ESU EDUCATOR THE. Inside This Issue Inside This Issue PROVIDING INNOVATION, LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE

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1 ESU EDUCATOR THE Publisher: ESU #1 Designer: Sarah Elton PROVIDING INNOVATION, LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE May 2009 Spotlight On...Julie Rose This month s spotlight falls on Julie Rose. Julie recently started working at ESU #1 as the new Media Clerk and will be taking over Jenny s position in May. Julie grew up on a farm south of Wakefield and has lived in the area all of her life. Both she and her husband were adopted as babies from the same adoption agency - just six weeks apart! After graduating from Wakefield High School, Julie attended Northeast Community College and Wayne State College. She has been a stay-at-home mom but has also served as a substitute teacher at the Wakefield school over the last several years. She is also involved in community volunteer work. Julie has been married to her husband, Jeff, for 22 years. They have three children. Drew, who is 19 years old, is a college student in Lincoln and will be transferring to Doane in the fall. TJ is 17 years old and will be a senior next fall. Sydney is 14 years old and will be a freshman next fall. Among her hobbies, Julie enjoys attending her kids sporting and music events. She also enjoys the sun and water and likes to spend time with her family. When asked to relate one of the most memorable moments in her life, Julie said, Jeff and I were in Cancun several years ago spending some time relaxing in the sun when I suddenly spotted a chimpanzee leisurely strolling down the beach toward us. His name was Cocoa and apparently Cocoa and his owner took cruises down that part of the beach line each week and stopped for pictures with vacationers in the area. We Inside This Issue Inside This Issue May Happenings... 2 Staff Notes... 3 ESU # 1 Season Tickets... 4 Just for Fun... 5 Medical Update... 6 Julie Rose and Family: Husband Jeff, sons Drew (19) and TJ (17) and daughter Sydney (14) quickly got our camera and managed to get a shot with Cocoa (seen here). Now that was a fun picture to send home to the kids! Julie says that she is happy to be a part of the ESU #1 family. The next time you are at the Central Office, be sure to stop back in the Media Center and say hi!

2 May Happenings May Birthdays Jennifer Bensen Angie Mahurin 6th 8th Stuart Clark 11th Melissa Hennings 19th Wade Fruhling 22nd Kelly Liss 22nd Amy Hill 23rd Myrna Wacker-Tuttle 23rd Sheila Becker 27th Matt Menken 29th May Holidays and Observances Better Hearing and Speech Month Family Wellness Month Healthy Vision Month 3rd-9th: Children s Mental Health Week 3rd-9th: Teacher Appreciation Week 18th-25th: National Effectiveness Week 1st: May Day 5th: Cinco de Mayo 5th: National Teacher Day 7th: Children s Mental Health Awareness 8th: Child Care Providers Day 10th: Mothers Day 24th: Good Neighbor Day 25th: Memorial Day ESU #1 Calendar of Events Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday APL 8:30-3: Recycling 29 APL 8:30-3: APL 8:30-3:30 Safety 3:30 1 NACEE-DL Coord - All Day RtI Bookworms 12-2 Board Mtg 5pm 18 Speech Mtg OFFICE CLOSED Memorial Day 13 Lewis & Clark 2: NSSRS 9-3:30 26 PowerSchool Early Learning Guidelines: Math DIBELS (at Winnebago) 8:30-3:30 28 NA Institute NA Institute 9-3 Level I Bus 5:30-9: Level I Bus 8-3

3 In observance of Memorial Day, the ESU #1 Central Office will be closed on Monday, May 25th. Take Note... Due to a scheduling conflict with Wayne State College, All Staff Day 2010 will be held on February 19th rather than February 12th.

4 ESU #1 Season Tickets Following are some of your Season Ticket comments from our StrengthsFinder activity at All Staff Day. The question asked was, How are you going to use your strengths?" Look for more comments in future issues of the staff newsletter. I will focus on continuing to use my communication skills to successfully work with families and my IFSP teams. I want the dialogue with both these groups of people to be very productive. I plan to use my strength of working with people to influence them to try to overcome a challenge they may be having in their life. Seek out new information and strategies to share with others (input) Continue learning about my field and methods for improving instruction and sharing info (learner) Process new ways to provide interventions (intellection and restorative) 1. Input will be used to share information with children and families 2. Positivity will be used to keep trying and encourage others to see the best in situations 3. Intellection to use the information from TV, classes to improve skills 4. Ideation used to keep creating books and trainings for others. 5. Connectedness to build relationships with peers and families I will focus on communicating and only seeing how things can be made, turned, or are POSITIVE! Use learner to develop new methods to complete the new requirements of documenting in a timely fashion. Continue to individualize approaches to helping families. Help others to problem solve, think more clearly, and follow through with accomplishing their goals. I will be understanding and empathetic with parents struggling to make the best decision for their child. I will help minimize conflict and maximize communication and decision making (harmony). 1. To be fair and balanced with all people 2. Look at the past to understand the present and positively impact the future 3. Use facts to move forward 4. Solve issues/problems with a common sense approach Connect more with the Central Office team to strengthen what we have and utilize individual strengths. Develop the strengths of those around me and delegate accordingly. To face each new day in a positive way; To be responsible and meet all deadlines.

5 Just for Fun

6 Medical Update Q&A: What You Need To Know About Swine Flu NBCʼs Robert Bazell on the disease's risks and when to seek treatment As the swine flu outbreak continues its spread around the world, people are concerned about this new strain, its risks and what they can do to protect themselves from infection. Although many cases of swine flu in the United States have been mild, some are worried after the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to its second-highest level. What is swine flu? Influenza circulates regularly among humans and animals such as pigs and birds. Pigs are important because they are close genetically and physically to humans. Birds are important because they can transport viruses across great distances. As the virus passes through these animals, it sometimes acquires different genetic characteristics that can make it more or less dangerous to human beings. Scientists have been warning for a long time that even though bird flu thatʼs been around in Asia for awhile is infecting mostly birds and occasionally infecting and killing human beings, there is always the possibility of a new virus that can cause serious disease. We have that now with swine flu. People have no natural immunity to the new virus. If youʼve had flu shots in the past, it doesnʼt matter. Nobody has had this virus before and thatʼs what makes it potentially so dangerous. Things will keep popping up out of nature. We live in a global ecosystem that not only includes billions of other people, but hundreds of billions of animals. And we exchange viruses and new viruses do appear. Should I be worried? The reason that weʼre worried about swine flu is the people typically killed by flu are often the very old and frail, and sometimes the very young. Because of the deaths in Mexico, there are indications that swine flu might be able to strike and kill younger people those in their 20s, 30s and 40s. In 1918, the ultimate pandemic we know about killed healthy young adults. Thatʼs one of the reasons why this outbreak is potentially frightening. We still have to understand more. The United States is already doing almost everything possible to track the spread of the virus, treat the victims and try to develop a vaccine. Investigators from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating very actively, because a lot more needs to be understood about the deaths before we can understand the threat. What can I do to keep from getting swine flu? The authorities have talked about it again and again: Wash your hands often and cover your mouth with your elbow when you cough or sneeze. Thatʼs all really important in order to cut down the transmission of any infectious agent, particularly this one to which we have no natural immunity. Antibacterial hand wash is excellent at eliminating the threat of flu and many other viruses and bacteria. These skin cleaners are basically just alcohol that has been put in an emulsifier to make it easier to apply and doesnʼt dry your hands out. Health officials strongly recommend using it for swine flu. You can even use pure rubbing alcohol it would have the same effect. Masks sold over the counter provide minimal protection. Mostly theyʼre recommended for people working in hospitals or in laboratories. The virus can usually pass through them. No previous flu shots provide any protection from this disease. No matter how many times in your life before that youʼve had the flu, that doesnʼt provide any protection, either. One reassuring thing is that we know now that many cases that have occurred in the U.S. have resulted in mild illness and people have recovered completely. Those who do are almost certainly immune to this virus in the future. When should I seek medical treatment? You should seek medical attention if have a fever of 102 or higher, or if you feel very sick. Swine flu has flu-like symptoms of lethargy or muscle aches or pains. If you have been to Mexico or in contact with someone who has recently been to Mexico and you get sick, you might want to seek it sooner. Again and again, public health officials emphasize that people shouldnʼt be going to get medical attention just for the sniffles. That would swamp medical facilities and make it more difficult for people who actually need medical care for all kinds of reasons, not just swine flu. Tamiflu and Relenza are drugs that are known to be effective against swine flu. Preventive doses of Tamiflu can be used when thereʼs an infected case. It can be given to family members and that has been done. But Tamiflu is not advised for the general population at all. The reasons for that is, if a lot of people start taking a drug, itʼs very much like antibiotics a resistant strain could appear and make the situation far more dangerous than it is.