Dear Superintendents,

What a great Random Acts of Kindness Week! Thank you for sending stories and photos – we loved sharing them on social media.

On Thursday, Governor Gordon signed a proclamation recognizing February as Career and Technical Education (CTE) month. The room was full for the signing – students, teachers, government leaders, employers, and others spoke about the impact of CTE.

Coming up this week 24:

In the fall, we announced Level Up, an educator leader initiative, and we are excited to launch cohort #1 in Cheyenne. Participants will network with elected officials and other leaders while engaging in leadership training and professional development. Many of the cohort #1 participants are 2020 district teachers of the year. Memo 2020-028 (below) is the application for 2021 district teachers of the year. We would love to see every school district participate!

Also, the University of Wyoming announced three finalists for president. The finalists will visit the Laramie and Casper campuses beginning February 24. There are opportunities to interact with the candidates virtually and in-person. All forums will be live-streamed and there are links to give comments about candidates before and during the interview process. Wyoming’s student and educator voices are particularly important. Here is a link to information about the candidates, the interview process, and how to participate:

http://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2020/02/uw-trustees-to-consider-three-finalists-for-presidency.html

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CTE students, business and industry leaders, government leaders, and teachers speak about the importance of CTE at the governor’s proclamation signing.

Student Safety and Security

While SF79 (threat assessment best practices in schools) moves through the Wyoming Legislature, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Justice met with families from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting at the White House and launched SchoolSafety.gov.

The website has resources for K-12 education administrators, educators, parents, and law enforcement to prepare for and address various threats related to safety, security, and support in schools. 

  • School Safety Readiness Tool, an assessment that assists users in evaluating their school’s posture across 10 foundational elements of school safety (after completing the assessment, users are presented an action plan with task prioritization, options for consideration, aligned resources, and grant opportunities specific to individual needs);
  • secure information sharing platform for designated school personnel to share school safety ideas, practices, plans, and tactics in a protected environment; and
  • best practices and resources on key school safety topics to assist with building awareness within the community to promote vigilance and develop capacity to respond to incidents.

 

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The choir from Afton-Star Valley sang the national anthem and other songs to open the week. They sounded beautiful. Also picured, Representative Simpson.

Memos to be released on Monday, February 24:

  • 2020-025:  Call for Presenters for 2020 Native American Education Conference
  • 2020-026:  Preliminary 2020-21 ESSA Consolidated Grant Allocations
  • 2020-027:  Families Urged to Participate in the 2020 Census
  • 2020-028:  2021 Wyoming Teacher of the Year Application
  • 2020-029:  2020 WY School District Technology Directors Conference

 

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