Milken Family Foundation Awards Maize Educator

It doesn't surprise me that Kansas had a winner from the Milken Family Foundation 'Oscar of Teaching' awards announced recently.

One of 55 educators in the country, she was the only one from Kansas to be awarded the loftly title and gift. She also says that her job is the best job in the world. Something you would expect from one of the best in the country.

During a surprise assembly on Oct. 6 Jeanie Padron, a 4th grade teacher at Maize Central Elementary, found out she was one of the best in the country when she was awarded the national award and $25,000 to go along with it. "I am honored beyond honored" she said. She also added her reward was seeing the kids in her class grow from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

Every morning students in her class dance to get their bodies ready for the school day. It's a way to get kids excited about the knowledge they are about to receive at Maize Central Elementary, which sits right in the middle of Maize, Kansas. The classroom she has created is loaded with positive energy where students learn through the power of creative and physical activity.

She also keeps active professionally with additional duties at Maize Central, she announces the school's pep rallies and assemblies, serves on her district's Social Studies curriculum task force and is on the transition team of the Multi Tier Systems of Support (MTSS) leadership team.

Jeanie is another example of the great people we have working with our students in Kansas. I am very proud of her even though I don't know her personally, I know she sets the standard her colleagues throughout the state.

As for her winnings she plans to throw a pizza party for her class, buy some school supplies, take a trip to Hawaii and give some money to her mom who inspired her to become a teacher.

Congratulations Jeanie your Kansas educators are proud of you and what you do for kids!

Digital Jam 2010

Last Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, the ESSDACK staff had their first digital jam held in the Hutchinson ESSDACK office.

What started out to be a small group swelled to a gathering of nearly 50 people for the inaugural Jam organized by the ESSDACK staff.

The brain child of Kevin Honeycutt and our leader and director Mike Cook, the day's attendance included Superintendents, Principals, Assistant Principals, District Tech Coordinators and ESSDACK Ambassadors from central Kansas.

The day was spent exploring ways to use technology in the classroom, with the general theme of "Technology Rocks". There were six "concerts" or stations participants visited during the Jam including PD 360, Sing Snap, Wii game (data collecting and Wii fit) iPad tutorials, and second life in the classroom.

The interested group rotated around the room in 20 minute time periods in order to have a chance at the hands on learning experience before them. Chatter among the group led to many discussions about how to use technology in the classroom and the ideas where grabbed and taken back to individual districts with a renewed vigor in all attending.

After a lunch of Anchor Inn mexican food, the group ended the day with a boost of technology confidence by ESSDACK Specialist Kevin Honeycutt, an advocate of K-12 education. He came across with an example everyone in the room could understand. "A Quarterback doesn't throw the ball to the receiver where he is, he throws it to where he is going to be." Giving that as an example to the educators meaning we don't want to teach our students to be where they are today but where they need to be in the future.

A big thank you to all who attended the first Digital Jam! Thanks for taking the time to come and learn about possibilities in the classroom in 2010. See you all again soon!

Driving a New 2010 Camaro

I see Little Barlow nearly everyday. He's one of the interesting people I met and greet at my desk each day at ESSDACK. He is a great FedEx delivery man, quiet, to the point. He says hello ma'am, yes ma'am, and thank you ma'am to me when he stops in. Most days he is in and gone before others in the office even know he is here.

A man of few words, Little lets his service and commitment to his job speak for him.

He is always on time, always tells me how to finish an Express letter, answers any questions I might have, stacks boxes out of the way, and always keeps service to his customers number one.

Sometimes good things really do happen to good people. Little is one of the best and last Saturday night after a summer of keeping up with a summer promotion sponsored by Eagle Communications, KWBW, People's Bank and Midway Motors his quiet attention to detail and determination paid off.

The promotion gave away a beautiful 2010 Chevrolet Camero to Little and his family on the car lot of Midway Motors here in Hutchinson. The car is valued at over $26,000. After becoming one of the 100 finalists in the contest, he watched as ping pong balls were pulled out of an air machine eliminating people one by one. Out of the 100 finalists 95 showed up on Saturday to play the game. He was the last man with a ping pong ball still in the machine. THE WINNER!

I doubt if he will use the car for deliveries and I doubt when he comes in today he even talks about his winnings. That is just the kind of guy he is. It's good to see a good man come out the winner once in a while. In this case no one deserves it more and it's fun to actually know the winner of the big contest!

My Technology Friend

Jane and I have been friends for a long, long time. My friend Jane was a great school teacher. She taught everything from preschool to grade 2. She was a fun teacher, a students friend. She never worried about the amount of her own money she spent in the classroom because she knew every kid was worth it.

Two years ago Jane decided to retire. A sad day for the kids in the school district, a sad day for the community.

At a time when children needed to learn technology and some teachers were running from it, Jane embraced it! She knew to keep up with her students and supply them with what they need to succeed she needed to learn it herself. I was constantly amazed at her questions about equipment she might need to transform the lives of little ones under her watch. She saw they had everything they needed, she took extra classes, she bought her own equipment, she read about technology and she really did love attending classes at ESSDACK learning it.

That is what makes her such a fun and special friend, mom, wife, daughter, aunt and grandmother to those around her. She uses her iPod for her calendar, she watches movies on the plane, she listens to music while driving the tractor, she takes trips and runs a flip video camera so she can put video on You Tube in minutes, she fills her Facebook page with photos,(did I mention she multitasks well)?

It was no surprise when she e-mailed last week she had her new iPad. I feel like the person who used to call me for technical assistance has passed me up! She has never been afraid to jump right in and learn something new. That is why she has been so good for me over the years, she has made me push myself.

Now that we are grandparents we have a whole new world to explore together. Grandkids that love technology. I gave my grandson his first laptop a month ago. He is three. He was on YouTube in seconds listening to Brad Paisley (one of his favorites). He watches music videos and knows the words by memory. He tapes himself singing and with the help of his mom has it on YouTube for grandma to enjoy! Like Jane I see my grandkids on skype a way of connecting families that wasn't there just a few years ago. For long distance grandmas there is nothing better!

I am sure Jane has taken off on her iPad already getting apps to make her life easier, learning more to make her a more interesting person. I know she will use it to it's full potential. If she doesn't know it she will learn it. Just to keep up with Harry and Connor!

In the mean time grandpa and I are headed to Best Buy, I think I need an iPad! Thanks Jane!

KASB Lands a Colorful Director

The Kansas Association of School Boards named a new director on July 1.

After serving 22 years in Kansas as a Superintendent, the past 13 at Emporia, Dr. John Heim takes the seat in Topeka to lead the Kansas School Board Organization. John is a colorful guy, if you know him you can't wait to see him coming through the door. If you don't know him..... well, as Martina McBride would say, "everyone who sees him always wants to know him." He is just that colorful of a guy.

Known to be a practical joker in person and on the phone, a recent newspaper article said he was only serious "when he was talking about kids and education". Not a bad quality for a lifelong advocate of education. The son of Max Heim, another longtime Kansas educator, John says he knows the state well having lived in Gorham, Clifton, Colby, Lawrence, Manhattan, Emporia, Olathe, Hutchinson, (back to) Lawrence, Bazine, Hays, Bunker Hill, (back to) Manhattan, Brookville, (back to)Lawrence, Leoti, El Dorado, (back to) Hutchinson, (back to) Emporia, and soon he will reside in Johnson County. He is quick to add his life is like the Hank Snow song "I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE."

He comes in to this job as a supporter for local school districts. The man who will lead them in the next few years will serve as a common voice for State Boards of Education in the state of Kansas.

School Board members are local volunteers who meet one or two nights a month and do so without being paid......Heim says "They do it because it's the right thing to do. Sometimes it's gratifying and sometimes it's painful, in the past two years it has been more painful," he noted.

I have to admit since I have gone off of my local school board I sleep much better on Monday nights. However, a couple of my co-workers are still out there facing the everyday problems that will help our Kansas students succeed during Monday night school board meetings.

According to Heim every school district needs the following-good teachers in the classroom, support staff to help show a positive voice to the community, Administrators, and School Board Members.

Why would anyone serve on their local board of education? Because they are serious about kids and education and oh yeah, because it's the right thing to do!

Thanks for your direction Dr. Heim. Kansas School Boards welcome you!

These Apple Guys are Golden

A group from Apple was at ESSDACK last week for the two day summer conference "Apple Technology Seminars for Education."

Attending were 45 of the best "server jockeys" Kansas has to offer. I am talking about the tech guys who keep technology running in our schools. Learning more than they knew, and meeting comrades they will be able to collaborate with in the future are just two of the reasons they traveled to Hutchinson to learn more from Apple.

Just a few days after Apple released the new iPhone 4, tech guys in attendance chattered about the device and how they would love to get their hands on one. One attendee pulled his new one out of his pocket and began demonstrating the new toy to the aaaahs of tech brothers standing near by. It's so much fun to see people thrilled to investigate new technology.

When Apple talks people listen. They have taken off in the education world with their one to one laptop programs, iPods in the classroom, and the new iPad has classroom games like Geometry Wars Touch", that will impress you with virtual sticks created where you place your fingers, and "Words with Friends" a scrabble style, multi-player crossword game. The company knew it was time to hit the classroom with new innovative items students need. It's time to welcome Apple into your classroom.

The Apple guys holding the session here were lead by Adam Shepard a great representative who watched registration flow, visited with attendees, saw breakout sessions were on time and made sure his server guys were well fed. His help included Bret Siegel, Jeff Oshsner, and Brent Hayward some of the best Apple has to offer. They studied Introduction To Snow Leopard Server, Advanced Snow Leopard Server, Imaging and Deployment - Intermediate to Advanced, Apple Remote Desktop, Windows Integration and Podcast Producer to name a few.

From here they loaded cords and supplies and headed to their next stop St. Louis, Mo. where they will do it all again to a new group of techies yearning to learn. Technology in Education from the laptop on the child's classroom desk, to the servers that run them, to the companies that build them, all fit in education now and in the future. Thanks Apple Guys it was great having you, see you next summer!

ESSDACK serves up McAlister's to Happy Math Teachers!

Many times when people visit ESSDACK for meetings or workshops there is a requirement for food to be served. That is what we are noted for here at ESSDACK, chocolate bars and hot cookies at 2pm in the afternoon. (Oh, and of course the Educational Professional Development!) Sometimes there is a need for a lunch for those attending.

Recently the IMU Math Grant attendees were at our facility for two weeks, requiring meals each day they were here. What a fun group of people! But it's always a challenge to try and satisfy a group of eaters. Some are picky, some are grateful, all are satisfied after they are fed.

One of the choices during the two week training was a delivery from McAlister's Deli in West Wichita, Kansas. It was probably the most talked about meal of the entire two weeks. I called McAlister's and was greeted on the phone by a nice fellow by the name of Mike. What a helpful voice on the phone! Mike answered many questions I had about the catering menu I was reading from and suggested some items my group might be interested in for their lunch.

The item I picked to feed a group of 50 people was the Spud Max Bar. Baked potatoes with all the trimmings. Ham, turkey, cheese, sour cream, butter, green onions, bacon and olives were delivered with huge, hot baked potatoes for the math teachers lunch. You could tell as they passed through the lunch line they were impressed. They asked where the food was from and when I told them they said they were for sure going to eat at McAlister's on their next trip to Wichita.

McAlister's is a deli located in Wichita, Kansas. Hutchinson where our office is located is 40 miles from their door BUT the delivery to Hutchinson was FREE! I couldn't believe it! What customer service! What were they thinking? Hutchinson establishments charge a fee for delivery from right here in town.

I was so pleased with McAlister's I ordered another lunch from them. This time three Club Sandwich Trays with wraps, croissants and chips another crowd pleaser! At the time of that order Mike informed me the delivery price was going to be starting in July. Sometimes things are just to good to last. I will probably use them for more deliveries even with the charge applied. When you get good good food delivered to your office door and employees like Mike to help you, that my friends, is priceless!