November 2012 Department Highlights
November 2012 department highlights
NOVEMBERAdult Literacy Hotline / 1) Erik attended Jackson Elementary’s Literacy Night with Kat and PICA/Head Start’s Parent Connect event. Hotline materials were distribute to approximately 200 parents altogether.
2) PICA/Head Start invited Erik to attend their monthly parent meetings to connect with potential learners and volunteers.
3) Jay Wahi and Ellie Purdy were trained to take Hotline Calls.
Adult Tutor Training / 1) 10 pre- or in-service trainings. 170 tutors/teachers trained
2) Rob participated in MNI and STAR projects for state
3) Piloted math tutor in-service (at OPH prison) based on Minnesota Numeracy Initiative principles
Children’s Tutor Training / 1) 4 ABCs trainings
2) Continued development of Tutoring Basics Training
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Citizenship Education / 1)
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Development and Communications / 1) Give to the Max Day was our most successful yet with 124 donors contributing $17,269!
2) Thanked our table hosts with a celebration at La Chaya Bistro.
3) Sent invitations and geared up for the 40th Anniversary Celebration.
Early Literacy and Families / 1)
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Learner Web/BTOP / 1) Jen, Tom and Allison attended the BTOP national partners meeting in Portland. We met with and learned from others who are implementing BTOP across the country. We also presented on our progress in MN and discussed the future direction of BTOP nationally.
2) Two researchers from Portland State University visited our MN BTOP sites. Their non-evaluative field study included interviews with tutors and observation of tutor-learner interactions.
3) The number of learners has greatly increased since the summer. In November alone we had 115 total learners and 404 learning plan steps were completed.
Learning centers / 1)
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National service / 1) The Request for Proposals for new VISTA projects was completed and released. This was a major team effort, and the result of a lot of strategic planning to determine a tighter focus.
Instructions, a link to the online application, and general information about eligibility are now on the website and have been sent out in email form. Melissa helped us create new outreach flyers, which were sent out in electronic form and have been printed.
Looking ahead to after the applications are submitted, we also scheduled an RFP review meeting and multiple trainings for new supervisors.
2) We also created and released a Continuation Application for current sites, and scheduled spring supervisor trainings for continuing supervisors.
We made some big, difficult decisions about cost share rates and sent out an explanation letter to current supervisors.
During November we continued to conduct individual site visits. Another part of the site visit is talking with each supervisor about the possibility of continuing into a new year.
3) On November 30th, we conducted a VISTA in-service on the theme of Poverty in Minnesota. It was facilitated by Margaret Lovejoy, Executive Director of the Family Place. At the training, we gave away a total of 1,380 children’s books to VISTA members who will use the books in their individual projects.
New initiatives / 1) The L3 project held its second Leadership Institute on Friday November 16 & Saturday November 17. Susan Godon, Melissa Martinson, and Allison Runchey all participated as presenters in their content area. Each of the literacy groups has taken some action since the first institute in October to begin building their capacity. They are completing capacity plans and setting meeting schedules with their mentors for the next several months. The group will reconvene in May to review results.
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Operations / 1) Completed the Office 365 upgrade! All technical glitches have been resolved, although some learning and training still needs to take place, and some settings still need to be resolved.
2) Conducted part 1 of the New Employee Orientation on November 30. Special thanks to the participants—Lloyd Brown, Jay Wahi, JennaRose Bondeson, Paul Kirst, Erik Erkkila, Camela Swanson, Laura Linder-Scholler, Anna Preus, Emily Beltmann-Swenson, and Kat Aymeloglu, and presenters--Eric N, Susan G, Kathie M and Paul.
3) Hired Ellie Purdy as ESL teacher and Hotline Specialist. She begins her Hotline role immediately, and her ESL teacher role in January.
Summer Reads / 1)
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Technology services / 1)
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Volunteer outreach / 1) We hosted a movie night about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. John Gutterman was our guest speaker who showed the film Papers. 54 people attended and evaluations were overwhelmingly positive.
2) We hosted the Volunteer Management Conference, attended by 63 people at the Department of Ed. The theme was “The Changing Face of Volunteerism” and sessions focused on generational changes, shifts in volunteer expectations and implementing changes to engage today’s volunteers. There were also sessions on general volunteer management topics and a very well-received presentation by Todd Wagner at lunch.
3) Trained managers, program staff and teachers on effective volunteer management at two events: Metro Regional Conference and L3/Libraries and Literacy Leadership Institute.