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
At the recent February OUR Co-op Board Meeting, Jeff Killingsworth, Coordinator of K12 Cyber Policy and Strategy with DESE provided superintendents with information on Cybersecurity and Privacy laws passed during the 2023 General Session of the Arkansas Legislature.
Day 1 of our 2024 Solar Eclipse Statewide Data Hunt PD with DCTE Computer Science Specialists John Hart and Alex Moeller was a success! Grateful for the collaboration between DCTE Computer Science, UCA, and Science Specialists.
High schools, get ready for an enriching solar eclipse data collection journey! 🌞📊😎
#OURcte #OURComputerScience #DCTE #DCTEComputerScience #ArCTE #ComputerScience #SolarEclipseProject #SolarEclipseMonitoring #SolarEclipseArkansas #CrossCurricularProject #ScienceEducation #ProfessionalDevelopment #AppliedLearning #ProjectBasedLearning
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.
Scott Smith and Ken Rich with APSRC provided updates to superintendents during the February board meeting.
OUR Cooperative would like to congratulate the Cotter and Harrison School Districts for receiving ACT 56 Outstanding Gifted Program Awards at the 2024 AGATE Conference.
🌟Let's take a moment to celebrate the highlights and success stories that unfolded during the exciting exploration of excellence at our Career and Technical Education (CTE) showcase at Bergman High School & Middle School on February 6th ! 🎓✨
🚜 Agriculture Program:
From building trailers in metal fabrication to ultrasound demonstrations on animals, Bergman's Agriculture Program showcased practical skills. Alumni success stories, like Lindsey Pritchett Ledbetter, Ph.D., food safety microbiologist for Walmart, highlighted the program's success and relevance. 🌾🔧
💼 Business Department:
The Business Department wowed attendees with live demonstrations featuring cash counting machines and teller cabinets, giving a glimpse into the real-world skills imparted to students in Hospitality & Tourism, Business Finance, and Banking programs. 💰💼
🍳 FACS Department:
The Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) Department demonstrated its commitment to diverse professional paths through industry certifications in ServSafe Food Handler and CPR training. Student testimonials showcased the impact of FACS classes on personal development and career goals. 👩🍳💼
🚀 Career Development:
The Career Development program engaged the audience with demonstrations in coding, robotics, Python programming, digital portfolio creation, and entrepreneurial projects. The unique time clock initiative, promoting time management skills with weekly rewards, added a dynamic element to the program. ⏰💻
👧 MS FACS:
Middle School Family and Consumer Sciences (MS FACS) showcased early-age skills development, from hand sewing to bread making. These demonstrations highlighted the foundational knowledge and life skills imparted to students at an early age. 🏠🍞
🎉 Thanks to all who joined us:
A special thank you to the community, business and industry professionals, DCTE representatives, elected officials, and educators who explored Bergman's CTE programs, offering valuable insights and support. Together, we're shaping the future of education! 🌐🙌
#CTEshowcase #ARcte #WeAreCTE #BergmanCTE #OURcte #OURCooperative #CTEsuccess #EducationInspiration #FutureLeaders #CommunityInvolvement #CommunityPartners
Here are the winning teams for 3/4th Grade Quiz Bowl Day 2:
3rd Place Team - Flippin
2nd Place Team - Valley Springs
1st Place Team - Eureka Springs
Thanks to all that participated and all of our coaches and moderators. See you next time!
Here are the winning teams for 3/4th Grade Quiz Bowl Day 1:
4th Place Team - Green Forest
3rd Place Team - Cotter
2nd Place Team - Forest Heights
1st Place Team - Skyline Heights
Thanks to all that participated and all of our coaches and moderators. See you next time!
🌟OUR Co-Op CTE Coordinator, Emilee Tucker, had the privilege of joining forces with Mark C Perna, esteemed generational expert, national keynote speaker, bestselling author of "Answering Why: Unleashing Passion, Purpose, and Performance in Younger Generations" and creator of The Career Tree®. Mark is also known for his insightful weekly articles on Forbes.com.
🤝 This dynamic meeting brought together Emilee and Mark's team to explore innovative strategies aimed at elevating local K-12 career awareness. As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of education, it's crucial to tap into the expertise of thought leaders like Mark Perna to ensure we are empowering the younger generation with the knowledge and skills they need for success.
📚 What makes this collaboration even more impactful is that Emilee has been leading a book study this spring, encouraging collaboration among counselors, principals, CTE teachers, the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce, and industry partners. The study delves deep into Mark's book, providing our educators and industry partners with valuable insights to better guide and support our youth.
🚀 Stay tuned for the positive impact these collaborative efforts will have on our commitment to fostering passion, purpose, and performance in the educational journey of our students. #OUR #OURCTE #ARCTE #CTEMatters #Collaboration #CareerAwareness #InnovationInEducation #Passion #Purpose #Performance
Curriculum and testing coordinators from the OUR Co-op districts met today to share best practices regarding curriculum and assessment.
The OUR Co-op hosted Dr. Ivy Pfeffer with Bailey Education Group today. District teams spent the day focusing on planning for instruction and lesson internalization as well as various available data types and how review of that data can assist with planning effective instruction.
Because of the uncertainty of the weather conditions this morning, we are going to ask those scheduled to attend the Communities of Practice Session 3 today, Monday, to attend tomorrow, Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
Teachers, please share this exciting summer opportunity with your students:
ATTENTION current 9th-11th GRADE ARKANSAS STUDENTS!!!
Project CAVES (Creative Adventures and Valuable Experiences through Spelunking) is a seven-day/six-night summer residential program that provides an authentic immersion in science outside of the classroom for gifted high-school students. Participating students will experience science in a life-changing way!
Activities will center around investigative studies in the areas of cave ecosystems, karst geology, bat populations, and hydrogeology and are designed in a way to allow participants to better understand the complex dynamics of subterranean geology and biology!
Gifted science-minded 9th-11th grade students from across the state of Arkansas are encouraged to apply by April 5, 2024 here: https://www.oursc.k12.ar.us/page/project-caves
Project CAVES is administered by the Deer/Mt. Judea School District in cooperation with OUR Educational Service Cooperative. Please contact Nathan Windel (nathan.windel@dmj.k12.ar.us) or Gwen Rains (grains@oursc.k12.ar.us) with any questions you might have regarding Project Caves.
