Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Welcome to the ConnectEd Bulletin Board!
This is the place to find opportunities for further professional development, grant and awards opportunities, and much more!
Quick Navigation Links
Job Opening at DPI: Assistive Technology, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy Consultant
The Inflation Reduction Act & Schools: New funding for healthy, sustainable, cost-effective schools
Wisconsin Educators, Please Tell Us What Training and Support You Need
Trauma Sensitive Schools Spring Webinar
Upcoming Green and Healthy Schools Wisconsin Professional Learning Opportunities
Wisconsin Wayfinder: Children's Resource Network Updated Resources
Student Services/Prevention and Wellness (SSPW) Resources and Trainings Webinar
Bullying Prevention Online Training Program
Schools Are Making Cool Choices!
2024 Promoting Early Childhood Conference
News from Around the State
Job Opening at the DPI: Assistive Technology, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy Consultant
This position is to provide support to local educational agencies in statewide leadership for the establishment and implementation of evidence-based practices for assistive technology that emphasize assessment, matching assistive technology to unique disability-related needs, incorporating assistive technology into Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and implementing assistive technology within general and special education environments. The position also provides statewide leadership in the provision of occupational therapy and physical therapy to students receiving special education services through an IEP. The position also will support the Wisconsin Council on Special Education. The position allows the option to work 100% remotely. The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. Thursday, February 29, 2024. For more information about this position and to apply go to the Wisc.Jobs webpage. For more information, contact Maria Butters, maria.butters@dpi.wi.gov.
The Inflation Reduction Act & Schools: New funding for healthy, sustainable, cost-effective schools
February 29th Webinar - 1 p.m. CT
The Inflation Reduction Act has the potential to bring millions of dollars to Wisconsin schools for needed facility upgrades and improvements. This unlimited, non-competitive funding is available to all schools that adopt eligible clean energy technology. These improvements can bring long-lasting benefits to schools, including improved student health and safety, fewer learning disruptions, and operational cost savings that can be applied to other district priorities. Want to learn more?
On February 29 at 1 p.m. CST, UndauntedK12 and Forward Together Wisconsin are hosting a webinar that will help teams involved in decision making for school construction and renovation projects with an understanding of how new federal funding, combined with local utility incentives, can be leveraged to inform long-term facilities planning well into the next decade. This session will also feature speakers from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Slipstream, Sun Prairie Area School District, and Focus on Energy. To learn more, email tyler@forwardtogetherwi.org. RSVP for the webinar here.
Wisconsin Educators, Please Tell Us What Training and Support You Need
To help the Wisconsin Safe & Healthy Schools Training Center and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Student Services Prevention and Wellness team better meet the professional learning needs of schools and communities, please complete the following survey by March 22, 2024. The survey is completely voluntary and takes less than 10 minutes.
Trauma Sensitive Schools Spring Webinar
Join the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center for a Trauma Sensitive Schools spring webinar featuring Alex Shevrin Venet, author of Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education. The webinar will be held on April 9, 2024, from 9-11 a.m. There is no cost to attend.
Topic: How are trauma and inequity present in our schools, and with limited time and resources, how should teachers respond? In this webinar, Alex Shevrin Venet will introduce the framework for equity-centered trauma-informed education and its guiding principles that help educators help students, especially those impacted by trauma. We will explore proactive priorities for transforming the school environment, as well as ways to tap into larger efforts for change.
Please follow this link to view additional details and register. Registration is limited to 500 participants. Contact ahubing@cesa4.org or krasmussen@cesa4.org with registration questions.
Upcoming Green and Healthy Schools Wisconsin Professional Learning Opportunities
- February 27: Tapping into the Expertise of Your Community Members (online)
- February 27: Great Lakes School Forest Webinar (online)
- March 2: Wisconsin KidWind Challenge in Madison
- March 4: KidWind Educator Workshop - Wausau
- March 5: Nature-play for Literacy, Learning, and Life, Fond du Lac
- March 5-7: National Green Schools Conference, Santa Fe, NM
- March 13: WSSC 1st Quarter Meeting 3:45 - 4:45 online + EPA presentation (online)
Wisconsin Wayfinder: Children’s Resource Network Updated Resources
Wisconsin Wayfinder now has videos and brochures that can be shared with families at IEP meetings, email lists, parent resource areas in schools, and school and district webpages. The DPI will continue to share additional resources as the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) develops them.
Video Links to Share with Families:
Brochures to Share with Families:
- Wisconsin Wayfinder Brochure English
- Wisconsin Wayfinder Brochure Spanish
- Wisconsin Wayfinder Brochure Hmong
Wisconsin Wayfinder provides a statewide user-friendly website and toll-free number, 877-WiscWay (877-947-2929), to provide families with convenient, direct access to compassionate and knowledgeable children’s resource guides. Please share the toll free number (877-WiscWay) and these resources and much more that you can find on the Wisconsin Wayfinder website with families in your schools, districts, and communities. Below are two additional resources that may help case managers, IEP team LEA representatives, and other educators talk about Wisconsin Wayfinder with families who have children with disabilities.
As educators in Wisconsin schools, you have incredible access to providing families with timely and relevant information.
Student Services/Prevention and Wellness (SSPW) Resources and Trainings Webinar
The webinar Navigating the DPI Website: Finding New or Timely SSPW Resources and Trainings will be held on Thursday, March 7, 2024, from 9:15-9:45 a.m. The purpose of the webinar is to provide information on how to navigate the DPI website and the SSPW webpages to find new or timely resources or training from SSPW. This webinar will be recorded and linked on the SSPW Communications website. Please contact Julie Incitti, julie.incitti@dpi.wi.gov with any questions. Click here to register for the webinar.
Bullying Prevention Online Training Program
The Student Services/Prevention and Wellness Team (SSPW), in collaboration with Dr. Chad Rose at the University of Missouri, is once again offering a free, online bullying prevention training course for Wisconsin educators! This course is designed for all educators including regular and special education teachers, student services professionals, administrators, out-of-school time program staff, and any other school personnel. This five-module course can be completed by an individual in approximately two hours. The five modules provide foundational knowledge of bullying prevention:
- Module 1: What is Bullying?
- Module 2: Predictive and Protective Factors Associated with School Bullying
- Module 3: Intervention for Bullying in the Schools
- Module 4: Group and Individual Interventions and Federal Law Related to Bullying
- Module 5: Resources
Please visit the DPI’s Comprehensive Approach to Bullying Prevention webpage to register for access to this training program. Please contact bullyingprevention@dpi.wi.gov with any questions!
Schools Are Making Cool Choices!
More than 500 students will have access to play “Cool Choices” at their school and take actions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions!
Cool Choices is a six-week online game provided by Green & Healthy Schools and can be implemented at the classroom level, multiple classrooms within a school, or with teams from the same school or district. It takes about 5 minutes per day to play.
The game period is available to all Wisconsin schools free of charge. There will be an additional game period during Earth Month in April. Learn more!
2024 Promoting Early Childhood Conference
Promoting Early Childhood Conference (PEC) is an early childhood collaborative event sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in partnership with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP). The conference will be taking place March 5-7, 2024.
Who Should Attend? Early childhood leaders from schools, child care, Head Start, home visiting, environmental education and other related programs and services such as: principals, 4K coordinators, special education directors, program support teachers, school board members, child care directors, Head Start directors and coordinators, professional development trainers, community teams, Early Childhood faculty at two- and four-year colleges. For more information, check out the Promoting Early Childhood Conference webpage of the DPI's website.
Wisconsin's 'chief public school champion' Jill Underly, state Department of Public Instruction superintendent, is raising her profile via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly was interviewed by Alan Borsuk. In this profile piece, he highlights the recent work of Dr. Underly raises the alarm bells on important issues facing K-12 public education.
Milwaukee students play Giannis and brothers in new documentary via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Public Schools shared a Facebook post explaining that three siblings, Carti, Carri and CJ are the actors for the younger versions of the Antetokounmpo brothers.
Islands of Brilliance connects neurodiverse teens and young adults via WKBT – La Crosse
Launched in 2012, the program pairs children with autism with designers who teach them different skills.
Trans youth feel less safe than LGBTQ+ counterparts at school via Wisconsin Public Radio
Transgender and LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to report unsafe school climates and mental health concerns than their cisgender, heterosexual peers, according to research by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The findings are part of a report by UW-Madison graduate students Ben Lebovitz and Erin Gill and their advisor, Assistant Professor Mollie McQuillan. The three dug deeper into the DPI’s 2021 Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey to study trans youth.