Iowa’s Mosaic Diversity Conference, October 18

Iowa’s Mosaic Diversity Conference
The Changing Diversity Footprint: From Reflex to Inclusion www.iowamosaic.org
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sheraton Hotel, 1800 50th Street, West Des Moines, Iowa 50266

Iowa's Mosaic Diversity Conference is the premier statewide training and networking opportunity for those interested in human diversity. It is sponsored by Friends of Iowa Civil Rights, Inc., an independent non-profit corporation. The 2010 theme is The Changing Diversity Footprint: Moving From Reflex to Inclusion. Iowa’s footprint has changed. Our population is now a rich variety of cultures and backgrounds; people with talents and visions of opportunity and success for themselves and their families. This year’s conference will focus on creating a welcoming state that not only embraces differences in its population but provides opportunities for its people to take their talents and ambitions as far as they want to go while infusing Iowa with economic vitality.

Featured general conference speaker, Michael Sidney Fosberg, will present Incognito. This story of intrigue and mystery unfolds as Fosberg searches for his biological father. As Fosberg shares the story of his history and identity, he takes the audience on their own journey of discovery about themselves and their perceptions of identity and stereotypes.

There will also be the addition of the Eagle Summit: Dialog for Leaders to this year’s Conference. This stimulating, thought-provoking program is specifically designed for leaders in government, business and diversity. The Eagle Summit agenda will feature speakers, Julius Pryor III, and Dr. Edward Hubbard, an award presentation, and round table discussion designed to identify collaborative actions we can take to make Iowa a welcoming place of opportunity.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION - Register online at www.iowamosaic.org.

• Register by this Sunday, October 10 for the early bird discount.
• Eagle Summit early bird registration - $150.00/person. (Registration will include access to general conference activities following the Eagle Summit). This session is reserved for business and government leaders, and diversity professionals.
• General Conference early bird registration fee - $100.00/person
• College and high school students’ registration fee - $35.00/person. A limited number of scholarships are available on a first come, first served basis. Please email your request to shirley@avinsandinc.com.

Questions can be directed to Alice Vinsand at (515) 225-1051.

State PEC Transition Conference relocated to Polk County Convention Center

The location of the Parent & Educator Connection Transition Conference, Great Expectations, has been changed to the Polk County Convention Center (501 Grand Avenue in Des Moines). The conference will still be held October 27 & 28, 2010. This move is necessary as the original location, the Scheman Center in Ames, is not yet available due to flood damage.

There is no fee to attend this year due to a special grant, but registration is required. To register, go to http://www.iowa.gov/educate/calendar/calendar.html#/?i=1 and click on October 27: Secondary Transition Conference. Click here to download a complete program of the conference.

Creating Microsoft Settlement Reporting eWalk Templates

Some school administrators have asked if the state would be creating an eWalk template for evaluating the implementation of learning strategies and integration of technology purchased with Microsoft dollars. Because Microsoft Settlement applications vary widely by building, a standardized statewide template will not be created. As a result it will be necessary for each district/building to create eWalk templates for their Microsoft Settlement reporting.

According to John O'Connell, Iowa Microsoft Settlement Consultant, "The eWalk template at a minimum should contain all the teaching strategies that were listed in the application along with any other items the principal or designated observer would be looking for during their walk-throughs. This is a requirement for all that would be using eWalk for their observations in their application.”

Also, per John O’Connell, eWalk licenses were purchased through June 2011. Please note that you may use Microsoft General Purchase Voucher dollars to purchase additional years' licensing (about $40 per year) as well as hardware. Please remember to look at the product eligibility list before purchasing hardware and software, as applicable to your application. The iPad has recently been added to the Product Eligibility list. The IEC will try to work with the mxMobile company to see if a reduced license cost can be purchased. We will let you know the details if an agreement is reached.

Please contact Toy Waterman, Heartland Instructional Technology Consultant, at twaterman@aea11.k12.ia.us or (515) 270-0405 ext. 14541 if you need assistance creating a template for your MS Settlement reporting. She will be able to assist you if you wish to create other templates for your district as well.

Iowa Educators Consortium Update: Adobe Dropping K-12 Teacher & Student Discounts

Adobe is ending the K-12 student licensing program that allows teachers and students to buy Adobe software at very low prices. Orders can be placed until October 28, 2010 at the IEC software store managed by Journey Education. To order, follow the directions at http://www.journeyed.com/select.

Sample prices --

Creative Suites 5 Design Standard
Retail: $1,299
EC Student/Teacher price: $209.95

Creative Suite 5 Production Premium
Retail: $1,699
IEC Student/Teacher price: $369.95

Please share this information with students and staff that may be interested in purchasing Adobe software.

Student Opportunity: National History Day in Iowa

National History Day (NHD) in Iowa has undergone many changes to comply with state budget restrictions, but thanks to all of the hard-working students, teachers, parents and volunteers, NHD in Iowa is still afloat and is planning for the upcoming contest season. State contests will be held on Monday, April 25, 2011, for the senior division and Monday, May 2 for the junior division. Youth division showcase will also be held on Monday, April 25, in conjunction with the senior division contest.

Instead of physical mailings, information will be distributed primarily via e-mail this year. The 2010-2011 contest theme is Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences.

Click here to download the updated 2010-2011 rulebook to review with students before starting projects. One of the most notable changes, the website category, will be split into individual and group categories this year, rather than all websites competing together. That should garner applause from many of the web site participants! Student entries MUST be created through the Weebly portal located on the NHD website at http://nhd.org/CategoryWebsite.htm. Websites created with other programs or on other sites (including the public access to Weebly) will not be eligible for judging at the district and state levels of NHD in Iowa contests.

The “Iowa Sample Topics List” is posted at www.iowahistory.org along with other useful information about entering district and state contests. To find Iowa NHD information, go to the State Historical Society of Iowa webpage, click on “Education and Outreach” at the top of the page and then look for the “NHD in Iowa” tab on the left side of the page.

Questions can be directed to Millie Frese in the NHD office at the State Historical Society of Iowa. She can be contacted via email, millie.frese@iowa.gov; phone, (515) 281-6860; or cell, (515) 868-7248.

For program-related updates throughout the year, join the NHD in Iowa listserv by sending a blank e-mail to join-teacherupdate@lists.ia.gov.

Internet Service Interruption Saturday, October 9

Heartland AEA is transitioning our ICN equipment, routers and servers from a data center with overhead sprinklers and cooling problems to a secure data bunker with dry fire suppression, conditioned power and controlled temperature. We will need to disconnect the power to the current server room between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. this Saturday, October 9. During this maintenance window, you will not be able to access the Internet from your school district for approximately one hour between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Heartland's email, web and phone services may be down for the entire four hours.

There will be another period of down time on October 23. Additional information will be provided closer to that date. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Superintendents: October HAA Minutes

Click here to download the minutes from the October HAA meeting. The minutes and handouts are also posted on Heartland's Web site in the Heartland Networks link under the Leaders tab, http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/leaders/ldr/admin.html.

During the learning portion of the meeting the use of online tools to increase engagement of stakeholders was investigated. Links to all of the resources including articles, examples of acceptable use policies, and online Google resources are available at the Superintendent Academy Google site at https://sites.google.com/site/superintendentacademy/ (Clicking on the link will take you directly to the site.)

Please contact Sharon Kurns at skurns@aea11.k12.ia.us if you have any questions or suggestions for future sessions.