TCESC Educator: Winter 2022

Going ABOVE AND BEYOND

“School Psychologist is one of my favorite titles that I hold,” said Bebech. “Every single day, I am able to see growth and change within students and staff members alike; few other jobs allow for that. To be recognized by my colleagues and organization makes me want to dive deeper and to continue to find new and different ways to serve our students in Trumbull County to make sure they all shine.”

“Alanna is a leader and an integral part of the TCESC School Psychology Department,” said Melanie Shipman, TCESC School Psychology Supervisor “Alanna has risen to the top because she is positive, collaborative, hardworking, and driven to support students ”

Trumbull County Educational Service Center School Psychologist Alanna Bebech has been recognized as the recipient of the 2022 Ohio School Psychologist Association (OSPA) Early Career Award. This honor is to acknowledge the accomplishments of school psychologists in the first five years of their career. According to the OSPA, the recipient is committed to promoting school psychology, research, and advocacy. Bebech received the award at the OSPA Fall Conference in Columbus.

Alanna was acknowledged at the TCESC November Governing Board meeting for her achievements and dedication to her field.

Pictured: TCESC Supervisor of Psychology Melanie Shipman, Alanna Bebech, and TCESC Governing Board President Jeffrey Dreves

Celebrating

Congratulations to the 20 Trumbull County students who have been named to the 2022 Class of Twenty Under 20! Cosponsored by the Tribune Chronicle, Akron Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley, and Kent State University at Trumbull, the program honors individuals younger than 20 for their leadership skills through volunteerism, extracurricular activities, and academic achievements. Students were recognized at a banquet in December.

Soaring Into STRUCTURED LITERACY

Cohort

One Completes

Training

Cohort 1: Numbers

Training sessions Districts trained Hours of training

"We appreciate the partnership with the ESC and the time and energy they invested in ensuring everyone in the county receives this training," says Tricia Lockso, Director of Curriculum and Instruction with Hubbard Exempted Village School District. "One of our biggest concerns when this law was passed was determining how to get all of our staff trained and at the same level. This has been a wonderful experience to get everyone on the same page and moving forward together."

Our first group of Trumbull County educators consisting of K-3 teachers, administrators, Special Education Directors, paraprofessionals, and tutors, has officially soared its way into new ways of teaching structured literacy. The ESC held its final training session Thursday, December 1, 2022, at the Grand Resort in Howland. We've been working with the AIM Institute for Learning & Research to train all K-3 teachers for the rollout of the state-required literacy professional development as stated in HB 436: Ohio's Dyslexia Support Laws Teachers tell us they're already seeing improvements in students after implementing concepts from these trainings into their classroom lessons "These trainings have essentially reordered the way we present

our curriculum, so we are doing things in a more fluid process," said Sarah Arquilla, a Kindergarten teacher with LaBrae Local Schools "If we know better, we can do better The information we have received from these professional development sessions has all been very interesting and at LaBrae, at least within our area, we believe we are now teaching the content in a way that makes more sense to the way students learn, so they're learning the information in a more effective and efficient way."

AIM Institute for Learning & Research and the TCESC will be back together in January 2023 as we kick off Cohort 2 trainings, ensuring all of our required educators are prepared for the rollout of HB 436: Ohio's Dyslexia Support Laws

Educators trained in Cohort 1

Recognizing

D E D I C A T I O N

Ohio's Teacher of the Year

TCESC Presents Proclamation to Ohio Teacher of the Year

TCESC Superintendent Michael Hanshaw and TCESC Governing Board President Jeffrey Dreves stopped by Lakeview Elementary School to present Ohio Teacher of the Year Melissa Kmetz with a proclamation commending her for her achievement.

The TCESC Governing Board, Superintendent Michael Hanshaw, Assistant Superintendent Robert Marino, and Treasurer Lori Simione signed the proclamation at the October 17th

roclamationP

WHEREAS, Melissa Kmetz, a third-grade teacher at Lakeview Elementary, was recognized for her accomplishment of being named the 2023 Ohio State Teacher of the Year on September 27, 2022, by the Ohio Department of Education.

WHEREAS, The Ohio Teacher of the Year Award recognizes exceptional teachers statewide, celebrating their effective work in and outside the classroom since its inception in 1964.

WHEREAS, The Trumbull County Educational Service Center Governing Board and Superintendent Michael Hanshaw look forward to your continued educational achievements in pursuit of student achievement

WHEREAS, Miss Kmetz's daily dedication and commitment to her students is a prime example of Leading for Educational Excellence.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED that the Trumbull County Educational Service Center hereby celebrates Miss Kmetz as the Ohio Teacher of the Year and congratulates her for the impact she has had on students in Trumbull County.

"It means so much to have my hard work and efforts recognized I care so much about the kids and their success, and it's nice to know that they recognize and support me for it! It means so much that they not only did this for me but also took time out of their busy day to present it to me here at school. I have it displayed in my classroom, right on my desk. It serves as a reminder of how much our work here matters, and on the tough days, it's an inspiration to keep working hard!"

From left: TCESC Supt. Michael Hanshaw, 2023 Ohio Teacher of the Year Melissa Kmetz, TCESC Governing Board Pres. Jeffrey Dreves, and Lakeview Local Schools Supt. Velina Jo Taylor.

Melissa Kmetz, Ohio Teacher of the Year

"Best of the Best"

GOVERNING BOARD MEETINGS

The TCESC hosts monthly Governing Board meetings in Conference Room A of the TCESC Central Office at 6000 Youngstown Warren Road, Niles, Ohio, unless otherwise noted. Upon advance request to the superintendent's office, the Educational Service Center will make reasonable accommodation for a disabled person to be able to attend and/or participate in accord with established board policies.

Trumbull County ESC Board member Al Haberstroh was recognized at the 2022 Ohio School Board Association Capital Conference as one of the four All-Ohio Board member award winner recipients. Haberstroh is proud to have served in various capacities for the OSBA and testified in Washington, D.C., and Columbus on their behalf. In addition to the TCESC Governing Board, Haberstroh also serves as the Southington representative to the Trumbull County Career and Technical Center.

Nearly 20 School Resource Officers from Trumbull County Schools gathered at the Trumbull County Educational Service Center for a workshop on the social and emotional aspects of our schools as well as a legal update from Trumbull County Juvenile Court Magistrate Terry Swauger.

Social-Emotional L E A R N I N G

Extinguishing Social-Emotional Flames

One of the key takeaways from Matheny's presentations was socialemotional fire prevention He says instead of constantly running to put out flames, shift to preventing them by providing social-emotional supports to all students BEFORE they reach crisis mode. Some examples included having a point person that does regular checkins with students, integrating reinforcements, creating calming spaces or wellness centers, and providing targeted supports like lunch bunches. He says teaching proactive skills allows students to tap into them before challenges escalate.

Keith Matheny, a.k.a. “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. He is the CASEL 2021 Mary Utne O’Brien Award Winner for Excellence in Expanding the Evidence-Based Practice of Social and Emotional Learning He is the author of “ExSELent Teaching” Classroom Strategies to Support The Social, Emotional, and Academic Growth of Students.

The Trumbull County ESC was pleased to host Matheny during the week of October 10th. While here, Matheny hosted several professional development trainings with teachers, school counselors, and administrators

Matheny also visited several communities, including Brookfield and Champion, to share how parents can work with schools to help students manage their emotions.

School Resource

Officers

Gain Insight on Social Emotional Skills

Trumbull County School Resource Officers also had the opportunity to hear from Matheny about ways they can implement social and emotional skills in their roles Matheny says, "There are so many things in intelligence work and social-emotional work that are aligned SROs play an important role in creating safe climates, de-escalating kids in critical moments, making teachers feel safe, schools feel safe, and we had great dialogue "

with R. Keeth Matheny

"Coach Rudy" presents to Trumbull County School Rescource Officers at the TCESC

I felt like I was listening to someone who is speaking my language. We learned ways to help students manage their emotions, and he shared countless ideas on how to create a school environment to assist with SEL fire prevention! Keeth's coaching helped me reflect on how I can better help students, as well as ourselves, when we are not OK It's OK to not be OK! Thank you for speaking my language!

Holly Sandy Champion Elementary School Counselor

Matheny's Strategies for SEL Fire Prevention:

EQ > IQ

Emotional intelligence is greater than your IQ when it comes to success and happiness in life.

Calm = Smart When we can help our students calm down, they can access a more advanced thinking brain and process information better.

Proactive > Reactive Start teaching skills to students so they are less likely to escalate to crisis and educators can focus on a more effective learning style that reaches all students.

"Hopefully this is the spark that will build the bonfire."

Keeth Matheny

Worthwhile TEACHER-BASED TEAMS

A Return on the Investment

Focusing and Re-Igniting Teacher-Based Teams

Creative Leadership Solutions team member Tony Flach continues his work with area administrators on enhancing teacher-based teams (TBTs) to make them more effective within area districts.

“This is a process and it can take some time to see meaningful results,” Flach told the room of nearly 30 principals and counselors during his second visit to the TCESC in October.

“We need to help teachers realize their return on their investment into the TBT process, and how it improves student outcomes.”

The Most Effective TBTs

During their second meeting with Flach, school administrators shared what they took back to their districts from the first training and challenges they're facing as they work to re-focus their TBT teams.

“After the first training, I realized that we needed to step away from TBTs and focus on updating our pacing guides,” says Brookfield High School Principal Megan Marino “This second training gave me a great idea for modeling an effective TBT with my teachers so I’m looking forward to implementing what I’ve learned here so we can have more meetings with that rich and meaningful discussion.”

Flach says improving student outcomes is about more than just collecting meaningful assessment data, it's also about

analyzing the right data to truly understand where student comprehension gaps are and why they exist. Focused and intentional conversations about student learning provide the avenue for schools to achieve equity and excellence.

Bristol Elementary School

Principal Nathan Kish says, “We are currently in the process of analyzing our data to find out the root problem of where our students are struggling and how we can use that information to help them, and us, improve I am excited to take the strategies from this professional development and share them with my staff; they’re only going to help us improve our work with students.”

TBT development will continue throughout the school year

“Which students need what?”

“What are we going to do about it?”

What Should TBTs Be Talking About?

Learning

What do we want students to learn?

Support

What will we do if they have not learned OR are not ready to learn?

Assessment

How will we know if they have learned?

Extension

How will we provide extended learning opportunities?

“This has been an extremely beneficial workshop. We’ve been using TBTs for a long time at Seaborn, and we’ve found they really open up the lines of communication that lead to positive outcomes for student achievement. What I’m learning here will only continue to enhance our process to allow for the most productive TBTs possible and essentially the most meaningful outcomes for our students.”

-T.J. Koniowsky, Principal Seaborn Elementary School

Professional Development

Ohio Association for Gifted Children

At the OAGC Fall Conference, Curriculum and Instruction supervisors focus on creating intellectually stimulating and academically challenging learning opportunities.

Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics

TCESC Curriculum and Instruction supervisors attend the Ohio Council for Teachers of Mathematics Conference to learn how to engage all learners in doing math through being social and providing tasks that allow for student discussion.

The Reading League

TCESC Curriculum and Instruction supervisors attend The Reading League conference in Syracuse, New York to enhance their capacity to support county students in literacy

Behavior Queen

Educational

E X C E L L E N C E

Around Trumbull County

STEAM Powered Learning

The TCESC hosted the annual STEAM showcase at Lordstown High School, featuring work from students across 17 Trumbull County School Districts on December 6th & 7th. Student's demonstrated their works in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. These work samples focused on the seven different pathways that the program offers students, including Aviation and Drones, Coding and Robotics, Design Challenges, Engineering, Mixed Media Art, Performance Art, and Traditional Art. This is the 6th year of the STEAM program that continues to challenge 4th - 7th grade students each year in the world of STEAM.

Did You KNOW?

The STEAM program has been available to students for 31 years?!

Introduced in 1991, STEAM was originally known as Arts/EXCEL. It was renamed STEAM in 2014 to reflect the addition of technologybased programs.

Drone Racing League Expands

The Trumbull County Drone Racing League (TCDRL) is preparing for its second season in flight Team advisors and students have received their “briefings” from Drones in School Director Tad Douce. Douce provided detailed demonstrations and troubleshooting help to the teams He explained that the TCDRL, with the addition of six new schools, is now the second-largest Drones in School racing group outside of Florida!

The league now includes 12 teams: Brookfield, Howland, Joseph Badger, LaBrae, Lakeview, Liberty, Lordstown, McDonald, Southington, Victory Christian, Warren JFK, and Weathersfield

“I am excited (about the season) and am really looking forward to 3-D printing," says Southington Pilot Nick Lichty "It's going to be fun and I can't wait to customize our drones!”

Members of Southington Schools' Drone Racing Team look over their equipment during the October briefing.

In the Classroom

Operation Evergreen

Students in Kay Torres's class at E.J. Blott Elementary School in Liberty made Christmas tree ornaments for Operation Evergreen. OE sends live evergreens and decorations to military personnel overseas to spread joy during the holiday season.

YSU's Pete the Penguin Visits Niles Primary

TCESC students at Niles Primary School visit with Youngstown State University mascot Pete the Penguin! Pete was at NPS helping to kick off the building's reading challenge!

Celebrating the Holidays

Champion TCESC preschool students make celebration hats with help from eighth grade art students! Preschool students chose their décor, while older students glued pieces in place on paper hats. It was a fun collaboration between the building's oldest and youngest students!

Stand Up to Bullying

Students at the Learning Center in Liberty hosted a Carnival to raise awareness against bullying. Attendees participated in games, face painting, games, and more! Liberty school resource officers and a retired local law enforcement officer spoke about the impacts of bullying and steps to take if you have issues.

Spreading

HOLIDAY CHEER

the

Season

ArtoftheRedKettle

Three Trumbull County Schools participated in the Salvation Army's "Art of the Red Kettle" event! This first-time event solicited the help of local high school students to take Salvation Army red kettles and paint them. Each group participating had to create a theme relating to one of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" days All painted kettles were on display at the Eastwood Mall, with the community voting for their favorite design at the Red Kettle Kick-Off Event on November 12 Each participating school then had students out at various locations to collect money. Money raised from donations will be combined with votes from the kick-off event to determine the winner!

'Tis