Message from Lisa

It's that midterm time of year again and the trees are starting to show off their beautiful colors! I remember well the busyness of parent/teacher conferences, grading, and homecoming fun and have enjoyed seeing your facebook posts of classroom projects, dress-up days, and weekends spent with some family time. October is national Farm to School month so I hope you are able to make some community connections with fresh, healthy food and local producers in your area.  For more information and a resource, check out this site.  

The National Association of State Administrators of Family & Consumer Sciences (NASAFACS) has recently released a series of videos to help you with our national Say YES to FCS campaign.  There are two different versions - a 4 minute version for classroom use and a 1 minute version for social media purposes.  We hope you find these videos helpful as you recruit the future of Family & Consumer Sciences Education!  

My travels around the state recently have been to some Regional Planning Partnership meetings and consortium visits.  It looks like I may be able to get to a couple of district FCCLA meetings and I am excited to see our Culinary students next week at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center work with area Chefs in the Restaurant and Hospitality Industry.  I'm sure that trip will quench my thirst for some beautiful fall scenery! 

Have a question you are unclear about or would you like a visit?  Please don't hesitate to give me a call!  I love seeing what the field is up to and am happy to lend a hand as we go about the task of creating strong FCS program across the state for all students! Read on to find out more about CTE Redesign and Program Approval, as well as a host of other opportunities and activities that have been happening in FCS across the state.  

DEADLINES FAST APPROACHING!

Please don't forget about the upcoming deadlines:

Presidential CTE Scholars nominations

Since 2013, Chief State School Officers have been invited to nominate candidates from their states for the General component of the program. The Director of the Iowa Department of Education is asking for our help in nominating up to five candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in CTE.

All high school seniors participating in CTE and graduating between January and June of 2018, who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and who attend public, parochial, or independent schools, as well as those who are home-schooled, are eligible. The candidates will go through the application process, and as in the past, the 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholars will be selected by the Commission on Presidential Scholars and receive the Presidential Scholars Medallion at a ceremony in their honor in Washington, DC.

The deadline for submission is October 13, 2017.  For more information on the process and nomination form, check out the Iowa ACTE website. Family & Consumer Sciences nominations should be directed to Courtney Teghtmeyer or Laura VanWaardhuizen by the date listed above.

 

National Policy Seminar

This is an opportunity for an FCCLA student and their adviser (if the student is under 18) to represent Iowa at ACTE's National Policy Seminar in Washington DC in March 5-7.  You will meet with your national Representatives and Senators and advocate for FCS, CTE as well as FCCLA along with other Career and Technical student leaders from Iowa.  Student and adviser support is offered by Iowa ACTE and IFCSE and covers most of the expenses.  There are four 1-hour Zoom preparation sessions prior to the trip and the expectation is that the students will present at the Iowa ACTE conference about their experience the following fall.  Click here for the application.  Deadline is November 3, 2017. 

Here's last years' student leaders from TSA, BPA and FCCLA sharing their stories at the Iowa ACTE conference in September:

 

FCS Program Management Committee

The FCS Program Management Committee is made up of FCS educators (middle school, high school, and post-secondary), professional association representatives that connect to FCS and FCS programming, school administrators, work-based learning professionals, Extension agents, and business and industries that connect to FCS.  To see the list of people on the committee check here.

Their five year goals are:

1. Create and support a positive image of family and consumer sciences in the field of career and technical education.
2. Support the development of talented FCS and Human Services educators.
3. Provide and develop appropriate resources to support quality family and consumer sciences career and technical education programs.
4. Assist with the development of partnerships between family and consumer sciences programs, business and industry, and our communities. (Including exploratory and work-based learning opportunities for teachers and students.)
5. Build awareness of career and technical education and ensure access for all students.

Friday, September 29, the team met in Des Moines at the Grimes State Office Building. In the afternoon, they discussed what has been happening this past year under these 5 key areas and what steps we need to take to continue the work of strengthening our program across the state.  They voted to use our program management dollars to support the following:  IFCSE conference support - $2500, work group for model FCS program in Human Services and Middle School support - $3,000 and finally, moodle site sharing monitoring - $600.  More to come on these items in the future.  The committee is excited to see the work continue to helping our goals meet continued success!

CTE Redesign -- What's Happening?

Now that the Regional Planning Partnerships have been formed, this year's task is to develop a Multi-year plan that is tied to the funding as well as develop a timeline for program approval.  We anticipate the plans will be submitted by the end of this year (December 2017).  Currently, there is a pilot group that will be testing the tool that has been designed for program approval.  Once that has been refined, the first co-hort should be ready for beginning the approval process in March of 2018.

I might note that this is more of a program review than approval, as you will be asked to review components of your program that align with what research says meets the definition of strong CTE programming that ties to HF 2392.  As part of the review, you will be asked to consider an action plan that can be worked on as a part of continuous improvement to move your program to the next level and/or strengthen what you are already doing.  Want to know more?  Check with your Regional Planning Partnership CTE representative or your school representative.  The Department has also scheduled a set of webinars (that will be recorded) to help explain different aspects of the process.  It's a great time to be in CTE in Iowa as we work to strengthen programming acrosss all Regions in the state!  Please let me know if you have questions!

Opportunities at Iowa State University

    

 

Iowa State University's College of Human Sciences (CHS) welcomes schools groups and organizations comprised of 10 or more students in sixth grade or above who are interested in an educational visit to explore the opportunities the College has to offer. You can also request a personalized workship on a specific program area (Think: FCS EDUCATION!). FCEDS Coordinator, Troy Anderson has been doing several of these workshops since last spring with teachers and students about FCEDS during their visits.  Group visits can be scheduled almost anytime throughout the year, depending on staff availability.  Contact Iowa State at least three weeks before the date that you want to visit.  You can call direct at 1-800-522-0683 or register online here.  

Scrap Competition

The Iowa Waste Reduction Center hosted the Midwest Food Recovery Summit at the Downtown Des Moines Marriott Hotel September 6-8. As part of the Thursday evening session, Des Moines Central Campus Culinary students provided entertainment in the form of a cooking competition. The Marriott saved food scraps throughout the week for use in the competition. Basically, any food that might have otherwise been considered “waste” was saved (all sanitary and safe, of course) and was unveiled to the two teams of three students at 5:30pm. Teams had 30 minutes to plan a menu utilizing the food scraps, and then they were given 60 minutes to prepare and cook the food. Each team presented their creations to a panel of judges, and awards were presented for best tasting and most creative dishes.  What an amazing experience for Chef Jon Andres and DM Central Campus Culinary students!  Great job!  Here are a few pictures from the event:

  

 

Fall Leadership Rally 

A record 390 FCCLA students and advisers attended the Fall Leadership Rally that was held at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines on Monday, October 2nd.  Opening keynote was Curtis Haley who shared his inspiring message of never giving up and seeing the bright side of situations following his bout with brain cancer in his early twenties.  Peer Education was the focus of the day as the State Executive Council led sessions on Iowa's four focus areas;  Families First, Financial Fitness, Public Relations, and Student Body and shared how chapters and members can work these programs to make a difference in their communities and tie their work to other opportunities at the state level.  Janet Mann, State Peer Education Coordinator shared some extra advice for how to get students involved as well as some reporting information and deadlines and advisers were able to connect with additional networking time for veterans as well as new advisers.  DEADLINE to sign up for Peer Education is November 17 at midnight!

Here are some pictures from the event:

  

         

A special thank you to Outgoing Executive Director Timothy Marx for his passion and service the past year and a half. Timothy will be stepping down the end of this month. We wish him the best in his future endeavours.  For updates, please be sure to check out the State FCCLA website here.

                                                           

Competitive Events Coordinator 

Don't forget that our FCCLA leadership team has a position that they are currently accepting applications for through October 18, 2017. At their Fall Board meeting, the FCCLA board of directors accepted the resignation of Executive Director Timothy Marx effective the end of October. The Executive Committee has determined that it would be most useful to re-establish the position of Competitive Events Coordinator while they complete the search for a new director in the coming months. The coordinator will plan, coordinate, and evalutate all aspects of the State FCCLA competitive Events. For application instructions and more information see this LINK.  Feel free to contact Board President Kristin Rockhill or State Adviser Lisa Stange with any questions!

 

Are you teaching any early childhood classes?  Have you signed up for Melissa Schnurr's "Wednesday Wonders" emails?  There is a wealth of information that she shares linking our content to child development, early childhood education and parenting.  She recently shared a module that can be accessed and used by anyone at no cost! Each person who accesses will need to create an account to get access. Melissa is providing this resource to FCS teachers across the state to introduce HS students to early intervention. Teachers can choose to use the entire module or portions, whatever suits them and their class the best.

Check it out the modules here!  And don't forget to check out past issues of Wednesday Wonders here (and find out how to contact Melissa to recieve your own copy directly to your email!)

Ed. Leadership October Issue: Unleashing Problem Solvers

Please click on this link to several articles that discsuss all types of classroom strategies and activities that deal with problem solving in the classroom.  You will find a description of an excellent Middle School 5-day global challenge as well as strategies to help students develop problem solving skills. Not all articles are accessible to members, but I found the ones that were open to all to be very insightful.

October Webinar:  The Talk (From the Dibble Institute)

Many adults—especially parents—often fret about youth and the "hook-up culture." But research suggests that far fewer young people are "hooking up" than we are commonly led to believe. This focus on the hook-up culture also obscures two much bigger issues that many young people appear to be struggling with: forming and maintaining healthy romantic relationships and dealing with widespread misogyny and sexual harassment. What's more, it appears that parents and other key adults in young people's lives often fail to address these two problems.  This webinar explores these issues and offers insights into how adults can begin to have meaningful and constructive conversations about them with the young people in their lives. Making Caring Common (MCC), a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, helps educators, parents, and communities raise children who are caring, responsible to their communities, and committed to justice. 

Participants will
1) Learn the key findings of the new report.
2) Understand the recommendations of the report.
3) Identify some next steps to take to encourage healthy relationship and prevent sexual harassment.

Presenter: Joe McIntyre, Lecturer on Education, Harvard University. 

When: October 11, 2017. 1 PM Pacific time, 4 PM Eastern.
Duration: 60 minutes
Cost: Free!

Register Here

National Career Pathways Network Conference

The 2017 conference will be held in St. Louis at the beautiful Hyatt Regency at the Arch. All sessions will take place in the hotel. The main conference will be Thursday and Friday, October 26–27. Conference strands will be based on the Ten Components of a Program of Study and Career Pathways Toolkit: An Enhanced Guide and Workbook for System Development. Preconference workshops (Wednesday, October 25) will address topics such as Career Pathways Leadership Certification, Employer-Education Partnerships, and Counseling.

The conference will focus on Career Pathways implementation at the state and local levels. The conference’s 1000+ attendees will consist of a broad cross-section of stakeholders comprising secondary and postsecondary educators, workforce development professionals, and employers. The NCPN conference is one of the best professional development opportunities in the country, offering 130+ breakouts, a variety of preconference workshops, keynote speakers, networking opportunities, and an exhibit hall showcasing the latest products and services in career technical education. We hope you'll make plans to attend!
If you have questions, contact me (dmills@cord.org) or Sheila Wilson (swilson@cord.org). 

Kudos!

Congratulations to Marjorie Lane, FCS Educator at Solon Community Schools for advancing on as the Iowa ACTE State Teacher of the Year!  Marjorie accepted her award along with several other CTE professionals at the Iowa ACTE annual conference held at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny September 19th.  Other Iowa ACTE award winners were:  Melody Bethards, Teacher Educator of the Year and Blake Anderson, New Teacher of the Year.  The Dave Bunting CTE Teacher Preparation Scholarship went to Elisa Russ who attends Iowa State University and is studying Agriculture Education.

Also pictured below with Iowa ACTE President Greg Kepner are Iowa ACTE Administrator of the Year, Dr. Sarah Updegraff, HS Principal at new Hampton and Chad Blanchard, Iowa ACTE's Oran Beaty Leadership award winner.  Chad is the Grant Wood AEA School Improvement Consultant.  Winners will now move on to the ACTE Regional Competition and winners there move to the National level. 

  

A quick reminder about Iowa ACTE awards -- Our FCS candidates come from the Iowa Family & Consumer Sciences Educators (IFCSE) award winners.  Both organizations have noted that there have not been many nominees to pick from, and that hinders our ability to recognize our peers for their good work not only on a local, but also state, regional, and national level.  The more recognition we give to our FCS professionals, the more our programming gets highlighted for the benefits we provide to our students.  Please consider nominating a colleague (or yourself!) for the IFCSE awards this year!

 

FY18 Professional Development Opportunities and Conferences 

All of the opportunities, below (and more!) can be found at this LINK. Let me know if you cannot find what you are looking for OR if you have other items that may be of interest to our FCS educators in the state!

• Rightfully Sewn Fashion Designer Professional Dev. Seminar (Kansas City, Oct 14, 2017)
• National Careers Pathways Conference (St. Louis, Oct 26-27)
• NAEYC Annual Conference (Atlanta, November 15-18, 2017)
• ACTE Vision Conference (Nashville, December 6-9, 2017)
• CTE/FCCLA Day at the Capitol (Des Moines, February 7, 2018)
• ProStart State Competition (Des Moines, February 27, 2018)
• ACTE National Policy Seminar (Washington DC, March 5-7, 2018)
• FCCLA State Leadership Conference (Des Moines, IA, March 25–27, 2018)
• Iowa Work-based Learning Conference (Location TBD, April 9-10, 2018)
• National ProStart Invitational (Charleston, April 28-30, 2018)
• National Restaurant Association Show (Chicago, IL, May 22-24, 2018)
• ACTE Region III (La Crosse, WI, June 20–22, 2018)
• AAFCS National Conference (Altanta GA, June 24–27, 2018)
• FCCLA National Leadership Conference (Atlanta, GA, June 28 – July 2, 2018)
• IFCSE Conference (Ames, August 5 – 7, 2018)

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Lisa G. Stange, NBCT, MA Ed Education Program Consultant Family and Consumer Sciences Bureau of Career and Technical Education Division of Community College & Workforce Preparation Iowa Department of Education Grimes State Office Building 400 East 14th Street Des Moines, IA 50319 515-242-5032 (O) 515-414-0864 (C) lisa.stange@iowa.gov Twitter: LGStange www.educateiowa.gov