SOESD

SOUTHERN OREGON 2022 REGIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR

By SOESDNews

On behalf of the Oregon Department of Education, Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD) is proud to announce the selection of Lois MacMillan of Grants Pass High School, as a 2022 Oregon Regional Teacher of the Year. MacMillan will be honored virtually in the coming month and will be awarded a check for $500.

SOESD convened a virtual Blue Ribbon Panel made up of diverse and unbiased panel members who represented the geographic region of Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath counties. The panel, who reviewed many applications from a larger set of nominations, found that Lois had the highest average rubric score of all candidates. The panelists made these observations during their deliberations:

I like the way Lois brought music into her curriculum
Lois understands differentiated instruction and works to ensure every student works with every other student throughout the year
Lois’s classroom is student-centered
There is a depth in Lois’s responses that correlates with her experience
Lois has been through the National Board Certification process and that shows in her reflective practice
There is a sense of humility in Lois’s responses
Lois has core values that she wishes to impart to her students and those core values will help her students become more resilient. This is something every teacher needs to know about and do.
Lois has a career with momentum and one gets a sense in reading her application that the best is yet to come.

The Oregon Teacher of the Year Program started in 1955, and is managed by the Oregon Department of Education. Anyone can nominate a candidate for the recognition, but teachers may not nominate themselves. Once selected, the Oregon Teacher of the Year is also a candidate to apply for the National Teacher of the Year recognition. The selected teacher serves as the face and voice of exemplary educators across the state of Oregon, and engages and inspires other teachers and community leaders as a representative of the profession.

Oregon Department of Education chose in 2018-19 to expand the selection process for the nominees. The goal of the expansion is to honor teachers in every region of the state. Education Service Districts across Oregon reviewed applications submitted from their geographic region and facilitated a Blue Ribbon Panel and review process to identify winners in their regions. Thirteen winners will go on to be considered for Oregon Teacher of the Year, which will be decided in September.

SOESD is proud of the amazing teachers in our three-county region, exemplified by MacMillan, who are focused on quality teaching, learning, and student achievement.

May 20, 2021

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Second Notice of Budget Committee Meeting

By SOESDNews

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to ORS 294.426, that a public meeting of the Budget Committee of Southern Oregon Education Service District, serving the school districts in Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath Counties, will be held on May 12, 2021, at 6:00 pm for the purpose of receiving the budget message and budget document of said district for the fiscal year 2021-2022 and to receive comment from the public on the budget. A second meeting of the budget committee is tentatively scheduled for May 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm and public comment on the budget will also be taken at this meeting.

Due to statewide restrictions and efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Budget Committee meeting will be held by video/audio conference. A copy of the proposed budget document and the link to join the meeting via video/audio conference will be available on or after May 7, 2021 at www.soesd.k12.or.us or obtained via email request to administration@soesd.k12.or.us. Public comment will be taken during the meeting.

The first notice of the budget committee meeting was published in the Medford Mail Tribune on April 18, 2021.

Scott Beveridge, Superintendent

Budget Officer

May 1, 2021

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Notice of Budget Committee Meeting

By SOESDNews

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to ORS 294.426, that a public meeting of the Budget Committee of Southern Oregon Education Service District, serving the school districts in Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath Counties, will be held on May 12, 2021, at 6:00 pm for the purpose of receiving the budget message and budget document of said district for the fiscal year 2021-2022 and to receive comment from the public on the budget. A second meeting of the budget committee is tentatively scheduled for May 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm and public comment on the budget will also be taken at this meeting.

Due to statewide restrictions and efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Budget Committee meeting will be held by video/audio conference. A copy of the proposed budget document and the link to join the meeting via video/audio conference will be available on or after May 7, 2021 at www.soesd.k12.or.us or obtained via email request to administration@soesd.k12.or.us. Public comment will be taken during the meeting.

A second notice of the budget committee meeting will be posted on the Southern Oregon Education Service District website at: www.soesd.k12.or.us. This second notice will be posted on the website May 1, 2021.

Scott Beveridge, Superintendent

Budget Officer

April 18, 2021

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Oregon Leaders Announce $250 Million Summer Learning and Child Care Package for Kids

By SOESDNews

Makes equitable investments in educational and child care programs to help Oregon children recover from challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

(Salem, OR) — Today, Governor Kate Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney, and House Speaker Tina Kotek unveiled a restorative $250 million Summer Learning and Child Care package to help students and children learn, thrive, and have fun this summer. Combined with up to about $75 million in federal funds, both in district matching funds and funding for the Employment-Related Day Care Program, as much as $325 million will be invested in summer learning and child care programs.

This past year, Oregon’s children have been burdened by the educational, social, emotional, and mental health impacts of a worldwide pandemic, months of comprehensive distance learning, and more. The Summer Learning and Child Care package will create grants for enrichment activities, academic support, child care and early learning programs. Investments will be made equitably for Oregon’s Black, Indigenous, Tribal, Latino, Latina, and Latinx, Pacific Islander, and children of color, who have borne the disproportionate impact of the last year’s challenges.

Read the full press release.

March 11, 2021

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March is Brain Injury Awareness Month

By SOESDNews, Special Education

Resource Links

CBIRT (Center on Brain Injury Research and Training) activities.

March 10, 2021

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RCC Fast Track to Healthcare Careers event

By SOESDNews

Calling all students interested in healthcare. Sign up for the RCC Fast Track to Healthcare Careers event, on March 18^th (5:30-7:00 p.m.).

RCC’s SOHOPE department will be hosting the hour and a half event that will introduce students to some of our regional Healthcare partners from La Clinica, Providence Health Services, and RCC Allied Health instructor staff in 9 different healthcare career areas:

Nursing
Dental Assistant
Nursing Assistant
Medical Assistant
Phlebotomy
Pharmacy Technician
Emergency Medical Technician
Medical Administrative Assistant
Community Health Worker

This Zoom meeting will allow students, and other community members, to interact with an Employer Panel, that will provide them with information on job opportunities and outlooks in healthcare, what employers are looking for, and company culture. For more information, I am including an agenda below, and the attached Flyer, with links to registration for the event.

School staff and students should be aware that this event is open to the community.

For more information, contact Amy Lukens in the SOHOPE Program at ALukens@roguecc.edu

Agenda

Rogue Community College Fast Track to Healthcare Careers- Meeting ID 951 0547 1164
5:30-5:40	Greetings and Introductions	Lisa Parks
5:40-6:10	Employer Panel -Current economic climate and career opportunities -Attributes of successful employees -Healthcare/Company Culture	Industry Partners (Providence Health Systems, La Clinica, and additional partners)
6:10-6:25	Break Out Room #1	RCC Programs- Nursing Emergency Medical Services Dental Assisting Medical Assistant Medical Administrative Assistant Phlebotomy Pharmacy Tech Nursing Assistant Community Health Worker RCC Student Services WorkSource Rogue Valley
6:30-6:45	Break Out Room #2	Same as above
6:45-7:00	Closing	Lisa Parks

March 10, 2021

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Southern Oregon ESD Supports Aspiring, Diverse Educators Who Receive Grow Your Own Grants

By SOESDMigrant Ed/ELL/Indian Ed, News

Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD) will be dispersing $120,350 obtained in partnership with higher education partners from the Oregon Department of Education Grow Your Own (GYO) Grant for Teacher Pathway Partnership programs that encourage the growth and sustainability of educators in Oregon. The Teacher Pathway Partnership programs are intended to help recruit and retain teachers from diverse populations, as well as create conditions where the diversity of student demographics is reflected by the teachers in Oregon’s schools.

Oregon Educator Equity Reports have revealed that all students benefit from having high-achieving teachers with cultural backgrounds similar to their own. Given the persistent lag between the proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse students and the teachers who teach them, increasing the diversity of the teacher workforce is a primary goal for school districts and teacher preparation programs throughout the state.

One of the ways in which the grant will be utilized is to support Southern Oregon Paraprofessional Pathways. The paraprofessional program offers opportunities for instructional assistants already working within schools to complete their teacher preparation program while maintaining their paid employment within the schools. Because the paraprofessional workforce more closely reflects the demographics of the K-12 student population, supporting and incentivizing their entry into teacher preparation provides an opportunity to quickly diversify the teacher workforce and leverage their rich lived experience, demonstrated commitment, and skills in relating to students. By ensuring all program coursework is available evenings, weekends, and online, while employing a co-teaching model to fulfil student teaching requirements, the pathway enables appropriately placed instructional assistants to maintain their paid employment and positive impact on students from start to finish.

“To date in Southern Oregon, the culturally and linguistically diverse pipeline programs have graduated 77 students, 85% of whom have progressed to college, with nine either currently enrolled or progressing towards SOU’s teacher preparation program.

Additionally, the Klamath Falls and Coos Bay satellite programs have enabled 73 more candidates to transfer credits without relocating and complete their teacher preparation within the local communities in which they seek to teach,” says Aaron Cooke, SOESD Program Manager for Data & Analytics of the SOESD School Improvement Team.

While various special programs have contributed to increasing the percentage of candidates in Southern Oregon University (SOU) teacher preparation programs from 9% to 24% over four years, the number of Native American candidates has not kept pace. To address that gap, the GYO grant will help establish the role of Tribal Nations Liaisons to oversee outreach to tribal departments of education, and coordinate recruitment of Native American students and/or paraprofessionals enrolling in teacher preparation. Scholarships enabled through GYO funding will reduce financial barriers to entry while navigation coach positions will provide further opportunities for paid employment and leverage candidates’ lived experience to provide guidance and support for peer cohort members.

For candidates in remote and rural locations, SOU satellite programs build upon already articulated community college partnerships with Klamath Community College and Southwest Oregon Community College to enable candidates to “transfer without relocating.” Satellite candidates complete half their coursework and all clinical field experiences within their local communities, while in-person coursework at SOU is limited to one Saturday a month with subsidized accommodation available.

Local recipient Elidia Perez is excited for the future, made possible by the grant. “Being a recipient of the SOESD scholarship will help me further my career goals by helping me pay my tuition. This opportunity will enable me to complete my bachelor’s degree. I feel very fortunate and blessed. I greatly appreciate it and would like to thank SOESD for providing this opportunity,” says Perez.

March 4, 2021

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COVID19 Vaccines

By SOESDNews, School Improvement Services, School-Wide Improvement

Why get vaccinated?

Vaccination is the best way to keep yourself, your family, and your community healthy. While COVID19 vaccines have been found to be 94% effective at preventing you from getting sick with COVID19, it still may be possible to get, carry and transmit the virus.

In the meantime, it is important that even those who have been vaccinated continue to:

Wear a mask
Physically distance from others
Wash your hands
Avoid gatherings
Stay home when you’re sick

January 29, 2021

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SOESD Rolls out Middle School Career Exploration Pilot Project in Local Schools

By SOESDNews, School Improvement Services

This winter, the Southern Oregon Career and Technical Education Consortium (SOCTEC/CTE) and the Southern Oregon STEM Hub/CC4All have been working with the ODE on the planning and roll-out of an ODE/CTE middle-school career exploration pilot. During the planning phase, ODE’s CTE Department was directed by the Oregon Chief Education Office to select five of the 17 CTE regions in the state and pilot the initiative in 25 middle-schools across the state. Southern Oregon was selected as one of these five regions and was tasked with selecting five of our middle schools to participate.

This pilot program pairs an aptitude/interest test for 7th and 8th grade students, with career exploration opportunities that support students’ results. Local SOESD representatives met with the Curriculum Directors, Superintendents, Principals, Career Counselors, and CTE and Core teachers from local middle and high schools to plan how this might to execute the program. The group selected a combination of the YouScience aptitude test along with the Southern Oregon Connections/Nepris platform.

Knowing that a pilot would have greater success in schools that were either smaller, or closely connected to their high school partners, and paying special attention to equity, the group noted five middle-schools that fit these priorities including Henley Middle School, Lost River Jr./Sr. High school, Prospect Charter School, Butte Falls Jr./Sr. High School, and Chiloquin Jr./Sr. high School. Each of these schools have CTE Programs of Study at their high schools, have large populations of under-represented students, have strong career counseling for their students, and are somewhat familiar with Southern Oregon Connections/Nepris.

Concept of the pilot:

During January, all 7th and 8th grade students at the middle-schools listed above will take the “middle-school” YouScience aptitude/interest test
During February, staffs from the middle and high schools will follow-up with the students, going over their test results, and noting potential careers where students have aptitudes and interests that they may not have considered, or knew about before
Initially, as a way of introducing students to different careers, they will be directed to explore Oregon Connections archived “tours” and “interviews”
Over the following 18 months STEM/CTE will plan and hold virtual, or in-person, career exploration events through Oregon Connections with leaders from regional companies that follow these students’ aptitudes and interests
If in-person restrictions allow, live events will also be held, highlighting regional education and job Pathway opportunities

Due to the nature of a pilot project and that there is further ODE funding planned over the coming years, SOESD will continue to “follow” these students, and more preceding them, through their high school “careers”, offering targeted career counseling support, and more career exploration/expanded curriculum opportunities. It SOESD’s hope that this will allow students to choose a career Pathway based upon their growing awareness of what careers are available in their own communities, and providing the information needed for staff to assist in closing the interest/skills gap between what they know of and what they have a growing aptitude for.

“By and large, in the past, districts everywhere have lacked a means to gather the information needed to provide student-centric career counseling that is not based upon student interest alone, relying only on what information of careers that students already knew of, or found out about on their own. Through this pilot, we hope to be able to note, then encourage a wider diversity of our students with the information that they will need to make more informed decisions about their futures,” says Brian Robin, SOESD CTE Regional Coordinator.

January 27, 2021

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