Upcoming Events

For a more complete list of professional development opportunities, visit www.southdakotapd.com.

• Aligning health, reading with a HEAP of books
• Get online:
  Health Education Standards and Assessment Training
• Systems Change Conference targets school leaders
• LifeSkills Curriculum Training set for November

Aligning health, reading with a HEAP of Books
Teachers know how important health education is for students, but it’s no secret that there just isn’t enough time to get it all done. The “Aligning Health and Reading with a HEAP of Books” training is a practical solution for elementary and secondary teachers, school counselors, nurses and others.

Set for Oct. 25-26 in Mitchell, Aligning Health and Reading with a HEAP of Books is designed to help teachers make connections between the health knowledge and skills their students should achieve in order to become health literate and the books they integrate into their daily lessons on reading and writing.

The training will be held at the Comfort Inn, 2020 Highland Way, Mitchell, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants will be eligible to receive one graduate credit through Black Hills State University for $40 and one Department of Education Teacher Renewal Credit at no charge. Participants may also take the course for no credit.

For more information and to register for this training opportunity, go to http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/index.asp.

Get online:
Health Education Standards and Assessment Training
Coordinated School Health will offer an online training related to South Dakota’s health education standards and assessment. The training will be held over a four-week period beginning Nov. 1 and ending Nov. 30.

The South Dakota Health Education Standards and Assessment Training is designed to provide participants with information and skill-building opportunities related to South Dakota’s health education standards and assessment of those standards.

Participants will explore the core concepts and skill categories of the health education standards. They will learn to align standards, assessment and instructional activities as well as obtain practice in scoring student’s work. Participants will learn to differentiate between assessment for the purpose of accountability and assessment for the purpose of instructional improvement.

This training is appropriate for elementary teachers, curriculum directors, health education teachers, administrators, school counselors, school nurses, parents, and other interested individuals.

Approval has been granted for one hour of graduate or undergraduate credit or for one Department of Education certificate renewal credit. The course also may be taken for no credit.

For more information about course objectives or to register, go to http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/index.asp.  Or contact Karen Keyser, Coordinated School Health, at (605) 773-6808 or karen.keyser@state.sd.us. 

Systems Change Conference targets school leaders
The 2007 Systems Change Conference will take place Nov. 14-16 at Cedar Shore Resort in Chamberlain. It is designed to be a powerful and practical professional development experience for education leaders. This year’s agenda features keynote speakers Neil Howe, best-selling author and an authority on generations in America; Dr. Rick Melmer, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Education; and Gary Marx, president of the Center for Public Outreach.

The event is hosted by the Midwest Alliance for Professional Learning and Leadership and a host of partners, including the Department of Education. For more information, visit www.systemschange.midwestmaple.org. 

LifeSkills Curriculum Training set for November
The South Dakota Departments of Education and Health, Department of Human Services and Regional Prevention Resource Centers will host a LifeSkills Curriculum Training Nov. 28-29 at the Holiday Inn City Centre in Sioux Falls.

Lifeskills Curriculum Training is a proven, highly effective substance abuse prevention program. The training is recommended for teachers, counselors, prevention advocates, safe and drug free school coordinators, and school nurses. It is designed to:

• provide students with the necessary skills to resist social pressures to smoke, drink, and use drugs;
• help students develop greater self-esteem, self-mastery, and self-confidence;
• enable students to effectively cope with social anxiety;
• increase students’ knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse.

Approval has been granted for one hour of graduate or undergraduate credit or for one Department of Education certificate renewal credit. The course also may be taken for no credit.

For more information about the course objectives or to register, go to http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/index.asp.  Or contact the Coordinated School Health staff at (605) 773-3261.