St. Louis area educators will present, as will Keynote Speaker Mark McLeod. Mark speaks to the heart of a teacher- he knows what it is like to “be in the trenches.” Recognized as one of Mississippi’s top school administrators, Mark is lifelong educator; his experience includes teaching, coaching, and roles as assistant principal and principal. Conference attendees will feel inspired to further plant seeds of success in their students after Mark’s keynote. Not only will Mark speak first thing in the morning with the opening address, he also will hold a session at 4 o’clock entitled Commuter Time Conversation with Mark McLeod. The day wraps up with the CSD Winter Conference/Dinner for School Board Members and Superintendents (this session is an additional $30 to attend). For more information on the Best Practices Conference, contact Karen Vaughan at kvaughan@csd.org.

To learn more about Cooperating School Districts’ programming, visit our website, CSD.org, and follow us on Twitter, twitter.com/csd_stl.

Keynote speakers for the 2012 METC:

John C. Carver
Leadership Breakfast, Tuesday, February 14
Our “Printing Press” Moment: Educational Transformation,
Hold On to Your Hats!

Dr. David Thornburg
Tuesday, February 14
Can You Hear Me Now: The Powerful Rise of Mobile Learning

Adam Bellow
Wednesday, February 15
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future

Session content includes interactive whiteboards, videoconferencing, Discovery Education, Google, digital storytelling, mobile devices, geocaching, QR Codes and much more. Presenters are classroom instructors from the St. Louis region and beyond, plus eight special featured speakers brought in to address specific education issues. The METC Advisory Committee asked Rushton Hurley, Roxanne Glaser
, Lucy Gray, 
Cindy Lane
, Paula Naugle, Kathy Schrock, 

Kenneth Shelton, and Tony Vincent to present. Contact Project Coordinator Megan Moncure or Program Director Nancy George if you have questions regarding the conference.

· Mesnier Primary, Affton School District
· Antonia Middle School, Fox School District
· Kennerly Elementary, Lindbergh School District
· Crestwood Elementary, Lindbergh School District
· Concord Elementary, Lindbergh School District
· Long Elementary, Lindbergh School District
· Brennan Woods Elementary, Northwest School District
· Eureka Elementary, Rockwood School District
· Fairway Elementary, Rockwood School District
· Valley Park Elementary, Vally Park School District

In addition, four musical groups will perform on Saturday, December 3rd:
11:30 a.m. -  Sappington Elementary
1:00 p.m. – Clyde Hamrick Elementary
2:00 p.m. – Blevins and Fairway Elementary Schools
2:30 p.m. – Simpson Elementary

Come out and support our local (and young) artists! Meet some of your favorite book characters, talk with the illustrator of  a children’s favorite, The Magic School Bus. The only cost is for items purchased at the Scholastic Book Fair, which will benefit the Children’s Illustrated Art Museum in St. Louis, and CHARACTERplus, which works to instill positive character traits in students.

The e2020 Lunch & Learn session takes place Thursday, November 3rd at 1460 Craig Road in St. Louis. You can come in the morning and stay for lunch, or stop by for lunch and stay through the afternoon. Register for this free event here.

• 10- 11:30 am- Demo & Info session of e2020
• 11:30-12:30- Lunch for all provided by e2020
• 12:30- 2 pm- Demo & Info session of e2020

With e2020 through District’s-Choice you can:

• create a personalized schedule
• offer any course any time, creating the flexibility for new innovative school options and schedules for all
• provide credit recovery for students so they graduate on time
• require a study skills course for freshmen
• encourage students work on a prescriptive MO EOC Assessment Prep course
• offer an ACT, GED prep course any hour of the day to all students
• use e2020 assessments to find out which Missouri and Common Core Standards to spend more time teaching and what to skip, thus personalizing teaching each student in grades 6-12
• use videos of real teachers explaining each Common Core Standard

CSD’s District’s-Choice Online Learning will offer the highest-quality courses at the lowest prices in Missouri using e2020, and down the line, with additional vendors to expand our K-5, Foreign Language, and AP course offerings. For more information on this Lunch & Learn, or on District’s-Choice Online Learning, phone Dave Sanders at 314-692-1219, or Nancy George at 314-692-1251.

We offer SES in an after-school tutoring program for K-8 students. The tutoring is offered in a small-group format (and includes snacks for students) and also is accompanied by monthly progress reports sent to parents.

Our SES program employs teachers from your buildings who already know the students. These teachers truly help them as they take the next steps toward academic achievement. This is a great option to improve your students’ performance. Students using this tutoring program showed dramatic results after participation:

17% increase in Word Recognition
21% increase in Fluency
29% increase in Comprehension
29% growth in Math

A quality SES program can improve student achievement and work habits, reduce delinquent or risky behaviors and improve social and behavioral skills. For more information on SES at CSD, please contact David Sanders, Director of Professional Development.

Cooperating School Districts

There are now four subscription options for districts to select from:

• Skype Only is for any size school/district–– Annual Fee $250
• Basic is for school/district under 2,500 students–– Annual Fee $500
• Standard is for any size school/district–– Annual Fee $1,650
• Premium is for any size school/district–– Annual Fee $3,000

With an annual subscription, members get ongoing coordination and support from the Virtual Learning Center of CSD. Also, as part of New Links membership, schools get free videoconferencing/ distance learning professional development from Virtual Learning Center staff- in person, or over videoconference, Skype or webinar. To see a full list of benefits, look into the subscription options above.

In recent years, K-12 students and teachers in the St. Louis area, and beyond, have connected to places such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef; The Globe Theatre in London, England; The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor; and to students in Rwanda, Iraq, Uganda through Global Nomads Group. In addition, several classroom-to-classroom collaborations have taken place. New Links subscriptions are open to any school or district that wants to join. To learn more about distance learning opportunities through CSD’s New Links, contact Rebecca Morrison of the Virtual Learning Center.

Missouri Distance Learning Association’s Excellence Awards
Congratulations to the Virtual Learning Center’s Stephanie Madlinger for receiving the Missouri Distance Learning Association’s Excellence Award (K-12 Educator). The Missouri Distance Learning Association is a non-profit association formed to promote the development and application of distance learning to education and training. The award is given to instructors who use educational technology effectively and provide challenging, engaging and innovative educational opportunities via distance learning. Stephanie was honored at the annual MoDLA conference in July, where she also presented.

St. Louis Business Journal: CFO Awards
CSD’s Deputy Executive Director/CFO Stephen Keyser was a 2011 finalist as a small nonprofit CFO of the year! The awards are given to financial professionals in the St. Louis region from the St. Louis Business Journal for outstanding performance in their roles as corporate financial stewards.

Gateway Acura Dealers “Gateway to the Best” Program
Gateway Acura Dealers chose four organizations to support over the course of a year; CSD is included in this group. Four times during the year CSD recognizes one employee who is the “Gateway to the Best,” and that employee is profiled in commercials that appear on local TV (paid for by the Gateway Acura Dealers). Each time an employee is profiled by Gateway Acura Dealers, a check for $500 goes to a CSD member school of the employee’s choice.  CSD requests the school use that $500 as a scholarship for a deserving student.

• Janice Putman was the first honoree and she sent the scholarship check to Roosevelt High School in St. Louis Public Schools
• Elise Reineck was the second honoree and she chose Rockwood Summit High School in the Rockwood School District
• Sandy Happold was the third honoree and she Oakville High School in the Mehlville School District
• Donna Collins will be the fourth honoree and she has not had to choose the high school

And lastly, congratulations to Kelly Hackworth in our Business Services Division. Kelly received the “CSD Award” last week for her service and dedication to CSD and our member districts!

Dr. Senti has more than 42 years experience in public education, beginning as a teacher in Kansas at the Olathe School District before moving east to the St. Louis area. He holds a doctorate and an educational specialist degree from Saint Louis University, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Senti recently served as the interim superintendent of the Parkway School District. Prior to that, he served for fifteen years as the superintendent of the School District of Clayton and six years as the superintendent in Parkway. During his career, he also previously served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent in Parkway.

“We are excited to welcome Don Senti as the new executive director of CSD,” said Dr. Dan Dozier, chairman of the CSD Board of Directors and Orchard Farm School District superintendent. “His experience and leadership in the St. Louis education community will benefit the organization and its member school districts greatly.”

Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis dedicated its CHARACTERplus office building in honor of the program’s founder, Sanford N. McDonnell, on May 4, 2011. The Sanford N. McDonnell Center for CHARACTERplus is located next to CSD’s main office on Craig Road in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

In 1988, McDonnell founded CHARACTERplus with seven school district members and four corporate sponsors who believed in the importance of addressing issues related to student character, responsibility and student achievement. Today, more than 85 school districts and schools take part in the program, reaching more than 600 schools, 25,000 teachers and more than 300,000 students throughout Missouri and Illinois.

Many long-time supporters of CHARACTERplus attended the dedication, including some who were involved in the program from the beginning. In addition, members of VFW Post 6211 in Maryland Heights posted our nation’s colors. Another CSD neighbor, Parkway School District’s Craig Elementary School, had their choir sang the National Anthem. St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley was in attendance and thanked McDonnell for his efforts and declared May 4 as “Sanford N. McDonnell Day” in St. Louis County. Don Senti, who will be taking over as CSD Executive Director in July, was also on hand for the dedication.

CHARACTERplus works to advance the cause of character education and sustain its impact on the lives of educators and students by:

• designing, promoting and facilitating processes and best practices;
• serving educators and enhancing their commitment to character education;
• actively recruiting and developing community support; and
• continually evaluating the impact of our programs and services.

Because of the efforts of Sandy McDonnell and members of the CHARACTERplus staff, a large number of National Schools of Character come from the St. Louis region. This year alone, 15 of the 44 winners are CHARACTERplus member schools. They received recognition as 2011 National Schools of Character by the Character Education Partnership (CEP).

CHARACTERplus is a program of CSD. The recognized St. Louis-area schools are:

1.     Babler Elementary School, Rockwood School District
2.     Bayless Elementary School, Bayless School District
3.     Bowles Elementary School, Rockwood School District
4.     Crestwood Elementary School, Lindbergh School District
5.     Fox Middle School, Fox School District
6.     Geggie Elementary School, Rockwood School District
7.     George Guffey Elementary, Fox School District
8.     Kellison Elementary, Rockwood School District
9.     Lincoln Elementary, Troy School District
10.  Lindbergh High School, Lindbergh School District
11.  Mark Twain Elementary School, Brentwood School District
12.  Renfro Elementary School, Collinsville (Illinois)
13.  St. Louis Charter School
14.  Uthoff Valley Elementary, Rockwood School District
15.  Woerther Elementary, Rockwood School District

The goal of the National Schools of Character program is to recognize all schools and districts that demonstrate an exemplary level of implementation of Character Education Partnership’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education (click here to read that list of principles). Applicants shared school lesson plans, reflections, policies, agendas, data and photographic documentation with CEP. According to CEP, the recognized schools will receive a grant to help other educators transform their school cultures and improve academics and behavior by acting models and mentors.

Motivate, Engage, Transform, Connect is the theme for the 2011 Midwest Education Technology Conference. Held annually by Cooperating School Districts in St. Louis, Missouri, METC takes place February 14, 15, and 16th this year.

METC offers K-12 educators- teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators, library media specialists and network administrators, an opportunity to learn the latest in instructional technology and see what schools are doing with technology integration. Presenters come from all over the United States, including our three keynote speakers: Peter Buffett, Lee Crockett, and Rushton Hurley.

Lee Crockett’s address is given Tuesday morning at the special leadership breakfast held for administrators. Crockett is the Director of Media for the InfoSavvy Group and the managing partner of the 21st Century Fluency Project. His message: Literacy is Not Enough – Aligning Outcomes with Intentions. According to Crockett, education is caught in the middle of a paradigm shift. Our focus on education as memorization is becoming obsolete. He’ll discuss the 21st Century skills that are essential to everyone. Crockett will also pose to breakfast attendees “how do we ensure our students develop these skills while still meeting our mandated curricular objectives?”

Rushton Hurley also speaks Tuesday morning. Hurley is executive director of the educational nonprofit Next Vista for Learning, as well as the Program Director of MERIT (Making Education Relevant and Interactive through Technology) at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College in Los Altos, California. During his keynote, entitled The Kids Need Us -and- Technology, he discusses how strong teaching can happen with or without technology.  He argues that if we want to reach every student, however, building powerful learning experiences on top of the care and expertise we already bring to the classroom requires tapping into every resource available. Hurley believes if done right, the result is a better experience for our students, and also more time for us to focus on kids needing more personal connections than our busy schedules often allow.

Peter Buffett’s keynote is Wednesday morning. Buffett, a musician and the son of billionaire Warren Buffett, is the author of Life Is What You Make It. Because of his experience in using technology skills to create a compelling life story into narrative, music and video, Buffett was invited to present at METC 2011. To bring the message of the book alive, Buffett has crafted Life Is What You Make It: A Concert & Conversation, a live music event that incorporates multi-media and personal stories to give the audience an authentic, inspirational, and impactful experience. In addition to presenting Wednesday morning to conference attendees, Buffett will hold a second concert the evening of February 16^th at the St. Charles Convention Center for the general public, with proceeds going to the Virtual Learning Center.

For more information on the Midwest Education Technology Conference, visit http://METCconference.org.