April 2015 Newsleter - Southwestern Adventist Headquarters

Inspirational
Instructional
Informational
I³
April 2015
Volume 19
Insights
Issue 2
for the
Southwestern Union Conference
Education Team
Unity of Purpose
by Mike Furr and Randy Gilliam
We can take a lesson from the famous quote penned by Alexandre Dumas, author of The
Three Musketeers, “All for one and one for all, united we stand, divided we fall.” As an
Adventist school system it would serve us well to adopt this motto and live by it. This can
be accomplished by thinking of our sister schools as allies, rather than as the competition.
We should, instead, be broadcasting the excellence of our schools. When we compare ourselves with non-Adventist school systems our quality is always superior. This is because we
believe in the development of the whole student; the mental, physical, social, and especially
the spiritual development of each student.
Tips to help accomplish this goal:

Make only affirming, not disparaging, remarks about other Adventist schools

When a family is moving to your area give them a list of other Adventist schools in
the area, not just yours

If a family is moving away, give them the name/s of Adventist schools in the area
where they are relocating

If a student isn’t successful at your school, encourage them to try another Adventist school

Only recruit students who are currently attending a non-Adventist school
In conclusion, remember the motto, “All for one and one for all, united we stand, divided we
fall.” Our goal is to see every Christ-seeking student in attendance at one of our
Adventist schools.
by Betty Trevino
New Method of Accessing
Your Certification Status
It has been our practice to send each teacher their Certification Status Sheet by regular mail two times each year, once in
the spring and again in the fall. We will no longer be doing
that. Now each teacher will go online to see their current
Status Sheet. The North American Division adopted a new
software program some time ago. The purpose of the program is to allow teachers access to this information at any
time. Information on how to do this has been sent to teachers
in several newsletters over the last months. Some teachers
have started using the program, and now it will be the method
by which all teachers obtain their personal certification information.
It is very easy to do. Simply log in to the NAD Dashboard site
at —
dashboard.nadeducation.org/login
1. You need to use the e-mail address you gave the conference education department and your Teacher ID#. If you
have problems logging in, contact your conference education office for help. They can also remind you of your
Teacher ID# if you have forgotten it.
2. Click on the eCertification icon and it will open your Certification Status Sheet.
3. Periodically review and print your Status Sheet for your
records.
4. If you have questions regarding the information on your
Certification Status Sheet, contact Betty Trevino at
[email protected] or call 817-295-0476.
5. Remember that you no longer have to wait for your current
Status Sheet to be mailed to you from the SWUC Education Department. You have access to this information at
any time you choose.
Recently, I received a
spreadsheet from the North
American Division. It listed the names of the SWUC
schools that had purchased By Design textbooks for
the current school year. I was very pleased to see
that 98% of our schools had taken part in this adoption.
The
Be Like
Jesus
Companion
is a free
resource for
early childhood
educators that provides engaging activities, lessons, Bible
stories, Seventh-day Adventist Pioneer stories and most
importantly, helps you introduce young children to Christ,
teach them about our faith, and instill character traits that will
help them be more like Jesus! Visit ——
http://ecec.nadeducation.org/be-like-jesus-companion/ for
support as you meet the needs of young children and their
families!
Drs. Harry
&
Rosemary
Wong
To Present
Please put these dates on your long range calendar
and watch for more details. We will be conducting a
Teachers’ Convention for the entire Southwestern
Union on August 1-4, 2016. Contracts have been
signed for the La Torretta Lake & Spa Resort venue.
Please note the year is 2016 not 2015. We moved it
due to the General Conference session that is
scheduled for this summer.
We have also contracted for Dr. Harry Wong author of
“The First Days of School” to be one of our presenters. This book has sold over 3.9 million copies. Their
new book is entitled “THE Classroom Management
Book.”
Do You Have Any “SIFEs”?
by Mike Furr
In educational literature SIFEs are Students with Interrupted
Formal Education. Many of our schools
have some of these students; some come
from homes in which they just never went
to school or they stayed out of school for
some length of time or they attended
schools of poor quality. We are also getting more and more students that have
come from other countries with poor education, or they are coming across US
borders unaccompanied by adults. They
are just coming in hopes of a brighter
future.
In the March 2015 issue of Educational Leadership Susan Zimmerman-Orozco has written an article entitled “Border Kids in
the Home of the Brave”. She states what we have probably all
heard, “English language learners are coming across the border
in record numbers, bringing with them challenges for schools--and hope for a better life.” With these students come various
challenges on how we can best educate them. No matter what
their ages they are all children of God and we need to do what
we can to help them learn.
The author states, “The stories these
children tell of their experiences in
their home countries or en route to
the United States have an emotional
impact on all who work with them.”
She then goes on to share little snippets of some of their stories. It is
truly remarkable what some children
have seen, experienced and lived
through, and we sometimes wonder
why they can’t just be still and listen
and learn. One important thing for
these students to know is that they have someone who cares
about them and will be their friend.
The article has a box that gives “10 Ideas (Plus 1) For Teaching
Students with Interrupted Formal Education”. They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Activate prior knowledge
Provide a print-rich environment
Engage students in hands-on learning
Control the amount of new vocabulary
Check frequently for understanding
When assessing understanding, be open-minded
7. Allow students to work in cooperative groups
8. Build in native-language content and literacy instruction
9. Use teaching strategies that weave together
language and content instruction
10. Keep your expectations realistic
11. Provide opportunities for students to interact
The author goes on to explain a little
about each of these and how they can
be beneficial to the student.
If you get a chance you should definitely read this article and see what you
can learn about how we can better help
our English language learners.
This same issue of Education Leadership has several good articles, another one being about
homeless and doubled up students. If you are a member
of ASCD you can read these articles, if not I would encourage you to become a member and take advantage of
this educationally enriching magazine.
Upcoming Encounter Training Session
The SWUC training session for the new Secondary Bible
Curriculum is coming soon. This is only for teachers who
will be teaching a 9th grade Religion course during the
2015/2016 school year.
It will be held at the SWUC office building and will begin
on Monday morning, April 20, 2015 and run through
Wednesday at noon on the 22nd of April, 2015. Nina
Atchison, Encounter writer and developer, will lead out in
this important training session.
If you are not already registered please contact Marcella
Bayless immediately at 817-295-0476 or by email at
[email protected] to organize travel, food, hotel, and
conference materials packet.
New Fundraising Project
Is your school looking for a new way to raise funds? 3ABN has just announced a unique school-fundraising project. It involves selling “Hallelujah, We’re Home at Last!” recordings. The beloved hymns and new songs point to the Second Coming
of Christ. The music features the Nashville String Machine and the voices of Reggie and Ladye Love Smith, Danny Shelton,
Yvonne Lewis, Melody Shelton Firestone, and John Lomacang. This is an example of how it works:
You donate $150 to 3ABN for this project.
3ABN donates 20 CDs/DVDs with $300 value to your school.
Your school sells the CDs/DVDs.
Contact Information:
Mail: 3ABN
P.O. Box 220
West Frankfort, IL 62896
Phone: 618-627-4651, press 2 for Call Center
Online: 3ABNSCHOOLFUNDRAISING.ORG
Baby Dedications Provide Opportunities
by Christine Byrne
Build a relationship and start acquainting others with your school with one gentle, thoughtful
gift.
When is the last time you participated in a baby dedication? Did you know that the Southwestern Union Conference Office
of Education provides a free gift for baby dedications? Indeed! The gift consists of a set of progressively developmentally
appropriate books for young children and their parents. Along with the books, there’s a map of all the Adventist schools
within the SWUC territory for the purpose of promoting our Adventist schools.
The best part is that this gift is free to each of our churches. The Pastor conducting the dedication
can simply call the SWUC Office of Education and ask for the free baby dedication gift to be sent to
them. Then on the day of the dedication service and in front of the congregation, the importance of
Adventist education can be spotlighted. Some churches and schools include a baby bond good for
the first month’s tuition.
This is free advertising and a wonderful way to build good-will feelings toward our schools!
Of course, the baby won’t be starting school right away, but relationships and trust take time to
build. What better client could you ever hope for than one who trusts you and with whom you have
a long-standing relationship? It’s never too soon to start building a relationship.
EXSEED
STEM Conference
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, California
K-12 educators & administrators
STEM education for your students
Registration will be open as long as space is available
and
Web: http://www.llu.edu/exseed
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @EXSEEDLLU
)
Register now!
U C AT I O N
C
veg ost: $
eta 100
ria
n l Inclu
un
chs des W
& d or
inn ksh
ers ops
ED
“So much new knowledge—great
ideas for exciting my students in
science. A renewed HOPE for
our K-G educational system.”
Participant
PE R IE N TIAL
Learn how to create exciting and effective
STEM E X
These workshops are for:
I N
Do you
• teach or support K-12 STEM?
E LL E N C E
July 13-17, 2015
EXSEED (EXC
Have You Applied for Your SWUC
Professional Development Grant