KSSA Talk

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Gary Sechrist

Superintendent Gary Sechrist has announced his intent to take early retirement affective June 30th.  He tendered his resignation to the USD 405 Board of Education at the January BOE meeting. Sechrist has accepted a position with the Kansas Association of School Boards in their leadership division.   “I was not looking for a new position as I have enjoyed my tenure in USD 405.”  Mr. Sechrist said.

Gary Sechrist graduated from Fort Hays University and began his teaching career as an Art teacher at Hays High School. In 1983 he moved to Lindsborg to teach Art and also coached football, basketball and track. In ’92 Sechrist accepted a position as assistant principal in the Kingman school district. After only 3 months, he moved to principal when the current principal left. 1996 brought the Sechrist family to Lyons where Gary served as Lyons High School principal. Mr Sechrist replaced Mr. Darrel Kellerman as superintendent of USD 405 four years ago. Sechrist said, “I have appreciated my tenure in Lyons as the high school principal for 13 years and the superintendency for 4 years.”

In his new position for KASB, Gary will be serving the western Kansas area. His focus will be BOE training, district goal setting, superintendent searches and working with superintendents. Mr and Mrs. Sechrist will continue to make Lyons their home.

Sechrist paricipating in the 3rd grade Pat On Back program at Central.

KASB is a not-for-profit organization located in Topeka, Kansas that serves members of governing boards for unified school districts, community colleges, area vocational-technical schools and cooperatives, interlocals and regional service centers.

The leadership division provides training customized to meet the needs of a district.  The Association helps develop and support  boards and administrators on school improvement and student achievement through seminars, research, evaluations and training. The department also oversees the KASB Superintendent Search service and administrator search service. KASB provides training, advice and support in all areas of district operations.

The USD 405 Board of Education met Thursday, January 17th to begin the selection process for a new superintendent.  A KASB representative was present to determine the specifics of the search.

 

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Dr. Howard Pitler, Chief Program Officerr, McREL

As chief program officer, Howard works with schools, districts, and state agencies to improve teacher pedagogy to impact student achievement and has been invited to present at technology conferences throughout the country. He is the lead author of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Worksand developed McREL’s Power Walkthrough informal observation software. Prior to joining McREL, Howard was an elementary and middle school principal for 19 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University and master’s, specialist, and doctorate degrees from Wichita State University.

McREL is a private, 501 (c)(3) education research and development corporation. Since 1966, when the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory was founded to turn knowledge about what works in education into practical guidance for educators, McREL has grown into an organization with more than 110 employees and a wide array of clients and contracts in nearly 50 states and around the world.

Today, inside McREL’s headquarters in Denver, Colorado, and McREL’s Pacific Center for Changing the Odds in Honolulu, Hawaii, you’ll find experienced researchers and education consultants working together to provide educators with research-based, practical guidance on the issues and challenges facing K−16 education. Our staff creates and delivers:

* Sophisticated data analyses

* Rigorous scientific studies

* High-quality, field-tested products and services

* Insightful reports, articles, books, and tools

Chris Lehmann.

The Science Leadership Academy is a partnership high school between the School District of Philadelphia and The Franklin Institute. SLA is an inquiry-driven, project-based high school focused on 21st century learning that opened its doors on September 7, 2006.

SLA provides a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum with a focus on science, technology, mathematics and entrepreneurship. Students at SLA learn in a project-based environment where the core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection are emphasized in all classes.

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Dr. John Heim, Executive Director, Kansas Association of School Board.

 

 

KASB

KASB is a not-for-profit organization located in Topeka, Kansas and dedicated to serving members of governing boards for unified school districts, community colleges, area vocational-technical schools and cooperatives, interlocals and regional service centers.

KASB will…

* Provide a culture of collaboration and service.

* Be a voice of public education.

* Improve student education outcomes.

KASB is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of school board members from throughout Kansas. The Board meets five times each year, with day-to-day operations of the association assigned to the staff.

We believe…

* All students can learn.Education encompasses lifelong learning.

* An educated and responsible citizenry is essential to a free and changing society.

* Universal public education is a fundamental right.

* Local control of public education is the cornerstone of our democratic system of government.

* The responsibility for providing suitable and equitable funding rests with the state of Kansas.

* Public education prepares students for a diverse, global society.

* Leadership impacts student achievement.

Operational Beliefs . . .

* Innovation is necessary for continuous improvement.

* Trust, integrity and honesty are necessary for credibility.

* Goals are best accomplished through teamwork and collaboration with others.

* Success depends on an informed, engaged board, membership, and staff.

* Leadership requires honoring diversity of thought and opinions.

* Transparency is necessary for integrity.

Interview with Dr. Randy Watson, National Student Clearinghouse.

NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE

StudentTracker for High Schools

Outcomes Reporting / Case Studies / Testimonials / FERPA Compliance /

Participating Enrollment Reporting Institutions / How To Subscribe

StudentTracker℠ for High Schools is a unique program designed to help high school districts more accurately gauge the college success of their graduates by answering such key questions as:

* How many of my high school graduates enroll in co...

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Ali Hughes – CEO

With a background in secondary school teaching and management in the UK, and with 10 years experience in tertiary education within New Zealand, Ali brings a wealth of managerial and education experience to her role as CEO of CORE.

Ali holds a Masters in Business (MBA), is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and an Associate Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management. Ali is Chair of her local primary school Board of Trustees and is the immediate past President of the Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM Aotearoa).

 

Derek Wenmoth – Director, eLearning 

With more than 20 years as a teacher and principal, and in pre and in-service teacher education, Derek brings a broad background of practical and strategic experience to his position at CORE. He is an experienced group facilitator across the education and community sectors, and is involved in conceptual and strategic leadership at school, regional, national, and international level. A frequent conference speaker and an author, Derek is regularly called upon as a consultant to the Ministry of Education.

 

 

Tātai Aho Rau is a concept that represents a number of elements within CORE Education Ltd, and because of this, it has no literal translation. Rather, we seek meaning and understanding through the words and their meanings in relation to the harakeke and weaving.

Tātai – in relation to weaving, is the action of weaving, layering one strand on top of the next and so on. Understanding the connection and relationships of the strands within the weave is important in the production of the final product. At CORE Education, our core business invites us as providers to arrange, prioritise, study connections, measure importance, and exploit the connections and relationships in positive ways, in an attempt to discover supports that will best suit our clients. We are open to continuous learning, reflective in our approach.

Aho – when applied to weaving is a strand or thread. Within CORE Education, the aho relates to our core business, that is, teaching/learning and all the elements associated with this and what we do to encourage, empower clients. Aho also relates to the key elements of professional learning/development that we as CORE advocate, including mentorship, reflection, community participation, empowerment, formative assessment all these elements we weave together in the provision of support we provide.

Rau—meaning a leaf and many/multitudes. Taking the harakeke, rau are the leaves within the harakeke bush. Harakeke characteristically grows in family groups of 5 leaves, the rito (child) in the centre, mātua (parents) on the outer, and finally the kaumātua (grandparents) on the very outer. A well established harakeke bush is made up of a number of these family groups. When applying this notion to the makeup of CORE Education, we are naturally drawn to the many groupings within CORE, mainly based on projects that we currently hold. However there are other groupings that have developed from a specific need, for example, CORE Achieve, CORE Events, CORE Research, CORE Aspire, CORE Enable, CORE Online.

Taking the other meaning of rau, multitudes/many, we know the strength of the harakeke bush is attributed to the many fam...

In episode 5 Dr. Mike Cook and I talked about our visit to Centre, Kansas USD #397. Today’s interview is with Centre USD #397 Superintendent Jerri Kemble.

Jerri Kemble, Superintendent USD 397 Centre.

Centre School District USD 397

The USD 397 Schools are Centre High School, Centre Junior High School, Centre Middle School and Centre Elementary which are located at 2374 310th Street in Lost Springs, KS. The Centre School District was established in 1958 and includes the communities of Lincolnville, Lost Springs, Burdick, Ramona, Tampa, and Pilsen.

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Prof. Ian W. Gibson ,comes from a background in teaching, school based curriculum development, school leadership, and teacher education.

Professor Ian Gibson is a consultant to Imagine Education and a Professorial Fellow in Teacher Education at Liverpool Hope University. He is also Education Director for tara.Education, an NGO focusing upon teacher education, teacher quality, and cross cultural initiatives between India and Australia. From 2005-2012 he was the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation Professor and Chair in Education, responsible for the development of ‘Teachers For The Future’ at Macquarie University in Australia.  During this time he was also Associate Dean for Research and the President of the international Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education.

Prior to this he was Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at Wichita State University in The United States (1998-2005). From 1989 -1997 he was Associate Dean, Deputy Dean, and Acting Dean of the School of Education at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. Previous to these posts, he was Director of Educational and Management Support Systems and founding Director of the Educational Support Centre in a large school district (USD 260) in Derby, Kansas, USA. His early educational career began as a primary school teacher in state and alternative schools. His transition to higher education began at a College of Advanced Education in Sydney in 1977.

He is a multi-skilled academic teacher, researcher, and instructional designer; an experienced instructor with solid background in information and communication technologies and a variety of pedagogies; he has a proven track record in educational leadership, curriculum design, development and evaluation, and provides strong evidence of published scholarly work. His academic profile embraces teaching, staff development and training, programme and curriculum development, capacity building, and research and project management in both developed and developing countries.

He has lived and worked in Australia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, and has presented his research, managed projects, and been a member of a variety of delegations in Bangladesh, India, China, Russia, Mexico, Canada, a variety of countries of the European Union, Cyprus, Greece, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, and Kiribati. His areas of expertise and experience are complemented by proficiency in E-learning/Networked Learning, Educational Technology (virtual learning environments), computer-mediated communication, human-computer interaction and computer/IT literacies and the means of incorporating these technology based learning tools into the professional practice, philosophies and pedagogies of teachers and the visioning and strategic planning of school leaders.

 

 

 

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Cris has over 15 years of experience as a highly qualified educator and consultant both in the state of Virginia and Kansas. Cris has taught in many capacities K-12 specializing in reading, behavior management, learning disabilities, and autism. Cris is an Autism Specialist and for a number of years consulted for Autism Spectrum Disorder and Severe Multiple Disabilities for 15 school districts.

At ESSDACK, an educational service center in Kansas, Cris serves as an Autism Consultant, certified AIMSweb trainer, recognized MTSS facilitator, Common Core presenter, Special Ed. trainer and consultant.  Additionally, Cris provides trainings on Technology integration, Project-Based-Learning, and is an Implementation Coach for the Kansas Learning Network.

At Podstock and as part of her work at ESSDACK, Cris has presented numerous workshops and sessions helping teachers understand how to integrate iPad apps with special populations and for English Language Arts and  Literacy support. She has trained extensively locally and across the state.

Contact Cris at:

[email protected] (email)

cris.essdack.org (webpage)

@crissaracer (twitter)

(620) 694-7561

School Improvement Specialist

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Mike currently serves as the Executive Director of ESSDACK where he oversees the many ESSDACK activities, services, and personnel. A former teacher and administrator, he has been at the helm of the organization since 1997. Mike received his doctoral degree from Wichita State University where his research emphasis was in the use of scenario building as a tool for the strategic planning process. His interest lies in the future of education, organizational development, and leadership. This area of interest has lead him to develop and promote a method of scenario planning that aides school and business personnel in developing multiple plausible futures for their organizations. In addition, he is a Certified Master Trainer in the Implications Wheel, a strategic exploration tool developed by world futurist Joel Barker. Mike has worked with education, business, hospital, church, and community groups to explore the future and develop organizational visions.

 

Jerri Kemble, Superintendent USD 397 Centre.

Centre School District USD 397

The USD 397 Schools are Centre High School, Centre Junior High School, Centre Middle School and Centre Elementary which are located at 2374 310th Street in Lost Springs, KS. The Centre School District was established in 1958 and includes the communities of Lincolnville, Lost Springs, Burdick, Ramona, Tampa, and Pilsen.

 

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Glenn came to ESSDACK in 2000 to work as the Social Studies Specialist on the Curriculum Development Team. Prior to ESSDACK, Glenn taught for almost a decade as a middle level Social Science teacher before spending five years in the Social Science department at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas.

As a state certified standards trainer with a Master’s degree in American History, he is able to facilitate curriculum and assessment writing for schools and districts as well as research-based best practices in Social Studies. Glenn also works with teachers on Curriculum Mapping, Understanding by Design, and the Common Core. He facilitates technology integration topics such as mobile devices, blogging, social media, online learning, website development, and provides support in copyright/plagiarism issues.

Glenn maintains two web sites that focus on Social Studies and Technology Integration:

* Social Studies Central

* History Tech

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Jerry retired from ESSDACK in Hutchinson KS, after over 15 years of supporting Apple products in K-12 school districts. He’s helped with a number of one-to-one laptop initiatives, setting up servers, cloning and wired and wireless networks and working with my schools to help manage them. Recently I’ve worked with several districts on iPad carts and one-to-one rollouts. I also have helped a number of districts write their Technology Plans. He’d love to help individuals or school districts set up their Apple products and networks, just email me at:

[email protected] or call at:

731- GOT MACS (731-468-622

http://jerrythetechguy.com/

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