Sarah Youngberg – Eden Prairie High School

Sarah is on the cutting edge of educational strategies and techniques. Her exploration into instructional technology has enriched her students’ experiences. Sarah has been leading the way in her department in flipping her classroom. Her students’ results have increased since employing this new strategy. Students are getting the support from her in class on what would have been traditional homework. They are speaking out about her new practices. Students are engaged and happy with the flipped classroom experience. Through Sarah’s guidance students are able to go further, faster and deeper into their learning. Congratulations to Sarah for her hard work on making her classroom a new and enriching space for learning.

Patti McGrane – Prairie View Elementary

Patti is an expert at getting kids to perform to their highest potential. She has this firm yet friendly demeanor that says, “Hey, I have high expectations for you and I will not let you slip through the cracks.” She is a teacher with a ton of compassion for everyone and is always willing to help a colleague out, especially when life gets hard. She teaches before school math and still has time to raise five children. Kind of amazing.

The Q-Comp Vote was held on Monday, April 23^rd.  We had 360 people vote on Monday, this is about 56% of our membership.  Thank you for taking the time to vote.  The Q-Comp vote passed at 70% yes and 30% no.  Last night at the School Board meeting the Board passed the Q-Comp MOU.  Here are the vote totals:

Total Votes (358)

YES 251 (70%)

NO 107 (30%)

There should be a posting for the Q-Comp positions very soon.  The Q-Comp Steering Committee decided to move to a centralized hiring model.

Changes at your site:  Your site’s Teaching and Learning Committee will be putting together a calendar of the 33 weekly Q-Comp (PLC) meetings.  This calendar needs to be presented to the site and voted on by the teaching staff by May 15^th.  The Teaching and Learning Committee will also need to pick the 5 recommended standards for 2012-2013 for your site.  The District Q-Comp Steering Committee is recommending theses 5 standards:

· Assessing Student Learning (1f)

· Engaging Students in Learning (3c)

· Providing Feedback to students (3d)

· Reflecting on Teaching (4a)

· Addressing Demographic inequalities in Achievement through instruction (5b)

Here are the election results for the other elections:

Eden Prairie Education Association Executive Board

President:  Angie Roesner

Vice President:  Nate Gabel

Treasurer:  Brent Bovitz

Secretary:  Elisabeth Ollila

National Education Association Representative Assembly:

Julie Weeden

Education Minnesota Representative Assembly:

Nate Gabel, Beth Holland, Angie Roesner, Pam Skaar-Meier, Julie Weeden

2012-13 Single-page Calendar

Memorandum of Understanding

Personal Leave of Absence

For the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, teachers may elect to be paid for any accumulated personal days at the rate of $125.00 per day. Teachers must notify the Human Resources office by May 15th to request reimbursement for the accumulated personal days. Payments of personal days will be paid on the June 15th paycheck. For each paid personal day, the teacher’s personal leave accumulation will be reduced by one day.

This Memorandum of Understanding will sunset on June 30, 2013.

Matt Hardy – Cedar Ridge Elementary

In Minnesota Monthly’s latest edition, Matt Hardy was featured as one of 12 Minnesotans who are changing the way we think about the world—and its future. Matt received the TIES Exceptional teacher award in December for his work in technology education. Matt is an exceptional fifth grade teacher who is constantly challenging and engaging his students.

Matt Hardy is an instructional leader in the district and the greater educational community. He has integrated technology into the curriculum in many ways, including:

• Video conferencing with professionals around the country via Polycom video conferences
• SMART Notebook and screen-capture software to produce a schoolwide, online broadcast
• Scratch programming to create presentations
• Robotics to develop programming skills and logical problem-solving
• Google Apps to publish writing projects and iPod usage Instructional technology for “reverse teaching”

In addition, he is the creator and owner of KIDBLOG.ORG, which lets teachers around the world create free, safe classroom blogs for their students. He currently has 1.1 million users in over 100,000 classrooms around the world. He provides site and district training on effectively using KIDBLOG in the classroom, including presentations at TIES and national conferences. Matt Hardy is truly student-focused, engaging students in their learning and using instructional technology to create an equitable learning environment.

EPEA is again offering discounted tickets to the Taste of Eden Prairie. The date of the Taste of Eden Prairie is Saturday, February 25, 2012. The time is from 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM. The location is Minnesota Vikings Winter Park 9520 Vikings Drive in Eden Prairie. There is a ton of food to sample, live music, a raffle and a silent and live auction. It is a fun night!

The cost of the tickets are typically $35 in Advance and $40 at the door. EPEA is selling the tickets for $20.00 for a teacher and $25.00 for non-teachers purchased by a teacher. Rep congress members can purchase 2 tickets for $20.00 each. These tickets are available by sending a check made out to the Foundation for Eden Prairie Schools to Angie Roesner at Eden Prairie High School. Angie will then send the tickets to you inter-office mail.

The Eden Prairie Education Association donates $5.00 for every teacher who purchases a ticket. Please consider supporting the Foundation for Eden Prairie Schools by purchasing a ticket to this event.

Victor Pengilly – Prairie View Elementary

Victor makes sure that all kids achieve. He works hard to find the key to unlock their secrets and hidden potential. Vic has had impressive growth from his students. Last year he had 100% of his Kids reach or exceed their targets on the N.W.E.A. test. It isn’t all about test scores. Vic also makes sure that if his students do not have help at home he meets with them for an extended period of his morning (before school) to help them with homework. He ask for nothing from the parents other than dropping them off before school. Vic is the reason that his students achieve. Please consider recognizing him for his great work.

93% Yes

7% No

The contract was approved by the board.