Educators are invited to attend the Scholastic Book Fair SALE in Tyler, Texas December 12th – 13th.  This sale will feature thousands of our best books at great values – up to 80% off.  This sale is being held at the Tyler Municipal Rose Center exclusively for school and district employees and all Book Fair chairpeople and volunteers.

TYLER MUNICIPAL ROSE CENTER
Mon., 12/14/2009 – Tues., 12/15/2009
Monday: 10AM – 7PM
Tuesday: 9AM – 5PM
420 Rose Park Drive
Tyler, TX 75702

Please forward this information to ALL staff on your campus or within your district offices. Any librarian only copying me on her school wide email broadcast will receive and an extra $20 coupon to be used at the sale. Everyone can go to  www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/warehouse   for more details and for additional savings coupons.

For more information, contact:

Catherine Hender
Book Fair Field Representative
Scholastic Book Fairs – Southwest Region
Phone: cell  (318) 529-9264 | 800-792-2002 x 340
chender@scholasticbookfairs.com

The Texas Retired Teachers Foundation (TRTF) is accepting applications for its 2012-13 Classroom Assistance Grants and Student Scholarships.  TRTF is a non-profit organization serving Texas’s educators of yesterday, today, and tomorrow through the aforementioned and other charitable programs.

TRTF is offering 10 Classroom Assistance Grants in the amount of $500 to public school teachers in the state of Texas for the 2012-13 school year.  Classroom Assistance Grants are awarded to teachers who demonstrate their commitment to education by creating programs or learning platforms that enhance the lives of their students.

Additionally, TRTF is offering 10 $500 scholarships to students who will be attending a Texas college in 2012-13 and are majoring in education (they must also be relatives of members of the Texas Retired Teachers Association).

If you know of any teachers in your school that might benefit from this opportunity or of any guidance counselors who post scholarship opportunities for graduating seniors, TRTF would appreciate you passing this message along to them.

Applications and guidelines are available online at http://www.trtf.org/index.cfm/scholarships-grants/.  Applications for both programs are due by Thursday, February 23, 2012 by 5:00 pm.  Questions may be sent to info@trtf.org.  Click link for application: Teacher Grant Application 2012-2013

Thank you for all that you do.  The Texas Retired Teachers Foundation hopes to make a difference for your teachers and students!

Sincerely,
Cindee Sharp
Government Relations & Outreach Specialist
Texas Retired Teachers Association
313 E. 12th St., Ste. 200
Austin, TX  78701-1957
cindee@trta.org

Ph: 512.476.1622
Toll Free: 1.800.880.1650
Fax: 512.476.1003
www.trtf.org

A two-year membership is available to Primary School teachers for the educational program, Starfall.  The company has added a great feature that you have to be a member of. This allows you to access  all kinds of great activities and games.

You will need to activate your computer.  All computers can be activated.

1.    Go to starfall.com
2.   Click on More Starfall
3.   Activate this computer
4.   You will need to enter my email address and password

For more information, contact Principal Balboa.

Pine Tree teachers may archive their lesson plans on CSCOPE to meet the requirement of keeping them on file without having to print all of them and turn in hard copies.

To do this, simply click on “My Lessons”.

Then, on the right hand side of the screen, under “Action”, and click “Archive” for each lesson.

It will disappear from that screen but is not really gone.

Once you’ve  clicked “Archive” for each lesson, you are finished.  There should be no lessons showing on the screen at that point.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011,  a Public Information Meeting to give input on specially designed questions from the Texas Education Agency on Special Education regional and state needs will be held from 9:00am-12:30pm at the Region 7 Education Service Center, 1909 North Longview Street, Kilgore, Texas.

Interested attendees please RSVP, or send questions to Liz Adams- ladams@esc7.net.

The Department of State Health Services Zoonosis Control Branch (http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/health/zoonosis/) is conducting the spring 2011 statewide “Rabies Awareness & Prevention Poster Contest” for K-8^th grade.

There are prizes provided by the Zach Jones Memorial Fund (http://www.zachjonesmemorial.org/). There will be one prize (a Nintendo DSi) for the top-ranking kindergarten poster; there will be a first, second, and third place prize for each age group (grades 1-2, 3-5 and 6-8). First prize for groups 3-5 & 6-8 will be an Xbox 360 with Kinect; 2^nd prize will be an IPod Touch; 3^rd prize will be a $50 Visa Gift Card. First Prize for the grades 1-2 group will be a Wii; 2^nd prize will be a Nintendo DSi; 3^rd prize will be a $50 Visa Gift Card.   

Rabies is endemic in Texas. Skunks and bats are the most commonly affected species, and school grounds are the number one location in Texas for exposure to rabid bats. Bat bites are not always noticeable and many people are unaware that exposure to bats poses a risk. Most of these rabies exposures are preventable through education. Information about the contest can be downloaded from the DSHS Zoonosis Control website. You can view the winning posters submitted for the previous contests at this same site.

Posters due April 8, 2011. Please contact us if you have any questions!

 Bonny C. Mayes, MA,  Phone:  (512) 458-7111, ext. 2888
Ernest “Skip” Oertli, DVM, PhD, Phone:  (512) 458-7111, ext. 3306
Zoonosis Control Branch
Texas Department of State Health Services
Office Location T-813

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE; http://ncesse.org) announces a truly remarkable opportunity for your school district on the final flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) – which is the historic final flight of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.   This is an opportunity for your school district to be part of a high visibility, keystone U.S. national STEM education program of the highest caliber, and capable of garnering significant media coverage.

We are now inviting school districts across the U.S. to be part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). SSEP was designed as a keystone national STEM education initiative to engage and inspire America’s next generation of scientists and engineers through immersion in real science. We believe that “student as scientist” represents the very best in science education.  Read more.

Lone Star Leadership Academy

Education in Action offers spring break and summer Lone Star Leadership Academy programs for outstanding Texas 4th-8th graders.  Participants travel to Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, or Houston/Galveston to develop leadership skills and experience what they are learning in school through visits to historically, politically, and environmentally significant Texas sites with Texas educators.  These Monday-Friday, residential programs are offered during spring break (March 14-18) and throughout the summer.  Selected students must maintain an 85 or higher average, receive an educator recommendation based on demonstrated leadership ability and be actively involved in school/community activities.  Early spring break application deadline:  January 22, 2011.  Final spring break application deadline:  February 19, 2011.  Early summer application deadline:  April 9, 2011.  Final summer application deadline:  May 7, 2011.  Late applications are accepted through two weeks prior to each program.  For more information, including an informational video and program application, visit www.educationinaction.org or call 817-562-4957.

Region VII is in the process of planning professional development activities for the 2011-2012 school year. Please complete and have your staff complete the 2011-2012 Behavior Needs Assessment that is posted on Survey Monkey. The following link provides access to the survey:  

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J6Y23MJ

Surveys should be completed no later than Friday, November 19, 2010. We appreciate your assistance and hope the survey results help us provide training that is relevant and beneficial to your staff and students.

Thank you,

Henryett Lovely-Watson, EdD
Special Education Specialist
Region 7 Education Service Center
1909 N. Longview Street
Kilgore, Texas 75662
Phone: (903) 988-6854
Fax: (903) 988-6877