You Could Be Nebraska’s Teacher of the Year for 2011! Application forms for the 2011 Nebraska Teacher of the Year are available through your superintendent or principal or by calling the coordinator listed below. Applications must be completed and postmarked by midnight, August 16, 2010. A selection panel will review the applications, and the four or five teachers receiving the highest scores will be advanced. Finalists will be interviewed during October, and the Teacher of the Year will be selected from those finalists. An awards luncheon will be held in November.

Begun in 1972, the Nebraska Teacher of the Year program recognizes outstanding Nebraska certified teachers who teach in a Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 classroom setting, and who plan to continue in an active teacher status in a state-approved or accredited school. Three letters of support must accompany the application. Questions on the application seek information on educational background and personal development, community involvement, and philosophy of teaching and the teaching profession from the viewpoint of the applicant.

Candidates must be:
• exceptionally dedicated
• knowledgeable/skilled
• respected/admired by parents, students, and peers
• active in the community in which they teach
• poised, articulate, and energetic
• able to inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities
The Nebraska State Education Association, Nebraska Council of School Administrators, Nebraska Association of School Boards, and corporate partners Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Nebraska and Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) will present a monetary award to the Nebraska Teacher of the Year. Each of the remaining finalists will be given a monetary award from sponsoring corporate friends and education associations.

The Nebraska State Board of Education will provide a $1,000 grant to the Awards of Excellence winners and the Teacher of the Year to be used for a project of the teacher’s choice in his/her school. Additionally, the Nebraska State Education Association, Nebraska Association of School Boards, Nebraska Council of School Administrators, SMARTer Kids Foundation, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Nebraska, Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), the Nebraska PTA, Dillard’s Department Store, Lincoln, and Nebraska Department of Education will present gifts, mementoes, and awards to the persons recognized.

If you have need for additional information, please call (402) 471-5059 or email lora.sypal@nebraska.gov.
Nebraska Teacher of the Year Coordinator, Lora Sypal

Arcadia Junior High and High Schools both placed 1st in the 21^th Annual Science Olympiad sponsored by ESU 10 on Tuesday, March 16.  Students were excited to bring home 1^st Place trophies since this is the first year that Arcadia schools have entered in the competition.

Arcadia Science teacher and coach Marie Nielsen said, “To introduce my students to the Science Olympiad, I showed a video made by Educational Service Unit 10 from last years’ competition. This helped give the students a feel for the events and gain enthusiasm.”  “I knew we would do well when 28 of the 30 students showed up on a school vacation day over spring break to work on their events! A lot of hard work and determination really paid off, said Mrs. Nielsen.”

Nineteen area schools participated in the Olympiad held at the University of Kearney field house.  Students competed in active, hands-on group events that ranged from bridge building to catapult and science crime busters – all of which tests the students’ science knowledge and engineering skills. 

To view the ESU 10 Science Olympiad video from 2009, go to their website at www.esu10.org and look under Special Events on the home page.

Middle School students participating include: Back row: Cheyenne Cook, Johnathan Brock, Brandon Dodge, Lance Luehm, Cameron Charles, Brytin Woodward, and Mrs. Marie Nielsen. Middle row: Zach Lueck, Megan Gabriel, Demi Dorsey, MacKenzie Maschka, Lindsey Trotter, Kayla Lane, Shayla Trotter.  Front row: Wyatt Lane, Ray Brawdy.

High School students participating include: Back row: Ben Lawrance, Alesha Hall, Katie Kuszant, Alex Luehm, Fabian Horne, Timm Schneider, RayLynn Brown, Tyler Bose, and Mrs. Marie Nielsen. Front row: Brady Chilewski, Brittany Bose, Qingxi (Panacea) Fang, Sierra Sillivan, Christina Ritz, Hollie O’Brien, Laureen Hollgeova, Nick Gabriel.

Graci Gillming, Technology Training Coordinator at Educational Service Unit (ESU) 10, was presented the Outstanding ESU Staff Member of the Year at the Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association (NRCSA) Spring Conference held on March 23, 2010.  This award recognizes staff members who have shown leadership and creativity in helping to meet the needs of the rural schools that they serve. Graci has been a leader in education for the past 27 years, serving the last 17 years at ESU 10 in Kearney, Nebraska.

Included in Graci’s many accomplishments are developing trainings, workshops and other initiatives for school districts to adapt new technologies into their classrooms. One of her colleagues states “Graci stays abreast of current technology and trains herself in new technology and software applications in order to share them with others.  She strives for excellence in her personal and professional life and is supportive of educators, encouraging them to strive for excellence as well.  Graci is always willing to share any of her talents with others to help them be more successful in their classrooms or with any project.”

We congratulate Graci in receiving this prestigious state wide award and honor.  ESU 10 is proud to have her as a staff member and considers her a role model to the many people she serves.

I want to take this opportunity to give you a brief update on the state of Manila and to share the opportunities teachers have to build their web presence at ESU 10.

A brief history: In 2002 we were awarded a grant titled "A Web Page for Every Teacher." At that time we knew the value of teachers having a web presence and were committed to providing the resources needed for teachers to have an easy to use and accessible online presence. We purchased a server and license to install and run Manila, the only real viable content management system for us at the time. We also provided professional development and other resources for teachers to help with development of their web sites.

In those eight years we have had over 3,000 accounts on our Manila servers and, at it's peak, three servers supporting this service. We have been elated at the popularity and through the years updated and upgraded as needed.

Which brings us to the present. About three years ago we knew the impending fate of Manila. We saw the writing on the wall. Support for the product was getting scarce and we started having more trouble with the service. At that time we announced we were planning to look for other possible solutions to replace Manila. We formed several teams and surveyed our customers to find out what would best fit our needs. We tried several products, and after much testing and comparison came up with our current solution: WordPress.

In the last two years, we have been moving accounts over to WordPress and in this last year have had a major push to get everyone off of Manila by June 30th of 2010. Teachers, LAN Managers, Tech Integration Specialists and Administrators are doing a wonderful job in helping with the transition process. They see the value of moving away from a dying technology to a more modern and capable system. They see the value of teachers and districts having a web presence and providing online learning resources. We appreciate the support in providing time, resources, personnel, and help in this process, and for that I thank and commend each and every person who has been a part of this journey.

ESU 10 is dedicating many resources to make the transition as seamless and painless as possible for individuals wishing to make the change. From our dedicated team of programmers who make sure the servers are running like a top; to our training team and helpdesk staff fielding and directing questions - we are here to help you with your web presence needs. We look forward to helping you build your online presence to meet the needs of your students and constituents.

If you are in need of a WordPress site to build your web presence, feel free to visit our blog and request an account: http://blog.esu10.org/wordpress/

Training opportunities are available in many forms including onsite professional development, full day workshops at ESU 10 and webinars throughout the month. For more on these opportunities, visit Odie for a current listing of WordPress titles or contact our training team to schedule an onsite training. https://odie.esu10.org/workshops/SearchResults.aspx?q="wordpress"&swn=1&swd=1

The NE ASD Network will hold its' 7th Annual Conference, A Framework for Success: Supporting Individuals on the Autism Spectrum.  The conference will be held at the Kearney Holiday Inn and Convention Center on April 8 & 9, 2010.  Reduced registration fees are available until March 15. To register and for more information on the featured speakers go to:

http://asdconference2010.eventbrite.com.