River of Words® International Poetry and Art Competition Entries Due December 1

Every year, River of Words® (ROW) conducts an international environmental poetry and art competition for youth aged 5 to 19 in grades K-12, in affiliation with The Library of Congress Center for the Book. This free contest is designed to help youth explore the natural environment and cultural history of the place they live, and to express what they discover through poetry and art. Iowa entries not chosen as finalists or grand prize winners in the international contest are returned to IOWATER, where they are judged in a statewide River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art competition.

The IOWATER Volunteer Water Monitoring Program of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources coordinates the River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art competition. Over 530 students from Iowa entered the 2009 contest, either through their schools, community art centers, local libraries or on their own. Because of the large number of quality Iowa entries, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art generously offered to host a juried River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art Exhibit for the second year in a row. Thirty-seven works of poetry and art were selected to be included in this exhibit, held August 1-23, 2009. Following its run in Cedar Rapids, both the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque and the State Capitol Building in Des Moines signed on to host this traveling exhibit, which has been selected to be part of the Lt. Governor’s IOWA ARTIST SHOWCASE.

If your students would be interested in entering the contest for 2010, entries must be sent to the following by December 1:

River of Words, PO Box 4000-J
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
Phone: 510-548-POEM (7636)
Fax: 510-548-2095

ROW returns Iowa's entries to IOWATER in April for state competition and Iowa’s state winners are chosen in May.

For more information and entry forms, visit www.iowater.net and click on River of Words, or contact:

Pat Lohmann
IOWA River of Words Coordinator Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources
109 Trowbridge Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1319
Phone: (319) 335-1593
FAX: (319) 335-2754
email: Pat.Lohmann@dnr.iowa.gov

Again, the deadline for entries for the 2010 academic year is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Entries received after December 1 are entered into next year's contest.

Headcount Needed for ICLC Participants

As was mentioned in last week's Administrator Connection, the annual Iowa Culture and Language Conference (ICLC) will be held on February 9-10, 2010 (with Pre-conference on February 8) at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines, Iowa.

For budgeting purposes, please send the number of participants you will be registering for the ICLC and Pre-conference to Pat Latham at platham@aea11.k12.ia.us no later than November 30, 2009.

Title III will only fund the Early Bird Rates to your district if done before December 11, 2009. You may register each participant through the Northwest AEA Web site at http://www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/upcoming_events/iowa_culture_language_conference/. The following are conditions Title III will fund:

Pre-conference registration based on ELL enrollment

1. Schools without English language learners will receive reimbursement for one participant to attend a Pre-conference session (up to $100 registration fee, only).
2. Schools with one or more English language learners receive reimbursement (up to $100 registration fee, only) for each of three participants to attend the Pre-conference sessions.

Iowa Culture and Language Conference Registration and Sub-pay based on ELL enrollment

1. Districts with 75 ELLs and up will be reimbursed for 10 participants.
2. Districts with 15 to 74 ELLs will be reimbursed for 3 participants.
3. Districts with 10 to 14 ELLs will be reimbursed for 2 participants.
4. Districts with 9 and below ELLs will be reimbursed for 1 participant.

Participants must have full attendance at the Pre-conference or ICLC to qualify for Title III reimbursement and sign in at the Heartland AEA table which will be located by the registration booth, lower lobby of the Polk County Convention Center.

Signed hard copies of Title III claim forms for both the Pre-conference and ICLC (one form for the Pre-conference, another for ICLC) must be submitted no later than February 26, 2010 to Jeri Messenger at 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA 50131.

Seats are going fast! Sheltered Instruction for Teachers of ELLs

Also mentioned in last week's Administrator Connection was an invitation to "Introduction To Sheltered Instruction for Teachers of ELLs”. To view that article, click here. Out of the 60 available openings for the class, 30 have already been filled! Make sure your educators who work with K-12 English language learners don't miss out on this opportunity!

Dates: January 9 & 16, 2010 (100% attendance is required for credit.)
Times: 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Location: Stoney Creek Inn
Address: 5291 NW 84th St., Johnston
Instructors: Shelley Fairbairn and Stephaney Jones-Vo
Activity number: ES004299991001

Participants can register through the Heartland Professional Development catalog at https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/YYYYYYYYYYYYYYSRCH.