Montana CSPD Region IV

Yes I Can

Yes I Can Award - 2009

Purpose: The Foundation for Exceptional Children Established the YES I CAN! program in 1981 to acknowledge the achievements of children and youth with disabilities; to overcome barriers caused by disabilities or public misconceptions; to encourage children and youth with disabilities to seek their highest potential; and to increase public awareness of the abilities, aspirations, and personal qualities of people with disabilities.

Each year children and youth with disabilities are recognized for their accomplishments through the international YES I CAN! program.

Nominees for the YES I CAN! Award will be recognized in one of the following categories:

• Academics
• Arts
• Athletics (to include motor skills)
• Community Service
• Employment
• Extracurricular Activities
• Independent Living Skills (includes Self Care Skills)

Thirty-five international award winners will be recognized and given special awards at the CEC Annual Convention.

ALL PERSONS NOMINATED FOR THE YES I CAN! PROGRAM WILL RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT PERSONALLY INSCRIBED WITH HIS/HER NAME.

TO NOMINATE: Nominees for the Yes I Can! Award program must be 21 years old. Each nominee is eligible in ONE category. Both nominators must select the same category or nomination will be considered incomplete. by the Yes I Can! Selection Committee.

Send nomination forms to:

YES I CAN! Foundation for Exceptional Children
1110 North Glebe Road
Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201

ALL NOMINATION FORMS MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN December 17, 2006

FOR THE NATIONAL AWARD

Download the Form for National Submission

Note: Region IV CSPD is also nominating a student for the YES I CAN AWARD. Deadline for the Region IV CSPD YES I CAN AWARD is March 21, 2009. Students nominated after December 17th, will not be able to compete at the national level, but will still be eligible to be nominated for the Region IV YES I CAN AWARD. Awards will be given at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference in Missoula on April 17, 2009.

To be considered for the Region IV YES I CAN AWARD submit form below or send copy of completed forms to:

Denielle Miller
Region IV CSPD
606 Prairie Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59718

Questions: Contact Denielle Miller at (406) 587-4970 or click here.

YES I CAN! GUIDELINES If you would like to nominate a youth or child with a disability for a Yes I Can! Award, please follow the directions below:

1. Each applicant must be nominated by TWO people. Each nomination form must be individually completed and should provide specific information about the nominee. A form completed by one person and duplicated as the second from will not be accepted.One of the nominators should be other than a family member.
2. Nominee must be selected in one category only and in the same category by both nominators. Failure to do so will result in an incomplete form and will not be judged by the Selection Committee for the international awards.
3. Please print or type all information. It is extremely difficult for the Selection Committee to judge forms that are not legible.
4. Answer ALL questions.
5. Photos and news clippings, which help to support the nomination, are encouraged and may be submitted. Please do not send video or cassette tapes. Due to the large volume of nominations received, the Selection Committee does not have the time to view these tapes.None of the additional material submitted with the application will be returned.
6. Please be sure to check the box on the nomination form that will indicate which nominator should receive the certificate to present to the nominee. Certificates will not be sent directly to the nominee.
7. Please send two copies of nomination forms.
8. Nomination forms must be postmarked no later than December 17th, 2006 for national and February 20, 2007 for Region IV.
9. Whenever possible, both nomination forms should be returned together. Matching nomination forms that arrive separately adds a considerable amount of time to the selection process.
10. Send completed forms to:
    
    Yes I Can! Foundation for Exceptional Children
    1110 North Glebe Road
    Suite 300
    Arlington, VA 22201
    
    And a copy to:
    
    Paula Schultz
    Anderson School
    10040 Cottonwood Rd.
    Bozeman, MT 59718

NOTE: Nominators should take care in completing the nomination form. The more complete and detailed the information, the better.

Mini-Grants

Grant Funds Available for School Districts
Montana's Comprehensive System Of Personnel Development (CSPD) Region IV
Request For Proposals (RFP) Funding For In-service Training

Overview:

Montana Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) is dedicated to providing the coordination and support needed to ensure comprehensive, quality and integrated education and services for Montana's youth. CSPD works through state and regional committees to assist schools in providing quality professional development opportunities. A major goal of CSPD is to ensure quality, coordinated in-service programs that lead to trained personnel with the skills and competencies necessary to provide quality educational and related services to children with disabilities.

Resources

inservice people

The following table contains links for specific inservice people your district may need. This is a good source to identify mini-grants that would be appropriate for your district.

Paraprofessionals

Do you know of a paraprofessional who is as dependable as Old Faithful? How about a paraprofessional who is as determined as Lewis and Clark? Or as brave as Sacagawea? Who is as inspiring as the Rocky Mountains or who has a heart as big as the Big Sky? Now is your chance to nominate this outstanding person for Paraprofessional of the Year!

Download your Paraprofessional of the Year Form
Download your Paraprofessional/Teacher Team of the Year Form

Application deadline is March 21, 2009.

One team will be selected from each region.

Awardees will be recognized at the MTCouncil for Exceptional Children Conference - April 17, 2009 - Missoula, MT

Connect with Montana CECConference Website

Paraprofessional refers to ìparasî working in the school setting in areas such as special education resource, Title 1, occupational and physical therapy, speech/language, busing, cafeteria, playground, library and school health room.

Questions and submissions should be directed to:

Denielle M. Miller
Region IV CSPD
3929 Baxter Lane
Bozeman, MT 59718
Phone: 406.587.4970

Meetings

Agenda - Region IV CSPD Council Meeting, March 9, 2009, Wheat Montana 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

1. Welcome and Introductions (Laurie)
2. Approval of Minutes (Laurie)
3. Guest Speaker ñ TJ Eyer (Vaughn)
4. Review of State CSPD Meeting (Laurie)
5. Develop 2009-2010 Strategic Plan ñ Next Steps (Vaughn)
6. Committee Work Groups ñ Project Activities
7. Committees Report Out (Laurie)
8. ****LUNCH****
9. Review of current budget (Vaughn)
10. Coordinatorís Report (Denielle)
11. Stakeholder Sharing and Input
12. Other
13. Public Comment
14. Adjourn

Minutes - Region IV CSPD, April 30, 2007 * Sacajewea Inn, Three Forks

Attending: Denielle Miller, Paula Schultz, Vaughn Kauffman, Rebecca Adams, Laurie Salo, Marvin Williams, Alison Feddes, Mary Stone, Bonnie McElderry, Linda Reiten, Kerri Norrick, Cookie Johnson, Roger Holt

Introductions were made by Vaughn and visitors were welcomed and encouraged to attend future meetings. The minutes were reviewed and accepted as written.

Vaughn Kauffman facilitated stakeholder input and sharing which informed the group of various training opportunities in our region. Kerri Norrik reported that the Baby Jamboree was successful with 23 people attending. She indicated that the Games for the Visually Impaired will be held on May 4-5 and that many summer programs are available from MSDB. In October during MEA there will be a Braille inservice in Great Falls. Mary reported that Bozeman will be holding a training on differentiated instruction on May 10th. Denielle continues to attend the ECPPD meeting. They are working on a pamphlet and on fostering continued discussion between universities. Vaughn reported that the Austim task force is continuing to meet and is working on an early childhood brochure for parents. Paula discussed the training on differentiated instruction at the spring AGATE conference. Paula reported that the Para of the year award went to Bonnie McElderry, the Para/teacher team was from Montana City and the Yes I Can Award went to Travis Chappell from Monforton. All were honored at the CEC awards luncheon. Linda reported on the classes that will be online for the SPED endorsement at U of M-Western. Rebecca reminded the group that the PLUK trainings are available on the website. She indicated that the parent support group continues to meet the 2nd Saturday of the month.

Roger Holt, co-director of PLUK, presented ideas utilizing technology to provide on-going professional development. The council discussed how our region can begin to incorporate the use of instructional technology and demonstrate the capacity to design and implement technology as a strategy for providing professional development. Ideas about creating blogs for follow-up to training and possibly holding one meeting per year by conference call or ITV were discussed.

Denielle and Vaughn gave a report on the state CSPD meeting which was held in Helena in April. The meeting on Thursday was facilitated by John Copenhaver from Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center and was attended by the State CSPD Council and the SPED Advisory panel. The purpose of the meeting was to review the Annual Performance Report and Levels of Determination and the impact it will have on personnel development. The state CSPD Council meeting was held on Friday and included an update from Marilyn Pearson, State Special Education Director, a review of the OT/PT Guidelines, an update on the state website and a review of the AIM system.

Paula gave her Coordinatorís Report and reviewed the training events that occurred since our last meeting. Region IV hosted a follow-up workshop on Phonemic Awareness and Phonics in Helena with Tara Ferriter-Smith. We hosted Assistive Technology Tools for Diverse Learners in Bozeman. We have awarded scholarships for spring conferences, representing 15 districts. The following trainings will be held in the future: Make-it/Take-it follow-up to the Lucy Hart-Paulson training on May 19th at the Bozeman Public Library from 9:00 ñ 12:00. Handwriting Without Tears on August 16th at the Wingate Inn in Helena. Sícool Moves in Bozeman on August 10th and 11th. Reading Mastery with Molly Blakely on September 24th at the Wingate Inn in Bozeman. Wayne Callender project Kick-off Training on August 22nd and 23rd at the Bozeman Wingate Inn. Follow-up with Wayne Callender for 06/07 teams will be October 2nd in Helena.

The council reviewed the budget report. The budget report was accepted with corrections. A discussion regarding the next yearís budget was held. The council allocated the $60,000 basic grant dollars to the following projects: AT:$5,000-WE TEACH ALL:$5,000-Behavior:$6,000-Paraeducator:8,000-Low Incidence:$1,000-Early Childhood: $2,000- Minigrants: $3,000-Operating expenses:$30,000. Each region will receive $25,000 from the SPDG and this is to be used for training in RTI. Paula presented the proposal to include 8 new schools with six days of training from Wayne Callender. There will also be follow-up for this yearís teams with a one day training in October and ? day site visits for each team. Linda Reiten motioned that the council allocate 15% of the grant funds to pay the coordinator for the additional work to facilitate the project. The motion was seconded by Kerri Norrik and the motion was passed by the council. Vaughn presented the recommendation that the Prickly Pear/Clerk costs should remain the same for next year and that the council consider authorizing a 3% increase to the coordinatorís salary. Linda Reiten motioned that this proposal be authorized and Rebecca Adams seconded the motion. The motion was passed by the council.

Denielle facilitated a review of our current strategic plan. The revised plan will be submitted with our grant application.

Public Comment was requested and there was no comment given.

The next meeting date is scheduled for September 10, 2007 at the Sacajawea Inn in Three Forks.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Paula Schultz

Future Meeting Dates:
December 3
February 25
May 5

Transition

Here are our Goals:

Provide Region IV administrators, special educators, general educators, and agency representatives with the following objectives:

1. Competency skills in completing a coordinated set of activities for students sixteen years of age and older.
2. Offer support that demonstrates good transitional planning.
3. Outline strategies that facilitate, support, and empower team members.
4. Introduce a variety of forms that will enhance the transition process, special emphasis placed on student advocacy.
5. Make available information on how to effectively use resource guide information.

"The child that is 'left behind' most is the child who leaves school without preparation for transition."
James Stanfield EDD