April 2019 Member Newsletter
Summer Leadership Conference
Arrowwood Resort, Alexandria
June 17-19

Target Audience: District leadership teams (superintendent, principals, deans of students, teacher leaders, curriculum coordinators, technology coordinators, etc.)


Find the PD You Need in the
SWWC Professional Development Catalog


Register at www.swsc.org/workshops.
Minnesota Principals Academy

Are you a principal/leader interested in participating in the Minnesota Principals Academy hosted by SWWC? An informational meeting will be held in August (tentatively August 8), where final commitment to the program will be determined, and the first professional development dates will begin in September.

We are excited about offering this opportunity to build capacity in our regional leaders. Please return this completed application to Lisa Gregoire by May 15. If your district is hiring a principal and the hiring process goes beyond May 15, and they would like to attend, please feel free to contact Lisa at lisa.gregoire@swsc.org .  

Looking for Supervisory Training?
The final webinar in the Supervisory Basics Series will be held on May 9. The topic is Hiring Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them presented by Abby Polzine, SWWC Human Resources Supervisor.

April 2019 SWWC Facilities Update
Read more about our facilities work at www.swsc.org/facilities.
Administrative Services
Find the latest vendor information on our website at www.swsc.org/cp.

Have CP questions? Contact us at CPSupport@swsc.org.
The State of Cyber Risk - May 14 Webinar
In the year since we launched the Minnesota Service Cooperative Cyber Program, a rapidly growing number of your colleagues across Minnesota and beyond have chosen to better manage their cyber risk through the risk management and insurance offerings provided by this program.

During the past year, we’ve continued to see an increase in the number of network security & data privacy incidents in the K-12 space. One particular example came to us from the superintendent at a rural district. They was the victim of a ransomware attack after a hacker breached their network via a security vulnerability in the software that monitored their high school’s greenhouse temperature. They got back on their feet, but only after incurring tens of thousands of dollars in response costs. Another district fell the victim of an elaborate social engineering scheme when they were tricked into sending millions of dollars to a party posing as their general contractor.

Superintendents, IT Coordinators and Finance Directors, j oin us on May 14 at 10am for a discussion on the current landscape of cyber risk and the best practices for mitigating that risk. This webinar is meant to be educational with a focus on recent cyber events that occurred at schools in MN and across the country. Hosts will be Ryan Cloutier, CISSP of Sourcewell Technology and David Kruse, CISR of Hausmann-Johnson Insurance. To register, please click this link.
Education Services
Children's Author/Illustrator Program Recap
Terri DeGezelle Michels, an author/photographer and David Geister , an illustrator, where the two presenters visiting schools in our regions for the Children’s Author & Illustrator Program. They both shared stories how they became an author and an illustrator. Students in grades K-6 learned what it takes to become an author and an illustrator. The presenters shared their struggles of errors and revisions to get to their successes. Terri and David both made an impact on the students and teachers with their message of encouraging students to read and write and keep working hard, keep trying.

2018-19 Participating Schools
BLHS Elementary, Edgerton Public, Ellsworth Public, Hutchinson Park and West Elementary, KMS Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Marshall Holy Redeemer, Marshall Park Side and West Side Elementary, Minneota St. Edward, NLS Middle, SWWC ELC – Windom, Redwood Reede Gray Elementary, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and Wabasso Public. 
Creative Writing Contest
2019 was a GREAT year! We received 92 entries from 116 students (grades 3-12) representing 15 school districts and individual families. The winners, their families and teachers attended the Awards Ceremony on April 14 where we revealed the winners in each category. View all winners at www.swsc.org/cw .
News from our Partners
Marshall Public Schools and the ALICE Training Institute have teamed up to bring ALICE Instructor Certification Training to Marshall on June 11-12. The course will be held at the Marshall Middle School.

This two-day Instructor Certification course is designed to teach proactive option-based strategies to increase survivability in a violent critical incident. The ALICE strategies empower individuals to participate in their own survival in the gap between when a violent situation begins and when law enforcement arrives.  

Position Opening
SMSU is accepting applications for Director of Professional Educator Services. Read more here.


SMSU Teacher Education Advisory Council
Education Stakeholders – Please join the Southwest Minnesota State University Teacher Education Advisory Council on Wednesday, May 1 on campus in IL 214. The event starts with a Meet & Greet from 4-4:45pm where teacher candidates will showcase their accomplishments with resumes, edTPA summaries, and/or action research summaries. Enjoy a beverage and snack while you network with teacher candidates and colleagues. The SMSU Teacher Education Program will share out data as well as seek input followed by three break-out sessions that you are welcome to attend. Join us for the entire time or stop in as your schedule allows. Please use the parking lot B2 when you do.
In partnership, The SMSU School of Education
Our Mission  
We support and enhance the work of our members
by providing programs and services that meet their needs.
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