Parent Leadership Hub Weekly
E-Newsletter
Parent Leadership Hub Weekly E-Newsletter for July 15, 2010
This week's update is provided by WSPEI and WI FACETS to share statewide information regarding parent leadership and family involvement. Please visit the Parent Leadership Hub web page of the SPDG website at http://www.wispdg.org/pl.html for the current and archived weekly updates and to find information on these topics:
- WSPEI website: http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/parent.html
- WIFACETS website: http://www.wifacets.org
- Resources- Product Order Form, and Educational Materials for Parents
- Calendar of Events
- Multi-Media Resources- Workshops Online, Video Series, and Webcasts
The Parent Leadership Hub supports parents/family members, educators and other community partners to build capacity regarding meaningful family involvement. The Hub serves three primary purposes:
(1) To support parents of children with disabilities between birth and 26 years of age to participate as partners in the professional development activities of each of the other Statewide Initiatives as they design, deliver and support professional development experiences; and
(2) To facilitate opportunities for parents/family members to build leadership skills; and
(3) To provide Content Focused technical assistance concerning family involvement.
Please, direct any questions to the PL Hub Co-Facilitators:
Mary Skadahl, WSPEI Statewide Project Director at 715-829-8932 or marys@cesa12.k12.wi.us
Dawn Wians, WI FACETS SPDG Coordinator at 608-827-5234 or dwians@wifacets.org
Deadline for submitting contributions to each week's issue is Tuesday noon. For time sensitive training advertisements, the information should be sent a minimum of two weeks prior to the event date; ideally a month ahead of time. Material appropriate for the weekly newsletter include web links to sources of family involvement/parent leadership resources and advertisements for statewide trainings for parents, youth or parent/educator audiences (we don’t post research articles, reports or news opinion articles). Your submittal may not be in the final copy if it was in a previous weekly email, the event date has passed or the web link doesn’t work. Please, send submittals to phyllis@banbury.com
NOTE: Note: If you would like to receive this weekly update or if you would like to have your name removed from the distribution list, please contact Mary Skadahl or Dawn Wians.
'Just in Time Information' Now Available
A new online repository of information is available for parents, youth and professionals who are searching for articles previously posted to the PL Hub Weekly E-Newsletters since October 2008. This repository of information will help the reader locate valuable information by topic, 'just in time'. Currently, there are web pages for 'Transition to Adult Life' and 'Family Involvement'. Future web pages will include 'Early Childhood' and 'School-Age Years'.
For our reader's convenience, all archived issues of the E-Newsletter will eventually be re-posted on the 'Just in Time Information' page of the PL Hub website. We hope this format will help our readers quickly access the resources they need, when they need them, and that it will be visited frequently. Additions are always welcome! To submit suggested resources and training products, simply follow the instructions and criteria provided in the introduction to each of the PL Hub Weekly Updates.
To visit the new 'Just in Time Information' web page go to: http://www.wispdg.org/pl/resources.html
Parent/Personnel Development Opportunities
- Join in the "Space Race"! The Game of Self-Determination and What You Want to Do With Your Life!
Holiday Inn – Wausau, WI
August 16, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
DAWN is recruiting 10 – 12 teams to learn how to play the new and exciting game "SPACE RACE". This great new board game, developed by the Human Services Research Institute, is a unique way for people with disabilities to develop a personal understanding of self-determination. Playing the game opens up questions, discussions, understanding and opportunities for people with disabilities to make decisions about things that really matter in their life such as:
Where do you want to live? Who do you want to live with? What do you want to do with your life? Where to you want to work? What do you want to do during the day? What's important to you? What do you need to live the life you want? And many more self-determination explorations!
For more information or to apply for this great opportunity please contact: John Shaw, Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, John1.Shaw@wisconsin.gov or 608-266-7707
NOTE: This training is at no cost to the teams, includes meals and other expenses and includes a $50 per team member participant award! In addition, each team receives additional awards as they teach other people with disabilities how to play "SPACE RACE" throughout their community! -
Book Signing for Cindy Bentley in Madison
On August 6, 2010, Cindy Bentley will join the ranks of Frank Lloyd Wright, Bob and Belle La Follette, Gaylord Nelson, Curly Lambeau, and other noteworthy people from Wisconsin. Her biography, /Cindy Bentley: Spirit of a Champion /will be published as part of the Wisconsin State Historical Society's Badger Biography series for young readers.
/Cindy Bentley: Spirit of a Champion/ celebrates the life of one of Wisconsin's most inspirational leaders and activists. Born with an intellectual disability Cindy Bentley spent much of her childhood at the Southern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled (SWC). The book tells the story of her leaving SWC to live independently and eventually becoming a Global Messenger for Special Olympics and a staff person for People First Wisconsin.
You can find out more information about the book and/or purchase it at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whspress/books/book.asp?book_id=367
The book will also be available at the Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 N. Carroll St, Madison and other booksellers including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Family Involvement Resources
- CESA #1 is Moving
In an effort to keep costs and prices of services as low as possible, CESA #1 will be moving to a new location effective August 2, 2010. Their new office is just minutes away from their current location and has very easy access to I-94. In addition, their new space will provide them with more parking and an improved configuration of meeting and workshop facilities.
The Agency phone number will remain 262.787.9500. The website and email addresses will also remain the same. The physical move will occur during the last week of July, 2010, but they will have staff available to answer questions and provide support to our members during this time. More information will be available throughout the summer – go to http://www.cesa1.k12.wi.us/new_location.cfm for updates. - National Family Support Survey
Parents or primary caregivers of young people with disabilities between 12 and 22 years old are invited take part in a national research study by completing the National Family Support Survey at www.fastfamilysupport.org by Aug. 13, 2010.
Answers to the survey questions are confidential and will help the U.S. Administration on Developmental Disabilities, parent centers, and researchers understand the information and supports families need as young people with disabilities move into adulthood. The survey is available in English and Spanish.
The FAST Project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration on Development Disabilities as a Project of National Significance. It is a project of PACER Center in Minnesota. PACER works in collaboration with parent centers throughout the United States and its territories, and with the help of the University of Minnesota.
PACER Center is a National Parent Center for families of children and youth with any disability. For information about PACER, call 952-838-9000 (voice); 952-838-0190 (TTY) or 888-248-0822 (toll-free); visit www.PACER.org or email PACER@PACER.org. For more information about the survey, call Shauna McDonald at 952-838-9000. - Walk the Walk Book Available at Authorhouse.com
One of the parents who participated in the Parents As Leaders (PALs) program in 2008-09 decided for her community project that she wanted to write a book about the experiences of her son who was born with Spina Bifida.
The book is called Walk the Walk and is published by authorhouse.com. Here is the link: http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=69240
This is a great example of a parent advocating for her child by writing a book that helps others to understand his experience. - All Kinds of Minds Blog Series: Higher Order Thinking, Creativity and Brainstorming
A newly launched summer blog series "Understanding Common Learning Challenges," has received tremendous positive reviews and they are excited to bring you this week's blog post about Higher Order Thinking, Creativity and Brainstorming! Go to http://akomblog.org/
During the summer series, they'll bring you insights into various learning challenges students may face. To learn more about the summer series and read their first entry -- Attention and Determining What's Relevant -- http://akomblog.org/2010/06/30/summer-series-%e2%80%93-understanding-common-learning-challenges/.
You can sign up to receive an e-mail each time the blog is updated so the summer series is delivered right to your inbox (look for the Email Subscription box to the right of the post on their blog).
DISCLAIMER
Inclusion of information in this e-mail does not constitute an endorsement by the Wisconsin Statewide Parent-Educator Initiative, Wisconsin FACETS, the Department of Public Instruction, the U.S. Department of Education, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
