East High School teacher Daniel Warner has been named the 2019-20 West Tennessee Teacher of the Year by the Tennessee Department of Education. Warner, who is the Shelby County Schools 2019-20 Teacher of the Year, was one of nine finalists for the State’s Teacher of the Year Award. There were three finalists in each Grand Division: West, Middle and East TN. The winners were announced yesterday during a special virtual ceremony. “I'm humbled to be honored as West TN Teacher of the Year,” said Warner. “The work of the classroom is never done alone. It is done in community. I'm grateful for the East High and SCS community.” Get the full story in the SCS Newsroom.

Nominations are being accepted for a lucky elementary school or schools in the Mid-South to win up to $4,000 during the sixth annual Extra Yard for Teachers Week presented by the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and Donorschoose.org. Extra Yard for Teachers Week is an annual salute to teachers in recognition of their hard work and dedication. On behalf of the AAC, the University of Memphis is seeking nominations from all local elementary schools. Just log onto www.donorschoose.org by noon on September 15, and submit a claim or claims for resources totaling anywhere from $100 - $4,000. Be sure to reference #ExtraYardforTeachers2020 in your submission. Winners will be contacted on September 17. 

The CDC reports heart disease and stroke rank number 1 and 5 respectively for top killers of Americans, and cholesterol can be a major contributor to both. This CIGNA flyer has tips for keeping your cholesterol under control.

SCS and Cigna want to support our employees’ whole health – not just physically, but also mentally. CIGNA is partnering with Stamp Out Stigma (SOS) – a national initiative to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use disorders.

Did you know that one in five Americans has a mental health disorder? In addition, thousands of individuals of all ages, genders and backgrounds die by suicide every year. SCS has several programs to help: Methodist EAP offers help to all full-time employees and their eligible dependents. Call (800) 880-5658 or get more info here; CIGNA offers the Total Behavioral Health program for employees enrolled in CIGNA medical plans. Call (800) 274-7603 or get more info here. For additional info on suicide awareness and prevention, click here.

In partnership with SCS and CIGNA, employees can participate in Omada, a digital health program that equips you with everything you need to foster a healthy lifestyle. Participants get a wireless smart scale, full-time health coaching, an interactive and adaptable health program and more. Best of all, it’s all free! A simple 1-minute health screener can determine your eligibility. Invitation emails are being sent weekly to employees who have a CIGNA health plan participants. You can click here for more info too.

Based on CIGNA’s latest health data, many SCS employees covered under our health plans seek treatment for musculoskeletal (29%) or circulatory (24%) issues. Many employees have jobs that require them to sit in front of a computer for a large portion of the day. Click here for tips on avoiding the side effects of sitting still and here for September’s healthy recipe - almond crusted chicken fingers… yummy!

Bills, loan payments, unexpected expenses – finances can be a common source of stress that many of us find overwhelming. Attend a seminar  September 16 to learn how to stay healthy in spite of financial challenges. You’ll learn impacts of financial stress, how to get your family to stick to a budget and tips for stretching your dollar. Sign up here.

The annual Necessity Drive provides necessity items to under-resourced families of students who attend Shelby County Schools. Each year, individuals, businesses and/or organizations provide items or monetary contributions to support our students. This year's drive takes place on Friday, September 18, from 4-6 p.m. at East High. View a list of needed items and details on making donations online or via CASH APP here.

In order to ensure families and students have support in the new virtual learning environment, the YMCA and Shelby County Schools are partnering to provide full-day, in-person care and virtual learning support at sites throughout Shelby County. This service is provided at no cost to essential workers. Support will be provided before, after and during the virtual school day, along with meals and enrichment activities to keep kids engaged throughout the day. The virtual learning academies will run Monday - Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. SCS employees have exclusive priority to register for a select number of sites. Register now on the YMCA website.

With more people working and learning online than ever, we have to be more vigilant regarding potential cyber security threats. To enhance SCS cyber defenses, IT Security wants to highlight a common cyber attack that everyone should be aware of – Phishing. Phishing is the most common type of cyber attack that affects organizations like ours. It can take many forms, but phishing attacks all have one common goal – getting you to share sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card information or bank account details. Although we maintain controls to help protect our networks and computers from cyber threats, we rely on you to be our first line of defense. View this memo and this tip sheet from the IT Department for more details on types of phishing attacks and how to spot them. Remember, if you receive a suspicious email or accidentally click on a phishing link, report it to IT by calling 416-2700 (option 5). 

The Non-Instructional Evaluation (NIE) season is underway, and we're kickstarting the year with our new REQUIRED certification training for central office and school-based supervisors who evaluate non-instructional staff. ALL supervisors, managers, directors, etc. must complete certification training before employees can select them as their evaluator. The training offers an in-depth look at:

Register for the virtual session in PLZ, course #23528 (9:30 - 11:30 a.m. or 2 - 4 p.m.). Participants will receive a Microsoft Teams link by 4 p.m. the day before the session. For questions, please contact Employee Performance & Support at 901-416-2475 or eps@scsk2.org.

Interested in supporting our observation process for school leaders in 2020-21? The state certification window is open through March 31, 2021, and certifications are valid until June. If you were certified last year, you should have received an email invitation to re-certify from either TEAM.Questions@tn.gov or Courtney.Rayburn@tn.gov. Opportunities are also available for first-time observer certifications. Get all the details, including registration links, here.