Our Mission

To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.

Our Goals

• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success

 

Reminder: April 4 HAA Meeting with Dr. Timothy Kanold Leadership Workshop

At the Heart of Educator Wellness: Leadership Decision-making, Mindfulness, Relationship-building and Trust-building. Strategies for Leading a Thriving Workplace!

April 4
9-11:30 a.m.
Heartland AEA, Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston

Your leadership life story is a relationship story of learning how to effectively respond to daily emotions and events. How do you become the type of school leader and person others will want to follow and join as part of a relationally intelligent community? How do you effectively respond emotionally and socially to experiences of adversity and triumph?

Creating and sharing new knowledge with others is at the heart of any school with continuously improving levels of student achievement and thriving teachers who love their work. As school leaders you are expected to emotionally and socially adapt, shift, alter, adjust and subsequently lead a belonging and trust culture others will want to be a part of.

In this active and inspiring session, Dr. Kanold reminds each school leader how their daily positive emotional and social presence directly impacts their relationship and trust-building actions with others. He highlights mindfulness, trust, and relationship routines from the Wellness Solutions for Educators™ framework and provides strategies for improving trust, relational intelligence, and emotional regulation; while decreasing stress and anxiety each day!

Participants can expect to:

• Understand essential research behind the Wellness Solutions for Educators™ framework and its relation to student achievement.
• Consider essential research behind compassion and self-compassion as a pathway to encourage teacher retention and renewal.
• Embrace the emotional wellness routine of mindfulness to build atomic habits that stick.
• Understand how to use the social wellness routines of trust and relationships to develop effectively support a culture of collaboration.

Dr. Timothy D. Kanold is former Director of Mathematics and Science and School Superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson HSD 125, Lincolnshire, Illinois, the birthplace of PLCs At Work. Also author of the best-selling and award-winning books HEART! (2017) and SOUL! (2021) and co-author with Dr. Tina H. Boogren of the best-selling book Educator Wellness (2022).

Dr. Timothy D. Kanold to Lead Wellness Sessions for Educators on Leadership and Physical/Mental Wellness: Thriving At Work and At Home!

Afternoon Workshop

April 4
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Heartland AEA, Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston

In this decade, teaching and leading in pursuit of improved student achievement is hard to do well – day in and day out. The work at hand takes its toll physically and mentally. During this highly interactive, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, and always engaging session, Dr. Timothy D. Kanold, uses the Wellness Solutions for Educators™ framework to take a deep dive into the physical and mental wellness challenges that exist in the daily life of all educators. The neuroscience research is crystal clear: Improved sleep and rest, food and hydration, and movement are interwoven together as a result of daily decision-making and the intentionally planning for living a more balanced and active life. Participants will be (re)invigorated, (re)inspired, and (re)connected to the benefits of a sustainable and thriving home and work life.

Outcomes: Participants can expect to:

• Discover brain research associated with sleep, rest, hydration, movement and decision-fatigue.
• Consider specific strategies for incorporating improved sleep, rest, hydration, movement, balance, and decision- making routines into daily life.
• Embrace the emotional wellness routine of mindfulness to build atomic habits that stick.
• Give the physical wellness routine of movement clout in everyday life.
• Understand how to use the social wellness routines of trust and relationships to develop friendships and effectively collaborate with others.

Registration
Register at this link: https://bit.ly/3DLnbb8

There is no cost to attend. Registration includes a copy of Dr. Kanold’s book, Educator Wellness (2022)

About Dr. Kanold
Timothy D. Kanold, Ph.D., is former Director of Mathematics and Science and School Superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson HSD 125, Lincolnshire, Illinois, the birthplace of PLCs At Work. Also author of the best-selling and award-winning books HEART! (2017) and SOUL! (2021) and co-author with Dr. Tina H. Boogren of the best-selling book Educator Wellness (2022).

Webinar for Educators: Classrooms + Workplaces, Building Work-Based Learning Partnerships

Learn how your school can develop work-based learning programs that help students jump-start their careers

With growing interest in work-based learning across the state, Iowa Workforce Development and the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council are hosting a work-based learning webinar via Zoom for educators on March 30 from 3-4 p.m. Register now!

Paula Wright, Musco Lighting Talent Outreach Manager and recently retired Oskaloosa School Superintendent, will help kick off the webinar. Featured topics on the agenda include high school Registered Apprenticeship and Quality Pre-Apprenticeship programs, school-year internships, summer internships, the STEM BEST (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) program, teacher externships and the Iowa Clearinghouse for Work-Based Learning.

The webinar will cover what these programs involve, the resources available to help schools start and expand work-based learning and contact information for each of the presenters, who hope to have many follow-up conversations with attendees.

Deadline to Apply for DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center is March 26

The deadline for elementary and middle schools to apply for a fitness center worth up to $100,000 through the 2023 DON’T QUIT campaign is March 26.

The Governor’s Office partnered with the National Governor’s Fitness Councils for its 2023 DON’T QUIT! Campaign to provide three schools with a state-of-the-art DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center. The equipment will be installed over the summer of 2023 and includes strength training, cardio and circuit training equipment. This is a gift, not a grant. Each fitness center is financed through public/private partnerships with companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Elevance Health Foundation, Nike, and Wheels Up.

To apply, please complete the attached application. For your awareness, the application does include a video portion, having a representative explain why you need a new fitness center and what you plan to do with it.

Applications will be taken until March 26, 2023. Please make sure your nomination has the full support of your school district and meets the qualifications listed at the beginning of the application.

Qualifications:

• The school must be a public or public charter school.
• The majority of students must be between the ages of 8-14 years old.
• The school must have a room on the school’s property that is available and ready for equipment installation at the beginning of the summer 2023.
• The room must be approximately 900-2000 square feet.

Please email the application as a Word document (.doc, .docx) to apply@natgovfit.org. Please direct any questions to kelly@natgovfit.org. More information can be found on their website: www.natgovfit.org. Downloadable applications can be found here: https://natgovfit.org/apply-now/.

Join Iowa PBS in Honor of Autism Acceptance Month with a Special Event Featuring the Film In a Different Key

In a Different Key Screening + Discussion

April 13 from 6:00 - 8:15 p.m.

Iowa PBS, Maytag Auditorium, 6450 Corporate Dr., Johnston

This screening and conversation will focus on the importance of inclusion and provide the opportunity for an open conversation.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book of the same name by journalists Caren Zucker and John Donvan, In a Different Key follows the mother of an autistic son as she finds and then befriends the first child ever diagnosed with autism – Donald Triplett, who still lives in the rural Mississippi town where he was born nearly 90 years ago. This documentary tells the stories of different people with autism and is a true story of love, difference and the fight to belong.

Following the film screening, an interactive discussion will be moderated by Kris Steinmetz, Executive Director with Autism Society of Iowa. Panelists will include Tyler Leech, an autism advocate who is featured in Iowa PBS’s documentary The Life Autistic, Evelyn Horton, BCBA, Vice President of Children Services with Balance Autism and Scott Atwood, Ph.D., Vice President of Adult Services with Balance Autism. Attendees will be able to ask questions anonymously during the conversation.

This event is made possible in part by the Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation. Register for free: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/574739530407