AMA?ESD gets school year under way
Crystal NelsonAlpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District employees participated in their annual opening day to kick off the 2009-10 school year. Many of the district's employees have spent the summer months on break and returned Friday for an orientation to hear what the new school year will bring.
"It's really one time a year that we can get our entire staff together," Brian Wilmot, AMA ESD superintendent said. "It's a day where we want to celebrate the beginning of the school year - the excitement that comes with a fresh start, if you will."
The AMA ESD is an intermediate school district that offers programming and support for school districts in Alpena, Montmorency and Alcona counties. In addition to having support staff for the public schools, the ESD operates Pied Piper Opportunity Center and the seasonal Sprinkler Lake program. AMA ESD has a central office located in Alpena and strives to serve and support student achievement.
After welcoming the staff, Wilmot challenged them to embrace the change. He told them change was coming and there were many ways to deal with change. He said he hoped they embrace it, learn from it, grow from it and benefit from it.
Employees were shown the organization's strategic plan and learned how it was going to be used throughout the year. The strategic plan has four indicators which include:
- support of student achievement
- culture of communication, collaboration and transparency
- community engagement and support
- operational excellence
This year, the AMA ESD will continue implementing its targeted writing project, launch a publication that highlights their services, staff members and students, start a speakers bureau, hold community forums, continue to have collaborative efforts with the community and make improvements to the AMA ESD's facilities as part of the strategic plan.
The staff heard a presentation on the H1N1 flu virus, honored employees for their service and watched a brief video "Lost Generation," and learned about general and special education activities for the year.
General Education Director Gary Goren said special education activities for 2009-10 will include professional development opportunities for teachers, a number of programs for parents with young children, curriculum work with area school districts in the subjects of math, science and English and develop a common curriculum for the school districts that will have common assessments and power standards. He said the AMA ESD also will pursue a couple new grants to enhance student achievement and will continue to improve programs at Sprinkler Lake Education Center.
Special Education Director Sue Grulke spoke about the Michigan Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative, also known as MiBLSi, professional learning communities and professional development that will be scientific and based upon research in order to sustain them over time. She said there also would be multiple changes to Pied Piper Opportunity Center in order to make it more efficient. Some of the projects there include new stairs for the vocational woodshop, removing the hot tub in order to make more space and giving a face lift to the kitchen area.
AMA ESD employs 75 full-time staff. Training and professional development will begin for staff members on Monday and end Thursday. For more information about AMA ESD visit its Web site at www.amaesd.k12.mi.us.
Crystal Nelson can be reached via e-mail at cnelson@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693.
