November 2015 - San Luis Obispo County Office of Education

SLOCOE eNews
SLO COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
“Learn from yesterday, live for
today, hope for tomorrow. The
important thing is not to stop
questioning.” ~Albert Einstein~
November is the month to remind
us to be thankful for the many
positive things happening in our
life, to hope for tomorrow, and to
question how what we do will
have a positive influence on the world. I would like to
thank our employees who have been participating in our
strategic planning this year. By coming together, we
promote student’s success by supporting the work of local
school districts, delivering specialized student services, and
providing countywide leadership and advocacy for the
needs of all children.
The fundamental purpose of our strategic planning is to
align the mission and the vision of SLOCOE. Without our
mission and vision, we can move down a path that is less
productive and disconnected. Through the process of
strategic planning, we have identified several strategies and
action plans that will benefit our entire organization. Some
of the areas we have identified include:
1.
Evaluating and revising SLOCOE processes and
technology quarterly to promote organizational success.
2. Evaluating and revising our relevancy with local school
districts to promote student success.
3. Evaluating and revising how we as an organization
become better connected and collaborate more to
promote organizational success.
NOVEMBER 2015
4. Evaluating and revising our workplace culture so that
we provide a positive, healthy and productive
environment.
5. Evaluating and revising our public presence so that we
are better understood both internally and externally in
service to the community.
6. Evaluating and revising our management structure so
that we are the best organization possible that promotes
student and staff success.
7. Evaluating and revising our organizational alignment
related to service priorities so that we provide the best
services possible.
As a strategic planning team, we commit to engaging
faculty and staff in meaningful conversations that are open
and honest. We commit to being supportive of each other
and coming together as one team. We commit to making
students, faculty and staff our top priority. We are
committed to communicating and completing our strategic
planning process.
“Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and
collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”
~ Mattie Stepanek~
I encourage you to read the strategic planning document
and the executive summary I will send out to all employees
during November. Thank you for your service to our
county and to SLOCOE. It is an honor to serve as your
superintendent.
Congratulations to SLOCOE’s Teacher of the Year! For 18 years Greg
Murphy has dedicated his career to working with at-risk youth. Greg
creates an environment that is safe, supportive, responsive, and accepting.
He allows students to explore their strengths and weaknesses in order to
understand themselves and how they can excel in the world. When asked
about Greg, one of his students stated, “He is one of the most amazing, genuine people I
have met….he is firm, but fair, and a dedicated, hardworking, compassionate teacher…. he
expected a lot because he knew we were capable...he is amazing.”
SLOCOE eNEWS
Meet Kayla
Brachear, Chalk
Mountain Community
School Teacher. Kayla got her
MA in English and has been teaching
high school since 1998 (ELA). She is
quite the traveler and has traveled to
every continent except Antarctica.
She doesn’t do the cold temperatures
so it doesn’t look like that one is on
her bucket list. She and her husband Brent (who is
Australian) met in Australia while diving on the GBR (Great
Barrier Reef). Kayla and her husband have two four legged
babies they rescued four years ago: Bindi, a terrier dog, and
Kat, an adorable kitty cat. They recently moved to Los Osos
in August 2014 and they absolutely love it! We are so excited
and happy to have you in our SLOCOE family Kayla!
Meet Sheldon Smith, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services. An avid bicyclist and photographer, Sheldon wasted no time adorning the walls of
his office with fun mementos of his two hobbies. Indeed,
the two hobbies are strikingly combined in blue-ribbonwinning action photos taken of bicycle races. Sheldon is
not new to SLOCOE, having served as Technology Program Coordinator in 1999. He now returns to us as Assistant Superintendent for Business Services. His varied
career has included teaching English at Atascadero Junior
High, Assistant Principal at Atascadero Junior High,
lecturer at Cal Poly, Public Information Officer and
Director of Student
Information and
Technology at Paso
Robles JUSD, and
most recently, Chief
Business Officer for
Lompoc. Sheldon
and his wife Tisha
have a son, Riley, a
student at UC-Davis.
If you haven’t already,
be sure to come by
and say hello to
Sheldon.
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS for this newsletter, or
areas of our organization you would like to see highlighted, please email: [email protected] by the
15th of each month. We welcome ideas and photos.
2
Transitions
Welcome to the SLOCOE Family!
Joseph Geever, Paraeducator at Loma Vista, SPS
Roxanne Windover, Paraeducator at Juvenile Court School,
SPS
Promotional Congratulations!
Rebecca Lorenzi, Fiscal Specialist II, (from Fiscal Specialist)
Thank you for Your Service!
Gail Bahner, Instructional Assistant, SPS
Theresa Davioni, Office Assistant, SPS
Sharon Gallagher, Executive Assistant, SPS
Dianna Mills, Administrative Assistant II, ESS
ESS = Educational Support Services
SPS = Student Programs and Services
HR—Human Resources
Meet Kelly Yungman, Program Coordinator
in Educational Support Services. Kelly comes to us
from San Luis Coastal Unified School District where she
taught grades 4-6 at C.L. Smith Elementary for four years
and fourth grade at Los Ranchos Elementary for four
years. She completed Cal Poly’s Educational Leadership
Administration Program (ELAP) last spring—a 2-year
program condensed into eleven
months that she completed
while working full time AND
planning her wedding!
Kelly is the new Program
Coordinator in Educational
Support Services for the Teacher
Induction Program (TIP). With
nearly 200 new first and second
year teachers and 75 mentors county-wide, Kelly is
looking to improve mentor coaching skills and help
them provide the best possible support to their teachers.
She is also hoping to streamline the program to make it
more effective and relevant to the changing curriculum
and teacher expectations. Kelly is also partnering with
Cal Poly to stay connected with teachers in their
credential program.
Kelly’s husband of one year, Ian, owns his own steel
fabricating business and Kelly loves their new life
together. She says her in-laws (Mary Yungman is a
former SLOCOE employee who still subs on a semiregular basis!) are a fabulous support system! Kelly loves
traveling, hiking, tennis, softball, snowboarding, and the
outdoors in general. She also enjoys practicing her
Spanish and eating good food! Welcome, Kelly!
SLOCOE eNEWS
3
Who Is Responsible for Safety at SLOCOE?
a. County Superintendent b. OSHA
c. SIPE
d. each employee
f. I don’t know, but there’s a committee for that, I think?
e. the Safety Coordinator
H
ow often do you think about safety during your work day? How often do you think
accidents occur at SLOCOE? What is the long-term effect of an injury on an
employee? On the organization? What are the most common injury-causing accidents
here at SLOCOE? If you attended the October 16 Office Safety workshop, you will know
the answers to all of those questions. In addition, you would have learned how to
respond to sudden cardiac arrest, with the guidance of an Automated External
Defibrillator (AED).
More than 50 office staff attended the two sessions, organized by Safety Coordinator
Ashley Lightfoot, and presented by Mike Bruffey of
SIPE. All staff are encouraged to take advantage of
online
safety
training
opportunities
via
www.getsafetytrained.com and monthly safety
presentations offered by their supervisors.
Numerous incentives rewarding staff for safe practices can be found at http://
www.slocoe.org/forms/Safety/sftycommittee.htm. How did you do on the
quiz above? Hint: could the responsible person be . . . you?
Kim Gaspar, from the Paso Robles JUSD After School Education & Safety
program, recently invited the State Preschool class at Winifred Pifer to
come shopping at the Pifer Farmer’s Market. Fresh produce was donated by
the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo and the children were able to
pick out whatever they wanted. They were given a reusable shopping bag
and Farmer’s Market “dollars” for their purchases. The children had a great
time shopping and sharing the produce with their families!
Jeanne Buchannan and a
Body Sox
B
ody Sox (pictured to the left) is being used as an essential tool in our Special
Ed Programs to create body awareness, grounding, focus and then return to
learning. Body Sox are designed specifically for spatial awareness through balance
and resistance. The Body Sox is see-through and breathable which allows children
and adults to experience a calming/organizing deep pressure input and help develop
motor planning, spatial, and body awareness.
Jeanne has the Body Sox out at two of our schools, Vicente Day Treatment and
another at the Santa Margarita Deaf and Hard of Hearing classroom (DHH
Preschool/Kindergarten). Interestingly, Jeanne Buchannan has gotten many
responses from several people sharing stories of their own children with sensory
needs in their body sox at home! They described it as a useful tool for their children,
often as a way to decompress after a school day or find some calm when stressed.
The DHH classroom practiced with the Body Sox by teaching about its use as a “tool”
vs just a toy. “The first time in it, the students experimented with basic movement
and "play" activities (acting like a monster), but after reminders, they independently
used it to stretch and increase focus and classroom participation. Don't we all need a
Body Sox?” Thanks Jeanne Buchanan!
SLOCOE eNEWS
4
“Mantle of Leadership” Seeks the Next Generation of Leaders in Early Childhood Education.
A kickoff event, held October 20 in the REC Auditorium, focused on equipping 26 potential leaders in the early
childhood education community. Participants committed to
four consecutive Tuesday evenings in The Mantle of
Leadership series, with three more sessions scheduled for
October 27, November 3, and November 10.
The leadership series, the result of a collaboration between
SLOCOE, ELFA (Early Learning For All), and First 5 of San
Luis Obispo County, aims to address the anticipated loss of
ECE faculty and directors in the next 5-7 years as they retire.
“With the passage of legislation that expands preschool
education in California, leaders are needed to drive the quality
of early childhood programs into the future,” says Shannon White-Bond, who is helping to coordinate the workshops.
http://www.slocoe.org/education/docs/ELFA%20flyer%20Leadership%20Series%202015%20Final.pdf
~ Photo Scrapbook ~
Mary Lakey,
Annette Chatham,
Nancy Heistand &
Brandi Lykes welcomed their students back to San
Gabriel West after
school reopened.
All of SLOCOE participated in the October 15 Great Shake Out, including
medically fragile classrooms. At Meadowlark, four California Children’s
Services staff and four Paso Robles
staff assisted with three rolling dollies
for 72-hour supplies, oxygen tanks,
and six students, according to
teacher, Julie McAdon. “We did it in
record time!” she said.
October 27 Mingle hosted by Educational Support Services
Near Right:
Celeste Royer,
Kathy Clifton,
Steve Avelar,
Tom Wood,
Patti Garrett,
Linda Borza, &
Jack Mettier.
Middle Photo:
Jim Price, Celeste
Royer, Ashley Lightfoot, Patti Garrett, Betty Ellison, Tom Wood. Far Right: Linda Borza and Nancy Acosta.
A September 28 Artist Reception brought together gallery
owners, artists, educators, and the public. Artists Flo Bartell (far left)
and Deprise Brescia (third from left) led a forum discussion.