educators ask for their students' opinions and really lis-ten to what they have to say. However, student voice isn't just about asking and listening - it is also about what happens next. Student voice truly takes off when teachers and stu-dents engage in meaningful dialogue about real and im-portant issues, and then actively partner together. When students see that their voices are being heard and influ-encing decisions, and they are invited to act as leaders in that process, a collaborative community of learners is formed. Engaging student voice and co-leadership aids in building strong relationships between teachers and stu-dents, activating students' participation in their own learning and within the greater school community, and through clearly mapping how present school experience can help them work towards their futures. The bottom line is that, in order to truly teach our students, we must be willing to learn from them. Only they can tell us where they would like their journey to take them beyond school, and that is essential infor-mation if we are to do the important work of successful-ly inspiring and equipping them for what lies ahead. www.qisa.org/framework/students.jsp Russ Quaglia

REIMAGINING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

In many cases, professional development has been dictated by the state department, county level curricu-lum directors, and school administrators based on per-ceived needs that the county or state believe meet the needs of schools. However, at the direction of the WV Board of Education (WVBE), West Virginia is now looking at a redefinition professional learning (PL) as individual schools move toward becoming learning schools. This transition enables educators to examine their own strengths and weaknesses and set professional learning goals that allow them to create their own pathway to educator understanding and learning. This teacher em-powerment has the potential to revolutionize the con-cept of professional learning. RESA 2, in conjunction with WVDE and WVBE, is at the forefront of the change-over in professional learning. Three schools in RESA 2 participated in year one of the Catalyst School initiative. Schools developed academic goals and each teacher within the building created an individual plan to guide their own professional learning in order to increase stu-dent achievement. Teachers within the schools initially sought out external professional learning through the state department and RESA 2 resources. As the year pro-gressed, educators within the schools began working together to support one another, brought their own ex-pertise to the table, and began to share and support fel-low educators in their professional growth. This initiative has proven to be extremely successful and will move into all six counties. A school in each of RESA 2’s addi-tional four counties has been selected to become a Cata-lyst School for year two. It is indeed an exciting time to be an educator in RESA 2!

Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations

Spring 2015 Page 5

RESA 2 WELCOMES NEW STAFF MEMBERS!

RESA 2 would like to welcome Jeremy Baisden as a WVEIS Specialist. This position is a unique shared service sup-ported through Cabell County Schools. Jeremy has outstand-ing skills which will support our educators. Jeremy has worked for Cabell County Schools for fourteen years, serving the last seven as the WVEIS County Contact. Jeremy has participat-ed in SEQUEL training from Help/Systems and uses the les-sons and experience he has gained to assist RESA 2 coun-ties and the WVDE in develop-ing information retrieval solu-tions. Jeremy is married to Carrie, and they have a daughter, Sa-rah.

Jeremy Baisden

BLENDED LEARNING

What is Blended Learning? The generally accepted definition is an education program or class in which in-struction is delivered through both traditional direct-instruction by a teacher and the use of some form of digital media to enhance student achievement. Mason County Schools has implemented a Blended Learning Model in all of their secondary self-contained class-rooms for students with disabilities. This model has in-volved the use of computer based programs (OnTarget and Plato), web-based instructional programs, and di-rect instruction by the special education teacher in mathematics and language arts. This method allows students to have direct access to content and allows the teacher to meet the needs of students through direct whole group or one-on-one instruction. RESA 2 has provided support for this initiative to assist teachers in lesson planning, resources, and next steps. For additional information, please contact Tam-my Stowers at [email protected] or 304.529.6205 ext. 24.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Have you noticed the Twitter feed on the RESA 2 webpage? If not, you are missing out. RESA 2 is using the social media site, Twitter, to showcase what is happening in our region. Check out some of the re-cent tweets. We share tweets that highlight educa-tion from West Virginia to the world. Don’t have a Twitter account? Sign up today. It’s free and easy. Simply click the follow button on the RESA 2 webpage. Follow the directions to get your own account and follow RESA 2. Twitter is a great way to keep up with what is happening in education. You can follow other people and organizations that interest you. Put @wvresa2 in your tweets to share your own pictures or comments with us. You may make the RESA 2 webpage!

Marsha Walsh Jarrell joins RESA 2 as a Technical As-sistance Support/Dropout Specialist. She graduated from

Marshall University in 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and served as a community counselor for four years in the Huntington area. In 2006, she graduated from the Marshall University Gradu-ate College with a Master of Arts in Teaching with a Grade 5-Adult specialization. Marsha has taught English/Language Arts at both Chapmanville Mid-dle School and Chapmanville Regional High School in Logan County where she implement-ed effective instructional strat-egies in her classroom. She was

a teacher leader and attended numerous professional trainings, such as the Teacher Leadership Institute, and she also delivered professional development to Logan County teachers and administrators. Marsha enjoys spending time with her family, travel-ing, reading, writing, and researching.

Marsha Jarrell

Spring 2015 Page 6

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Leadership Development is important to RESA 2, and the administrators in our region. One topic that is al-ways necessary is “Building Positive Relationships”. RESA 2 collaborated with Dr. Steven Edwards to offer a signa-ture look at building relationships. Dr. Steven Edwards is an award-winning administrator, speaker, trainer, and professor and the creator of the ED methods and prod-ucts that have transformed schools throughout the na-tion. A leader nationally recognized by USA Today for his innovative approach to education, Dr. Edwards success-fully implemented numerous programs to improve stu-dent performance during his sixteen-year tenure as a school administrator. Dr. Edwards also has been instru-mental in helping countless school districts tailor similar programs with positive, far-reaching results. In addition, Dr. Edwards is an internationally recognized keynote speaker; facilitator, and trainer. He is regularly featured as a content expert on television and radio with appear-ances on CNN on topics such as 21st Century teaching and learning, school climate and educational reform for a globalized world. He has worked in 49 states and 42 countries. Dr. Edwards has worked locally, nationally and internationally with both for-profit and non-profit organ-izations, such as schools, corporations, municipalities and countries. Dr. Edwards shared real-life anecdotal situations that not only tugged on the heartstrings, but also called us to the hard work of reaching and teaching our students in RESA 2. He gave administrators the opportunity to ex-plore the benefits of building relationships with staff and students. In addition, participants left the session with concepts, ideas and tools they can immediately imple-ment in their schools and districts to transform the learning experience for all stakeholders.

RESA 2 is teaming up with Buck Institute to provide a three day workshop where teachers, administrators and county personnel can learn how to create a project based learning environment in all classrooms. This workshop will be held at RESA 2 June 2-4 and will focus on training the staffs from the new catalyst schools of Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Wayne and Mingo Counties. These schools in-clude Hamlin PK-8 in Lincoln, West Chapmanville Grade in Logan, Prichard Elementary in Wayne, New Haven Ele-mentary in Mason and Gilbert Elementary in Mingo Coun-ty. Each participant will receive a PBL book and obtain the knowledge and skills to begin a project relevant to their classroom and grade levels from a Buck Institute present-er. Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an ex-tended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge. This teaching method is an excellent way to incorporate the NXT Gen Standards and prepare our students to be college and career ready. The NXT Gen Standards and other present-day standards emphasize real-world application of knowledge and skills, and the development of the 21st century competencies such as critical thinking, communi-cation in a variety of media, and collaboration. PBL pro-vides an effective way to address such standards. PBL al-lows teachers to work more closely with active, engaged students doing high-quality, meaningful work, and in many cases to rediscover the joy of learning alongside their students.

PBL SUMMER INSTITUTE PLANNED

Spring 2015 Page 7

LEADING TODAY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW FOR SCHOOL LEADERS!

In collaboration with Richard Lawrence, RESA 2 offered a four part series to school leaders and leader-ship teams, called, Leading Today for a Better Tomor-row! Informational, interactive, robust, and connected to data analysis, these sessions gave leadership teams the opportunity to look at school improvement in an in-dividualized way. Participants were given the opportuni-ty to share, learn and change the way that view data, consensus building, relationships, and continuous school improvement. The training sessions also explored how administrators work as a part of the team to support the development of professional learning teams and imple-mentation of a distributed model of leadership. As an overview the teams work-shopped through the following sessions: Session One: Learned how to set clear work expectations for the

School Leadership Team and the Collaborative Teams by providing the basic work structures.

Learned how to define specific tasks that the teams will accomplish and tools that will be used by admin-istrators and teams in accomplishing those tasks;

Learned to help teams move to collaborative reflec-tion of instructional practices resulting in teacher learning and improved instruction;

Learned how to challenge teams to move from a dis-cussion of teaching to a discussion of learning by structuring efforts to use student achievement data in the planning process.

Session Two: Learned how to assist teams in defining what stu-

dents should learn and what evidence is necessary for documenting success.

Session Three: Learned how to support teachers with instruction

and training on data analysis and interpretation

through providing structures and tools. Learned how to provide emotional support for

teams and individual members as they confront issues discovered in data.

Session Four: Learned how to move from a directive approach

with teams to coordinate available resources and support innovative approaches to differenti-ating learning.

Learned how to assist teams and teachers to respond instructionally to student data by asking

teams to reflect on the right questions and giving teams the resources to build appropriate differenti-ated responses.

Learned how to support high performing teams to move full circle to connecting learning back to teach-ing.

Now retired and consulting, Richard Lawrence has served as Executive Director of the Office of Title II, School and School System Improvement in the Superin-tendent’s Center for 21st Century Schools at the West Virginia Department of Education. He oversaw the WVDE compliance monitoring of the highly qualified teacher provisions of NCLB and provided research based technical assistance for schools and school systems attempting to become high performing 21st century learning organizations.

CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT (CSI)

CSI and we are not talking about Crime Scene Investi-gations! RESA 2 has a new website that is dedicated to Continuous School Improvement. www.Resa2-csi.com is our new educational platform that provides multimedia resources for educators. Through our interdisciplinary stories and links to resources, we provide effective ways for educators to build professional knowledge, examine and use their data effectively, research strategies, find books that can inform their work, and review profession-al learning opportunities. The site is user-friendly and houses six quick tabs that link to our main topics. The tabs are linked to a our virtu-al bookshelf, Shelfari and best practices videos from the Teaching Channel, several Symbaloos, a calendar of up-

Spring 2015 Page 8

coming events, bios of our curriculum staff and their offerings, and a featured strategy . . . all of this to sup-port our efforts for school improvement. We at RESA 2 will continue to add to the site monthly to meet your needs. Our goal is to provide comprehensive, meaning-ful support for our schools and teachers. The Symbaloos are a visual representation of web-sites and resources. We currently have seven Symbaloos on our site: Differentiation, Literacy, NXTGen Standards, Culture and Climate, Leadership Teams and PLCs, Per-sonalized Instruction and Using Classroom Data. These Symbaloos are organized to offer vetted resources for educators. We have a lot to offer, check out our new site!

Spring 2015 Page 9

The Arch Coal Foundation presented 17 West Vir-ginia teachers today with its Golden Apple Award. The Golden Apple Awards are part of the Arch Coal Foundation’s teacher recognition program. Golden Apple Award recipients earned finalist status in the program, distinguishing them as being in the top tier of the 2015 nominees. Ms. Catherine Weber, a Cabell County Teacher at Hite-Saunders Elementary School, was among those chosen for this award. “These standout teachers challenge their students to learn at the highest levels, and then teach them how to succeed,” said Russ Lorince, vice president of external affairs for Arch Coal. “The judges, all past re-cipients of the Teacher Achievement Award, had a very difficult time this year determining the 12 top recipients because of the quality of the applications. The teachers we honor today are outstanding, and we hope they are nominated and compete again next year.” Teachers are nominated for the Arch Coal awards by the public. The program is 27 years old and is West Virginia’s longest-running, privately sponsored teacher recognition program. Teachers receiving Golden Apple Awards are:

The Teacher Achievement Awards are under-written by the Arch Coal Foundation and are support-ed in program promotion by the West Virginia Depart-ment of Education, the West Virginia Education Associ-

CABELL TEACHER HONORED WITH ARCH COAL GOLDEN APPLE AWARD

ation and the West Virginia Library Commission. Arch Coal and the Arch Coal Foundation have a long history of supporting educational and community causes in West Virginia. The Arch Coal Foundation also supports teacher recognition or grants programs in Wyoming and Colorado, as well as a number of other education-related causes. St. Louis-based Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) is one of the world’s top coal producers for the global steel and power generation industries, serving customers on five continents. Its network of mining complexes is the most diversified in the United States, spanning every major coal basin in the nation. The company controls more than 5 billion tons of high-quality metallurgical and ther-mal coal reserves, with access to all major railroads, in-land waterways and a growing number of seaborne trade channels. In West Virginia, Arch Coal and its sub-sidiaries employ about 1,800 people. For more infor-mation, visit archcoal.com.

Tina Akers Henry J. Kaiser ES

Jim Bidwell Grafton HS

Connie Bowers Madison ES

Eric Brand Nutter Fort PS

Aleta Crotty Mercer ES

Helen Durgin George Washington ES

Joshua Fix Charleston Catholic HS

Jessica Hartman Union Ed. Complex

Mary Hovatter Belington MS

Mary Jo Jividen George Washington ES

Erika Klose Winfield MS

Beth Lyons Hedgesville ES

Charity Marstiller Wildwood MS

Rhonda Ritchie Henry J. Kaiser ES

Sheila Ruddle Pendleton County MS

MeriBeth Underwood Woodrow Wilson HS

Catherine Weber Hite-Saunders ES

“I knew I wanted to be a teacher in first grade,” said Kelli Jordan. “My first grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, made a lasting im-pression. She loved children and her love of teaching rubbed off on me. I love children and will do whatever it takes to help them succeed in the classroom, but most importantly, in life,” she continued. “My students are my motivation every day. I love them all the same and will do whatever it takes to ensure they have a pos-itive learning experience.” As a result of Jordan’s ability to provide positive expe-

riences for her students, she received this statewide recognition. She was one of only 12 teachers to receive a 2015 Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award. Teachers are nominated by the public, and a blue-ribbon panel of past awards recipients selects the annual winners. Each Teacher Achievement Awards recipient is presented with a distinctive trophy, a classroom plaque and a $3,500 per-sonal cash award. The West Virginia Foundation for the Improvement of Education, a foundation of WVEA, also presents a $1,000 cash award to each recipient’s school for use with at-risk students. Article by Arch Coal.

CABELL TEACHER RECEIVES ARCH COAL TEACHER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Kelli Jordan, Teacher, Ona Elementary School,

Cabell county

Spring 2015 Page 10

21ST CCLC YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAM (YEP)

Meet the Educators who make the Youth Education Program (YEP), a 21st CCLC program successful in Mingo County. Gilbert Middle School Site: Robin Ellis is the site coordinator for the Gilbert 21st CCLC Youth Education Program. She also serves as the RESA 2 liaison. Ms. Ellis is a graduate of Bluefield State College and a National Board Certified Teacher in Adoles-cent –Young Adult English Language Arts. She teaches 6th and 7th grade English Language Arts at Gilbert Middle School. She has held var-ious leadership positions ranging from LSIC presi-dent to Faculty Senate chair, many state and county commit-tees, and has delivered many workshops and professional learning sessions throughout Mingo County. She is a previous Arch Coal Teacher of the Year, Gilbert High Teacher of the Year, RESA 2 Exemplary Teaching Techniques Award recipient, and Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship winner. In her capacity as the Gilbert Middle School YEP site coordinator, she works to design a program that instills confidence in participating students, creates opportunities for success, inspires students to be givers rather than tak-ers, and challenges them to be leaders in their schools, families, and communities. Gilbert Middle School YEP Teacher Tutors: Georgia Brown is a READ 180 specialist who sets high standards for all students while providing structure and a sense of purpose to each after school day. Mrs. Brown builds relationships with the students not only in the afterschool program but continues to support them throughout the school day and into the summer program. Carmella Porter provides homework help. Her enthu-siasm and outgoing personality lead to strong relation-ships with her students. She is the “go to” for family con-tacts and communication.

Naomi Cline also provides homework help. She en-gages students and gets them to look at issues from vari-ous viewpoints. All three educators are genuine and thoughtful. They are passionate about what they do and touch each and every aspect of our program, not just the academic com-ponent. They are driven by their desire set examples for our YEP students and to model the behavior that we teach them about each day. This current academic year, students have enjoyed a variety of weekly pursuits such as sewing and quilting, line dancing, robotics, art, music, basketball skills, and character education, to name a few. They have also cre-ated a cozy space--the game room--that belongs solely to YEP students as it is not used by anyone else in the building. The room is sectioned into various centers, such as an art center, a digital gaming center that con-tains arcade style games, a Wii, PlayStation, etc., an iPad center, and a Science and Social Studies center, etc. Stu-dents helped design the centers themselves and have really taken ownership of the space—enjoying how it is evolving into a true space of their own. Williamson PK-8 Youth Education Program: Site Coordinator, Tonya R. Hatcher, a 4th grade class-room teacher, has been teaching for fifteen years in Mingo County. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elemen-tary Education, and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Mrs. Hatcher is also a National Board Certi-fied Teacher in Early-Middle Childhood Literacy. Mrs. Hatcher has been with YEP since the initial year, as a teacher/tutor, and recently took over the role as Site Coordinator in Williamson. While continuing her own education and mentoring fellow educators, Mrs. Hatcher has worked extensively with the West Virginia Department of Education in numerous projects, as well as, five years with the Teacher Leadership Institute. Mrs. Hatcher is a former RESA 2 Exem-plary Teaching Techniques Award Recipient, Mingo County Teacher of the Year, and the first annual Hallie Harless Distinguished Teacher of the Year Awardee. Mrs. Hatcher has a passion for teaching and learning, and feels her work beyond the regular school day through the YEP Afterschool Program affords her an op-portunity to further impact the lives of students, as well

Georgia Brown, Carmella Porter, Naomi Cline , YEP Teacher Tutors and Robin Ellis, YEP Site Coordinator,

Gilbert Elementary School

Tonya Hatcher

Spring 2015 Page 11

as, her school and community. Believing that relationship building is critical to increasing student achievement, Mrs. Hatcher enjoys the children that she gets to work with beyond her classroom doors; YEP allows that inter-action with youth of all grades. The YEP tutors work dili-gently with students, providing instruction in a small group setting, as they each bring their own expertise to the program. They are committed to students and the students realize that. The actively growing enrichment component provides a link between our school and our community. Through this they are able to promote health and wellness, the arts, technology integration, and awareness programs to further support students. Williamson PK-8 YEP is an extended-school day fami-ly…from the bus drivers to the cook, to the teacher-tutors…with one common goal, increase student achieve-ment while building relationships that foster support and encouragement while also giving back to the communi-ties in which we live. Williamson PK-8 YEP Teacher Tutors: Carmen Soltesz has been teaching for seven years. She is currently a Social Studies teacher at Williamson Pre K-8. She began her teaching career at Williamson Middle School and transferred when the middle school merged with Riverside Elementary. Mrs. Soltesz is certified to teach both Social Studies and Eng-lish/Language Arts. She graduated from Circleville Bible College (now Ohio Christian University) and ob-tained her teaching license through Ashland University. She and her husband are both originally from the northern part of the state. Mrs. Soltesz is very happy to be working with YEP. She began her affiliation with YEP during the summer program last year. She believes, "It is a wonderful program. Students have access to the help they need and to enrichment ac-tivities that make learning more enjoyable. It's a great feeling to see kids having fun in a tutoring program. Mr. Wendell E. Booten has 37 years of teaching ex-perience. Mr. Booten attended Southern WV Community College and received a 2yr degree which he transferred to Marshall University. He later completed his 4 year de-gree in Education, where he obtained a major in Business with a minor in Social Studies. Mr. Booten taught in sev-eral elementary schools before going back to get his Mas-

ters Degree in Elementary Edu-cation. He later went back to school to get certified in Math. He has been teaching math ever since in the middle schools. Mr. Booten has taught afterschool at Williamson Mid-dle and now at Williamson PK-8 and thinks it is a wonderful pro-gram. It offers students a chance to work hard to bring

themselves up to a point they can be successful. Teresa McCoy earned her Associates Degree from Southern WV Community College and her BA degree in Elementary Education from Midway College. She also has a MA in Teaching with Technology. Ms. McCoy currently teaches 5th grade Math and Sci-ence, although she has taught multiple grades and subjects. Ms. McCoy enjoys her role in the afterschool program and thinks the tutor-ing and homework help truly make a difference in the stu-dents’ classroom perfor-mance. Pamela Hager currently teaches 4th grade at William-son PK-8. She is a graduate of Pikeville College with a Bachelor's Degree in Early Ele-mentary Education. She is an active volunteer with the 4-H Club, and heads the chapter at our school. Additionally, she has participated in the Shewey Science Academy dur-ing the summer for the last 5 years.

Ms. Hager feels the YEP afterschool pro-gram is a great resource for students to both "catch-up" on important skills and also have enrich-ment activities in which they can be involved with in a safe and fun environ-ment.

21ST CCLC PROGRAM (continued)

Carmen Soltesz

Wendell Booten

Teresa McCoy

Pamela Hager

Spring 2015 Page 12

SPRING EVENTS

Wayne HS Principal Sara Stapleton, Courtney

Pritchard, RESA 2, and team member Tasha

Justice gather to support WHS in a Graduation

20/20 activity.

Dustin Lambert, Teacher, Lincoln County HS,

shares at-risk student data with staff in support

of their Graduation 20/20 Plan.

Region 2 educators attend Priority Schools Meeting.

Area educators attend MDC/LDC training.

Dr. Cockrille installed as the President of the

Association of Educational Service

Agencies (AESA).

National AEPA roundtable discussion with WV RESAs.