OUR Cooperative Mentoring Program Specialists, Monica Springfield and Suzanne Grant, delivered the first round of cookies for Teacher Appreciation Week! The OUR Cooperative staff looks forward to seeing all our schools this week. We appreciate all that you do!
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to educators in the OUR Co-op area!!!
Dr. Eric Saunders, DESE Associate Deputy Commissioner--Office of District Operations, shared financial information for the 2024-2025 school year with OUR Co-op superintendents.
Congratulations to Dr. Gwendolyn Rains, OUR Co-op science specialist, who recently completed the requirements for an Ed.D. Degree through Arkansas State University. In addition, she was recognized during the College of Education and Behavioral Science 2024 Convocation of Scholars for Outstanding Achievement in the field of Educational Leadership, Ed.D. We are so proud of you, Dr. Rains!!!
Special Education Resource Teacher Academies provide current licensed Arkansas public school educators in grades K-12 the opportunity to earn an additional Special Education Resource endorsement and participate in job-embedded professional development while receiving graduate school credit hours. Educators who obtain this endorsement will be equipped to provide instruction within general education classrooms or offer pull-out supplementary services. All the programs include 12-15 hours of graduate coursework delivered both synchronously and asynchronously, can be completed in one year, and are available at no cost to teachers.
Information on the universities participating and registration links are below:
https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/educator-effectiveness/educator-support--development/special-education-resource-teacher-academies
Last week Anne Cowie, OUR's Local LEADS Captain, met with early childcare providers from across the region to talk about how to best serve the children, families and communities in the area. The Arkansas LEARNS Act mandates that "local leads establish a comprehensive, locally-led plan for supporting early childhood programs and services." Ms. Cowie shared the 2024-2025 plan with all attendees.
Want to know more? Contact Anne at acowie@oursc.k12.ar.us
#ourleads4kids #earlychildhoodeducation #arkansasdese
The Co-op Technology Coordinators received training on Cyber Incident Response at the ACTC/CIRT Conference last week.
Great opportunity for online PD brought to you by the Arkansas Co-op Technology Coordinators. Search for sessions 520390 or 520393
The second group of leadership teams from OUR Co-op districts participated on Thursday in Session 5 of the Acceleration of Learning Communities of Practice professional learning led by Dr. Ivy Pfeffer of Bailey Education Group. The focus of the day has been ensuring high quality teaching and learning and focusing on strategies to build the professional capacity of faculty and staff.
Leadership teams from OUR Co-op districts participated on Wednesday in Session 5 of the Acceleration of Learning Communities of Practice professional learning led by Dr. Ivy Pfeffer of Bailey Education Group. The focus of the day has been ensuring high quality teaching and learning and focusing on strategies to build the professional capacity of faculty and staff.
Andy Sullivan, DESE Director of Educator Effectiveness, provided information related to best practices to OUR Co-op area administrators on Friday. Areas of focus included End of Year Process for TESS and LEADS within the Educator Effectiveness System.
What a great day for chess! Grades 3-4 and Grades 5-6 competed in our spring tournaments today. Congratulations to our winners! Thanks to all who participated and everyone who helps make these tournaments possible.
Early Childhood Local LEADS Captain Named
The Ozarks Unlimited Resources Education Cooperative is excited to announce that Anne Cowie has been named as our Early Childhood Local LEADS Captain. Ms Cowie is an Arkansas native who has spent her career serving as a resource for children, schools and communities in the state. She taught in the Paris school district for 27 years before transitioning to her most recent position at the University of Central Arkansas in the College of Education.
Anne has been recognized as a Teacher of Influence by her students and Logan County Best Teacher by her community. Ms Cowie has served on multiple educational and community boards, including the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM), and the Logan County Extension Advisory Council. She is currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the AR PBS Commission, a governor-appointed position.
Anne understands the importance of families, businesses, schools and communities working together to support our youngest citizens. She has spent her career providing innovative ways to connect children and families to opportunities. In her role as Local LEADS Captain, Ms Cowie will work to foster collaboration, organize community stakeholder meetings, and implement a range of initiatives to improve the quality and accessibility of early childhood education to all children in our area.
Leadership teams from the OUR Co-op districts attended Day 4 of the Acceleration of Learning Communities of Practice over the past couple of days. The days were led by Dr. Ivy Pfeffer with Bailey Education Group, and the focus was Sharpening our Instructional Leadership Focus: Ensuring High Quality Teaching and High Levels of Learning.
Junior High and Senior High Chess Tournaments were held today at the OUR Co-op. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the coaches and players who attended!
Monday evening, OUR Co-op hosted a training for school board members, administrators, and school personnel regarding legal requirements for personnel policy committees. The training was conducted by Kristen Garner, Staff Attorney with Arkansas School Boards Association.
🎓 📚 OUR educators, industry partners, and the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce recently completed a book study on Mark C. Perna's "Answering Why" and had an insightful Q&A with the author himself! 🌟
It was an enriching experience that left our educators inspired to better engage younger generations.
#OURcte #GenerationalAwareness #GenZ #GenAlpha #AuthorsWhoCare #ThoughtLeaders #PassionPurposePerformance #EmpoweringEducators #MakingaDifference
📅🤝Join us for our Reverse Career Fair on April 3rd from 11:00am - 12:00pm!
📚Here are instructions for how to prepare and what to expect: https://bit.ly/3P6UJ9q
#OURcte #NWAEDD #ReverseCareerFair #EmployersWelcome #TalentAquisition #TablesAreTurned #ChamberofCommerceSupport
Scott Smith and Ken Rich with APSRC provided updates to superintendents during the February board meeting.
Superintendents reviewed K-2 Literacy and Math data for each building during the February Board of Directors meeting. Beginning of year and middle of year assessment results were shared with the group as well as changes from the beginning of the year to middle of the year.
