Treat Your Administrative Assistant to a Special Day!

Wednesday, April 26 is Administrative Professionals Day. Treat your Administrative Assistant by sending her to a special workshop at SWWC. Our speaker will be Gaye Lindfors, who will talk on "This is Livin'!. What if ...". 

Date/Time: April 26; 9am - 12pm (lunch included)

Registration Link

 April's Mental Health Webinar

You Don’t Know Me: Tools & Strategies for Working with Difficult Youth on April 27 from 3-4pm. Join from the comfort of your desk!  Registration Link

 Do Your Staff Have Student Loans?

Cooperative Purchasing News!

The Cooperative Purchasing Connection through SWWC is excited to announce the addition of new cooperative purchasing contracts!  Be sure to mention Cooperative Purchasing Connection (CPC) to get your discounted pricing!

H & B Specialized Products, Inc. has the athletic equipment, wall mats and lockers you’re looking for!  Lockers are suitable for schools as well as law enforcement. The wall mats available under this contract meet fire code requirements. Athletic equipment includes: badminton, basketball, futsal, handball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, tetherball and volleyball equipment. Bike racks, controllers, football goalposts, football/soccer combos, foul poles, gym divider curtains and sports cages are also available. These products are available to participating agencies at consortium level discounted pricing. You can also get discounted pricing on training services and maintenance support.  

Seating for athletic events is now available at discounted pricing through CPC!  “Stadium Steve” and his company, Seating and Athletic Facility Enterprises (SAAFE) offer Interkal telescopic seating, installation, maintenance and repair services. Members can also save on outdoor aluminum bleachers and I-Beam grandstands from Southern Bleacher Company and pre-fabricated press boxes from ProBuild. These products and services are available at consortium level discounted pricing.

And if you are looking to finance your new construction or remodeling project, check out our new vendor, Geneva Capital. Minnesota based, Geneva Capital provides members with flexible solutions for major construction projects, remodeling projects, project furniture, security solutions, lighting replacement, vehicles and more! 

If you would like more information about any of these vendors, please contact Shareen.Neumann@swsc.org. 

34th Annual School Business Staff Conference

Date:  Wednesday, April 5
Location:  SMSU Conference Center in Marshall
Time: 8am Registration; 9am - 3:30pm Conference

This conference is always a great opportunity for district staff and administration to hear firsthand from MDE, PERA, MN DEED, auditors and SWWC staff. Visiting and sharing information with staff from other schools that attend are just as valuable. To find more out about the conference schedule, session descriptions or to register, please go to www.swsc.org/workshops and scroll down to April 5 and click on the 34th Annual School Business Staff Conference link. 

Region 8 IEIC Spring Workshop

Leading the Digital Charge: Developing 21st Century Curriculum

 

To buy textbooks or to not buy textbooks? That is one of the many challenges of our regional administrators and curriculum directors are faced with. In most cases, educators have an extensive background in content knowledge and instructional strategies, but aren’t always equipped with the tools to develop and write their own curriculum. SWWC, with grant funds made possible through Minnesota Tele-Media, is providing training for educators to develop a hybrid course (part technology, part traditional). There are educators from five districts currently participating in the grant opportunity, they are Marshall, YME, RCW, Adrian and Worthington. Hybrid courses being developed include secondary ELA courses, Digital Photography, Science and Latin American History. SWWC Technology and Teaching & Learning staff, along with SMSU have led the training. Participants will develop their hybrid course in Google. Throughout the training they have learned about a variety of tech tool and ways students can access and interact with the content, copyright laws, the SAMR Model, course design, and aligning content and assessments at the appropriate rigor. A stipend for the completed hybrid course, along with substitute reimbursement are able to be provided for the districts participating through the grant. For additional information, contact Lisa Gregoire at lisa.gregoire@swsc.org.

Science and Nature Conference

The Science & Nature Conference will be held on May 10 at Southwest Minnesota State University. This conference is for students in grades K-8. The keynote is Steve Belliveau, Getting Excited about Science, from Wisconsin. Our goal is to stimulate the interest of science during interactive sessions on science related topics; such as rocket building, geocaching, be a vet, crime scene, technology and much more. 

Early Registration Deadline: March 21

Final Registration Deadline: March 28

More information on our website!

March 22 is Career Day at SMSU for both Health Care and Psychology. Click the two links for the event flyers. 

Senator Franken's Poetry Contest

In recognition of the Month of the Military Child and National Poetry Month in April, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced that he is hosting his sixth annual poetry contest for Minnesota students. The theme of this year's contest is "Celebrating the Veteran in My Life."

The contest is open to all students in Minnesota grades K-12, with three age categories: Kindergarten to 5th grade; 6th to 8th grades; and 9th to 12th grades.  Students can celebrate any veteran or active military member, including a relative, family friend, or neighbor who has had a positive impact on their lives.

Winners will be chosen in each age category. Those selected will receive an invitation to attend a reception at Sen. Franken’s St. Paul office. Guests include Sen. Franken; and honorary judges; Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen; Minnesota National Guard Major General Rick Nash; Minnesota National Guard Brigadier General Sandra Best, and Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.

Top winning poems in each category will be framed and displayed in Sen. Franken’s offices in St. Paul or Washington, D.C. The overall winner in each age group will receive an autographed book by famed Minnesota author Garrison Keillor.

If you or someone you know wishes to participate in Sen. Franken’s poetry contest, please submit a poem by April 21, 2017 to poetry@franken.senate.gov or by mail to: Office of Sen. Al Franken, c/o ‘Poetry Contest’, 60 Plato Boulevard East, Suite 220, St. Paul, MN 55107. Participants may submit only one poem, no longer than 250 words. Each entry must include the name of the child, the parent/guardian’s name, a phone number, and the name of the child’s school. Please clearly indicate the participant’s age category.