DCIU Update · 2012. 11. 27. · DCIU Update A Word From Dr. Larry O’Shea Delaware County Intermediate Unit #25 October 2012 Greetings from the Office of the Executive Director.

DCIU Update

A Word From Dr. Larry O’Shea

October 2012 Delaware County Intermediate Unit #25

DCIU Update

A Word From Dr. O’Shea

October 2012 Delaware County Intermediate Unit #25

Inside this issue:

Detention Center

Students , Staff

Observe Breast Cancer

Awareness Month

2

Speech Staff Sponsors

Countywide Inservice

3

OPTIONS Staff Present

at Conference

3

DCTS Students Showcase Work at

TechFest

4

Hearing Program

Establishes New

Partnership

4

TCA Unity Day

Focuses on Bullying

5

DCIU Employee Engagement Council

Now Forming

6

HR/Health Corner 7

Greetings from the Office of the Executive Director. I

wanted to take this moment to share the following update

of some of our activities over the past several weeks.

In terms of our facilities, we are in the planning stages of

upgrading the Marple Education Center roof. Once all

approvals are secured, we hope to start this work in the

summer of 2013. In addition, we are in the process of

doing a comprehensive facilities study to assess our buildings to see where we might co-locate programs, make better use of our own

buildings, in addition to leasing space elsewhere, and to make sure we are efficient-

ly using our buildings in the best possible way to positively effect student learning.

We will keep you apprised of the progress on these two items.

On the IT front, we have decided to move to a different online professional develop-

ment and reporting system, as a result of discussions emanating from the Shared

Services Forum that DCIU held last spring. My Learning Plan (MLP) will replace

DCIU’s Coursewhere professional development registration and reporting system.

In addition to all of Coursewhere’s features, MLP will link DCIU with the 8 districts throughout the county that are current MLP clients, making it easier for our

districts to access all of our professional development offerings. Staff in districts

currently using MLP will not even have to create a separate account to access our

catalog. DCIU’s use of MLP will also allow for a price break for Delaware County

MLP districts. Educators and support staff can complete and submit their individual

learning plans online. Every user can have full access to their individual portfolios,

plans, and transcripts. DCIU will also be better able to keep our professional

development catalog up to date and faculty and staff can register directly from our

online catalog, and we can integrate online courses and interface with many regional course catalogs. MLP can also manage PDE Act 48 reporting and new

teacher induction as well.

Finally, I wanted to extend my appreciation to DCIU administrators and staff for

their handling of the emergency processes around Hurricane Sandy. Preparing for

this devastating storm gave us an opportunity to review our current processes and

ensure that our systems were in place. Kudos to all those involved for working

together as a team to accomplish this. Thank you for your efforts.

Page 2 DCIU Update

Detention Center Teachers, Students Observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the DCIU

staff and students and the Juvenile Detention Center participated in

an activity which created increased awareness of this disease.

The students colored and placed shoes up and down the hallway in

keeping with the theme of “Kick Out Cancer.” Some students

celebrated the survival of a loved one, while others remembered

those lost to the disease. People from all walks of life have to deal

with breast cancer either directly or indirectly, and so, the staff

provided the students with information in a variety of ways, includ-

ing lessons within individual classrooms, “Did you Know”

informative posters in the hallways, information packets, and a

special speaker.

Working collaboratively with the Detention Center staff, each

Living Unit received a packet of information about cancer to read

and discuss during their leisure time. The girls made bracelets, door hangers and cookies in honor of

the those who are continually fighting with cancer and those who are now at peace.

The students had the opportunity to listen and ask questions of Peggy Reinoehl. Peggy explained the

educational aspects as well as shared her own personal experiences with cancer. The students were

sympathetic and asked good questions about the disease and how breast cancer has affected her life.

All of the students willingly participated in coloring the footwear and Lynne Baer’s Science classes

were consumed by questions regarding how cancer starts, how it grows, how it is treated, and many

other cancer related topics. Math teacher, Rachel Stauffer, spent a day doing a lesson on cancer statis-

tics and graphing. The cafeteria even had a "Miss Val Day" (in honor of the late Val Ryan, DCIU Detention Center teacher who lost her battle with cancer earlier this year) and served hot dogs (Val’s

favorite school lunch) in her honor.

This was a great learning experience for all!

Page 3 DCIU Update

Speech & Language Department Sponsors Countywide Inservice

On Tuesday, November 6, 2012 the DCIU Speech & Language Department sponsored a county wide

inservice for DCIU and district Speech-Language Pathologists. The presenter, Joy McGowan, M.A.,

CCC-SLP, provided two workshops for the staff: 1) Addressing Feeding/Dysphagia in the Schools and

2) Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Intervention for Students with Complex

Needs.

DCIU is approved by the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing

Association (ASHA) to provide continuing education activities in speech-language pathology and

audiology.

Barbara Burger and Barbara Lefferts from the DCIU

OPTIONS Transition program recently presented at

the National Association of Job Training Assistance

Regional Conference in Philadelphia. The topics are

relevant to the essentials of the Workforce Develop-

ment Administration at the local/state level. OPTIONS shared information regarding their year

round youth program which is funded by Delaware

County Workforce Investment.

Pictured from left to right: Tom Citro Administration Man-

ager for Delaware County Workforce Investment; Barbara

Burger OPTIONS Supervisor; Ed Donahue, retired from

the US Department of Labor and current Vice President

and CEO of NAJA; Barbara Lefferts, Liaison Coordinator for OPTIONS and Edith Donahue, wife of Ed.

OPTIONS Staff Present at National Conference

Page 4 DCIU Update

New Cooperative Education Partnership with Industry Coffee

Works Provides Real-life Work Experience

Mr. Swierczek's Logistics & Inventory Management

program and Mr. Raffaele's Intensive Learning Support

class took a field trip to Industry Coffee Works in Chester,

PA where they were given the opportunity to observe the

process of roasting, grinding, packaging, and distributing

coffee beans from a modern warehouse and distribution

center. Students were thrilled to be given the opportunity to

apply for open part time positions in the company.

The Early Intervention classroom for students with hearing loss had

the pleasure of hosting two visitors on Thursday, October 25:

Therese Sheehan is the Coordinator of Programs and

Resources for Students with Hearing Loss from the New Jersey

Department of Education (NJDOE) and Kara Rogers is the

Regional Consultant to the NJDOE for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing

students. A subsequent meeting with DCIU program supervisor,

Stefani Doyle, yielded further development of a partnership in

establishing appropriate intervention options to Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing students at the pre-school

level in the state of New Jersey. The DCIU Early Intervention Program for students with hearing

loss is the only out-of-state public school program on the New Jersey list of approved out-of-district

referral options. At this time, the NJDOE is initiating the referral process to DCIU for as many as

five (5) children from Southern New Jersey who will be transitioning to pre-school within the next

six (6 ) months.

EI Hearing Loss Program Establishes Partnership with NJ Dept. of Education

Students Showcase Their Work at Delco TechFEST!

DCTS students presented the second annual TechFEST

at the Springfield Mall on Saturday November 3, from

12 noon to 3:30 pm. This hands-on career exploration

event brought students and families together to explore

tomorrow’s high-demand careers and technologies. Over

400 students and family members participated in the

many activities and demonstrations provided by DCTS

students and staff.

Page 5 DCIU Update

Unity Day at TCA Focuses on Bullying

"Unity Day" was recently held at The County Alternative High

School (TCA). Unity Day, when the school community united

against bullying, was the kickoff event of an intensive effort to try

to limit bullying. It was a true success! True teamwork went into

planning and executing this day and students who normally bully

or unfortunately get bullied, worked together to make this event

fun!

The students were excited that this was a national event and wanted to take a stance against bullying. The students went to

http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/unity-day.asp and learned

about the event and the effects of bullying. They printed out flyers

to hang around the school to promote TCA to “rock orange” and

unite for this cause. The flyers weren’t enough for them so they

also prepared in other ways. Students made posters and banners to

hang in the hallway to remind staff/students to wear orange to

unite against bullying. They decorated 100 orange solo cups and

50 orange plates with the word “Unity” and/or anti-bullying slogans. Some cups and plates read “bullying is whack, get on the

right track,” “Meanness is a sign of weakness,” “Take a stand,

lend a hand,” “Think twice what you type,” “Niceness is priceless,” “Leave bullying to bulls - be human.” Students made

three different kinds of orange ribbons for everyone to wear on

Unity Day.

Two students helped the teaching assistant order 100 pretzels and

had the pretzel vendor spell out the word UNITY to decorate the

table downstairs. When the pretzels arrived, two other students

carried them down and set up. Other students helped carry the

drinks down. The goal was for the students to unite together to do

most of the work for this event so that they felt ownership. Two

students who may not normally speak to one another helped each

other for this event.

On the day of the event, every member of TCA (staff/students)

had something orange on to unite against bullying. They sprayed

each other’s hair, painted each other’s faces, and took pictures

together. A few students walked around with a picture canvas

asking all members of TCA to sign, taking the pledge to unite against bullying. Every member of

TCA signed the pledge. The students also completed an anti-bullying survey created by the school

psychologist. Students were thrilled to be a part of the “Unity Team” and are looking forward to

planning for next months’ “Unity Day.”

Page 6 DCIU Update

DCIU 2012-13 Employee Engagement Council Now Forming

Purpose: 1.To encourage ideas for greater operational efficiency and improved service to children; 2. To build on our

successes with suggestions from those who are in the field and who have the best understanding of their own work; 3. To

increase the number of channels for employee communication; 4. To foster a greater sense of community; 5. To enhance

our quality, productivity, effectiveness and morale.

Meeting Dates: Thursday, December 13, 2012, 4 pm and Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 4 pm

Location: Board Room, 200 Yale Ave. Morton, PA

Employee Engagement Council Guidelines:

1. Beginning in October or November, volunteer representatives will be solicited from the various DCIU sites. Repre-

sentatives may not include IU directors or program supervisors, nor are EEC representatives selected by directors

and supervisors.

2. Volunteers should have strong communication skills, the ability to create and maintain strong working relationships

with supervisors and staff, and the ability to accurately summarize as well as prioritize issues and concerns and

results of the meetings. EEC representatives who have more than one site should establish a line of communication

with each of his/her assigned sites to insure inclusion of the issues from those sites.

3. Staff in each building should submit questions, ideas, suggestions or concerns to their EEC representative either in

person or in writing. These issues/suggestions should represent the whole of the staff and individual/personal

issues should be reserved for one-to-one meetings with supervisors.

4. The EEC representatives will first meet with their supervisors to present the items of concern and attempt to come to

a resolution together. However, the EEC representative should also use his or her best judgment in reviewing the

concerns and in determining how to move forward. Issues that are resolved at that point need not be submitted for

the EEC Meeting Agenda; however, the EEC representative may choose to share the results of his/her meeting

with the supervisor at the EEC meeting. Issues that are not resolved should be submitted to the Director of Legisla-

tive and Community Services, for inclusion on the EEC meeting agenda. Prior to the submission of the issues, EEC

representatives should consider the following for each issue:

Has the issue been discussed with the supervisor (if the issue is program specific, see the program supervi-

sor; if it’s site or building related, see the building supervisors)?

If so, is there a plan for resolution?

Is this a physical plant issue? Physical plant issues need not come to the EEC; they should go directly to

George Illicher, Director of Facilities. Unresolved physical plant issues may be brought before the

EEC.

5. For union issues, the Executive Director (or one of the Assistant Executive Directors) will contact representatives

from each union prior to the EEC meeting to determine in advance which items are contract issues.

The following representatives are needed. Please submit names to Adriene Irving by November 3 and reps should

submit agenda items by December 10:

Morton: One representative from the Morton building first floor (including Quality Schools, Business, HR, OED,

Facilities); one representative from the Morton building second floor (including IT, Special Programs,

Supplemental Education, HS) Alternative Education: One representative from Community School and Delaware County Academy; one

representative from TC; one representative from Detention Center, Be Proud, Glen Mills and Prison Program

Career & Technical Schools: One representative from Aston; one representative from Folcroft and Marple Early Intervention: One representative from Marple Education Center and Ithan; one representative from Pennington

EI and Sharon Hill EI Head Start/Pre-K Counts/Family Centers/ELECT: One representative from Yeadon Regional, Sharon Hill, DCTS

Folcroft, and Southeast Delco; one representative from Chester Township Regional, Madison Regional and

Marcus Hook Early; one representative from Rockbourne Falls, Woodlyn and Eddystone; one representative

from Delaware County Family Centers and Teenage Pregnancy & Parenting Program (ELECT)

Special Programs: One representative from Coopertown, Haverford High School, Paxon Hollow Middle School, Pennington (MDS and AS) and Springfield High School; one representative from Ithan (ILS), Penncrest High

School (ILS/PS) and Springton Lake Middle School; one representative from Marple (AS and SLS); one representative from Glenwood Elementary School, Chatham Park and Coopertown Elementary Schools (HIS);

one representative from Pennington, Swarthmore-Rutledge School, Strath Haven High School, and Strath

Haven Middle School (HIS)

200 Yale Ave.

Morton, PA 19070

Phone: 610-938-9000

Fax: 610-938-9887

Email: [email protected]

DELAWARE

COUNTY

INTERMEDIATE

UNIT

WWW.DCIU.ORG

The HR Department is pleased to bring you this health and wellness information each

month on behalf of IBX and HMS and Gallagher/BPI.

More than 20 million Americans have adult onset

diabetes, otherwise known as Type 2 diabetes. About

79 million people are pre-diabetic. Type 2 diabetes is

diagnosed when your pancreas is unable to produce

sufficient insulin. Insulin is responsible for picking up

glucose (sugar) in your blood stream. Diabetics have to

be very mindful of their diets. Diet is one way they

control their blood sugar and prevent other

complications such as obesity. Most diabetics follow a

special diet plan known as medical nutrition therapy

(MNT), a diet designed to give the diabetic a variety of

nutritious foods in smaller amounts, emphasizing fruits,

vegetables and whole grains. The diet is low in fat and sugar and helps the

diabetic control their blood sugar levels and manage weight. Interestingly this

type of diet would benefit anyone who desires to eat healthier, lose or manage

their weight, and live longer. The diabetic diet is not an extreme diet plan. In fact,

it is a sensible, plausible, and applicable diet for all of us. The MNT diet also

focuses on quality instead of quantity. Meaning, the food selections are those that

are nutritious rather than selections containing “empty calories.” For a sample

meal plan from the American Diabetes Association visit www.diabetes.org.

Consult with a registered dietician for dietary planning.

Eat Like a Diabetic

Considering Retirement and not sure where to begin? Please join the DCIU

Human Resources staff for a Retirement Information Session

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Morton Education Center

Room 163

3:30pm - 4:30pm Space is limited so please RSVP Eric Demkin at 610-938-9000 ext. 2003 or

[email protected].

Topics to be covered include:

The Retirement Process

PSERS Requirements

Medicare and Social Security Enrollment

Health Benefits Options

Tax Sheltered Annuities (403B)

Question/Answer Session

DCIU Retirement Information Session