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Monthly Messenger |
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Since writing to you in September, school routines have become more familiar. Students and staff are immersed in relationship building and the joy of being in community with one another. After two months of low COVID-19 community levels across our four-county region, discussions among system leaders have markedly shifted from emergency management to all things teaching and learning.
I’m honored and grateful to extend an invitation to a number of meaningful events intended to improve the educational experiences for children throughout Northwest Oregon.
Join us at tonight’s virtual board meeting for a community gathering, celebration and proclamation to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, featuring artist, writer and graduate of Banks schools, Steph Littlebird.
If you cannot attend, check out the numerous resources named in the proposed proclamation, including lesson materials and suggested actions to take as you honor Native American heritage this November. You can also watch a presentation that Steph Littlebird delivered to our staff at the beginning of the year, “Reframing the Land Acknowledgement: Educating Ourselves on Our Region’s Diverse Stories and Histories.”
Check out the following sections of this newsletter for more events and professional learning opportunities. I look forward to leaning into some of these with you in the coming weeks! |
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In partnership,
 Dan Goldman
Superintendent
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Join our School Culture and Climate Network or attend our Learning Collaboratives to foster a sense of belonging for students in Northwest Oregon schools
 The School Culture and Climate Network convenes educator teams to examine root causes and test small change ideas toward creating a more inclusive, safe and supportive school community. Educators unable to commit to the network can plug into numerous learning opportunities through the School Culture and Climate Learning Collaborative.
Join a professional learning community for early career special educators
 This professional learning series is designed to support special educators who are beginning the first 1-3 years of their career. Educators will attend six virtual professional learning sessions with access to optional virtual drop-in sessions and one optional on-site coaching visit. This opportunity is free to educators within the NWRESD service area.
Professional learning will focus on the following areas:
- Legal Procedures and Compliance
- Quality IEP Development
- Equity and Diverse Family Partnerships through the IEP Process
Special educators Maureen Feldman and Joyce Woods will lead the sessions, which will provide participants with practical skills and a supportive professional learning community. Note that the PLC will be geared toward learning specialists, but other specialists may attend if space allows.
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 After a brief battle with colon cancer, Northwest Regional Education Service District grant development specialist Crystal Greene, 40, has died. Crystal was a vibrant and energetic force for good. She excelled at describing complex projects and programs in easy-to-understand terms and garnered millions of dollars for school districts and programs across the region.
During her time consulting and then working for NWRESD, she wrote hundreds of grant applications. She was seldom unsuccessful in her requests for support to start a new initiative, expand a current program and help districts better support students.
 The Oregon Teacher of the Year Program recognizes and honors teacher excellence. Laury is a math and science teacher at Hillsboro School District's Liberty High School. Laury graduated from Liberty High School and returned as a family outreach liaison and bilingual assistant in 2015 after graduating from Portland State. Since earning her master’s degree in 2019, she has taught math, science, dual language and AVID at Liberty. She also advises the MEChA Club and has taught summer school.
Thank you to the selection team for their thoughtful review of applications from across the Northwest Regional service area:
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Carlos Tenorio Hughes, Spanish Interpreter and Translator
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Inger McDowell-Hartye, Equity Professional Development Specialist
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Naheed Brown, Professional Development Specialist and former Regional Teacher of the Year
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Ryan Hamilton, Professional Learning Coach and former Regional Teacher of the Year
 Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is the recipient of the 2022 Congressional Service Award from the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA). The award was announced at AESA’s Educators' Call to Action Conference on Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C.
The award is given annually to acknowledge a legislator or federal agency for meritorious support of federal education legislation and educational service agencies (ESAs). Wyden was recognized for his strong support of educational programs affecting Oregon’s education service districts and the school districts they serve.
In recognizing that schools and educational service agencies do so much more than just academics, Senator Wyden has supported initiatives to allow these agencies to work together. The need for this type of collaboration was made abundantly clear this summer when Senator Wyden led an effort to support and streamline the process for schools and ESAs to be reimbursed for the Medicaid services they provide. It represents an improvement on existing policy and takes commonsense steps to make good policy even stronger. We are grateful to have a champion in Senator Wyden.
Wyden was elected in 1996. He is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and serves on the Energy and Natural Resources and Budget Committees as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence. He is the leading Democratic member of the Joint Committee on Taxation.
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School Culture and Climate Learning Collaboratives
Various Dates and Times:
- LGBTQ2SIA+ Equity - Oct. 17
- Tribal History/Shared History (Senate Bill 13) - Jan. 19
- ODE Student Success Plans - April 17
Integrated Guidance Community Engagement Support
For teams and educators who are leading community engagement efforts, there are a number of upcoming opportunities to get training and make progress.
 Story Circles (Oct. 11-12)
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Introduction to Story Circle and Facilitator/Host Training
- Want to learn how to use Story Circles in your outreach and community engagement strategy for Integrated Guidance? Join us for a virtual "Introduction to Story Circle and Facilitator/Host" training on Oct. 11 from 9-11:30 a.m. or 1-3:30 p.m. with Story Circle Stories author, facilitator and circle practitioner Rose McGee. Consider this a quick overview to understand how to use this strategy and how to facilitate them in your communities. Note: The afternoon session will be a repeat of the morning session so please sign up for the time that works best for you.
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What is "The Gift" of Story Circles and "Story Circle Within a Circle?"
- Join us in person with Rose McGee for a more in-depth training at NWRESD's Washington Service Center (5825 NE Ray Circle Hillsboro) on Oct. 12 from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Time will be spent uncovering more about how to use various Story Circles for your Integrated Guidance process and beyond to connect with your community.
Empathy Interview Trainings and Office Hours with Community
Design Partners (November)
- Empathy interviews are a human-centered method to hear stories and
experiences from people most impacted by systems in order to better solve
problems. It is critical that team members embody the values and mindsets that
are foundational to the practice as well as understand the logistics to carry them
out. This training provides essential training for teams or individuals as they
begin empathy interviews or seek to improve an existing practice.
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Session Dates:
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How to Conduct Empathy Interviews: Wednesday, Nov. 9,
3-4:30 p.m.
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Empathy Interviews Office Hours: Thursday, Nov. 10, 3-
4:30 p.m.
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Empathy Interviews ActionShop (Collecting/ Compiling/
Understanding Data): Thursday, Nov. 17, 3-4:30pm
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Empathy Interviews Office Hours: Tuesday, Nov. 29, 3-
4:30 p.m.
Community Data Processing - Qualitative Data Processing/Review (Nov. 2)
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Throughout your community engagement efforts you'll be collecting feedback from participants in a variety of ways. You may have chart paper diagrams, post-it notes that have been sorted and organized, answers from open-ended survey questions and even ThoughtExchange results. This session will provide directions, tips and tricks for analyzing that data and summarizing it into themes that teams can use to guide decisions.
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Intended Audience: Anyone preparing the data for teams to review.
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Bring: Spreadsheets of data (Excel or Google). If you have physical artifacts, please take pictures and type the responses into a spreadsheet before attending.
Northwest Regional Education Service District Foundation Fundraising Reception: Help Kids Rise
Oct. 26 - 5-7 p.m.
 The event will be held at Miller Nash on the 34th Floor of the U.S. Bancorp Tower in downtown Portland. The address is 111 SW 5th Avenue #3400, Portland, OR 97204. Hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be served starting at 5 p.m.
Donations raised at the event will be used to fund grants for educators in Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties so they can better support children with disabilities and other children facing challenges.
Regional Educator Network
Rolling Application with a Jan. 13 Final Deadline
The Northwest Regional Educator Network (NREN) will help any educator interested in researching, creating, advancing or sustaining initiatives that support the success of educators of color in the region. Any educator can apply as an individual, team lead or student group adviser, and our network staff are available to assist with the process.
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The Monthly Messenger is a monthly update for Northwest Regional Education Service District partners. Would you like to see your team's work featured? Email communications. |
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