Linking Your District to KEEB

Silver Lake School District is the first to link directly to KEEB on their district website with the new KEEB logo. Checkout how they include the logo on their homepage to direct potential candidates to KEEB. Candidates can click on the link to view open positions and submit an application. If you would like to add the KEEB logo to your district or HR website email me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

More Insight from AASPA: A Mentor Program for All Teachers

Yesterday Steve Kelley, Assistant Superintendent for the Lebanon Community School District in Oregon shared a unique mentor program that his district has been implementing for the last 5 years with new teachers to the district. The Lebanon program is one of the most extensive mentor programs I have heard about and they are experiencing great retention success. Steve offered his perspectives on why this program works and identified the keys to success for any mentor program. First and foremost, mentor programs must be unique to your district and your district’s perspectives. The program’s key goals is not only to support new teachers to the profession and to the school district, but to indoctrinate new teachers into the culture of the district (their beliefs, practices, and goals). Lebanon utilizes a 3 day orientation program and mentors for all new teachers, but also takes these practices one step further with monthly new teacher conversations, critical friends groups, and instructional coaches. Steve identified the five keys to success for any mentor program:

• Money - For any mentor program to be successful it has to be supported financially. Lebanon does this through Title II funds and spends approximately $200,000 a year (district of 5,000 students)
• Coordinator - Someone must be put in charge of the program at the district level
• Partnerships - Meaningful partnerships with local universities can have a strong impact. Lebanon utilizes the local university to train mentors.
• Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate - Talk to new teachers and mentors often about what works and doesn’t work (Lebanon utilizes surveys and focus groups)
• Provide training and support to coordinator, instructional coaches, and mentors - Training is essential for mentors and support personnel.

If you would like more information on Steve's presentation email me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

Recruiting Generation X and Y: Insight from the AASPA Conference

The American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) Conference is gathering in Kansas City this week. Yesterday, I attended a workshop on hiring and retaining generation X and Y by Rochelle Eisenberg, a workforce lawyer who represents school districts in Maryland. Rochelle had a number of interesting ideas related to how to attract this generation of teachers and keep them in your schools. Below are a few ideas, while some may be a little outside the box, it seems many districts are getting creative in how they retain staff.

• Advertising, advertising, advertising (This generation has had more information at their fingertips than any other...they want to gather as much information about you as an employer as they can. You can provide this in brochures, your district website, and employment boards)
• Use multimedia (Develop a video that you can use online and share on a DVD with potential candidates that highlights your district)
• Tuition reimbursement (This generation is interested in continued education and career growth...offer them financial options for this)
• Collaboration time (highlight your district or buildings collaboration times and how teachers are using it)
• Health club (Many districts across the country are negotiating agreements with local gyms to provide memberships to district employees, some districts are also opening the doors to gyms and weight rooms after hours for employees as a cost effective way of providing health club access)
• Technology (This generation has had their own laptops for as long as they can remember...provide each teacher with their own and upgrade teacher lounges for internet and computer access)
• Better lunches (Many districts are getting creative in offering designer coffee, snacks, and great lunch options for teachers in the lounge)

More to come soon from the AASPA Conference!

Highlighting Educators in Your District

Beyond this blog for employers, KEEB now publishes a blog for job seekers that shares tips and tricks for those individuals interested in an education career in the state. One section of the blog shares the stories of educators across the state. This provides job seekers with a personal story or experience that they can possibly relate to. We have posted the first story from a wonderful 2nd year educator from Garden City High School, Shanna Riecker. Shanna shares the experience of her first year of teaching and talks about the benefits of teaching in Kansas. This not only provides someone interested in teaching in Kansas information about what the first year may be like, but provides districts, such as Garden City, another way to direct applicants to their district. Here is just an excerpt of Shanna's story:

Shanna Riecker
Math Teacher
Garden City High School

Why did you become a teacher?
Growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. I conducted “classes” for all of the neighborhood kids from a very early age. Until my senior year of high school, I was sure that I wanted to be a first grade teacher – I wanted to be just like Mrs. P. was when I was in first grade. My high school offered an Exploring Teaching class where seniors were allowed to go to an elementary school and be a teacher’s aide for a class, and of course, I chose to go into a first grade classroom. It didn’t take me long to figure out that wasn’t the right place for me. In a discussion with my counselor, she mentioned that I should consider secondary education, and I took her advice. I majored in mathematics secondary education because math was something that was usually easy for me, and I enjoyed the endless possibilities with teaching math. I enjoyed the time that I got to spend in middle school and high school classrooms throughout my coursework, and I knew that this was what I was meant to do. After college graduation, I took a job teaching high school math in Garden City, Kansas. It wasn’t where I figured I would end up teaching, but the experience thus far has been wonderful.

What was your first year of teaching like?
Garden City High School was an amazing place to start my teaching career. The math department had all of the qualities that I was looking for – the teachers were positive, they collaborated, they were willing to try new methods of teaching, they utilized technology whenever possible, and they welcomed me into their “family” with open arms. Any time I had a question (or still have a question), there were 16 other teachers ready to...

To read the rest of Shanna's story visit the Job Seekers Blog. If you have an educator, related service provider, or administrator in your district who you would like to highlight on KEEB email me their contact information and we will send them information on how to participate.

Update on Marketing Your District or Agency

As I traveled the state this week conducting trainings on the new Kansas Education Employment Board (KEEB) I heard many districts and agencies talk about how they are using new KEEB features to market their district. The new features allow employers to include descriptions, images, and video and are now being used to reach job seekers like never before. You will notice that many districts are utilizing images of their district logo or buildings in their employer profile. There are also a few districts taking advantage of the video feature to either upload a recruitment video or embed a video already on their district homepage. In addition, many districts are now identifying their location to other cities and towns in their profiles. Therefore, if a job seeker does a search for a particular town that they are located near, they appear in the search results as an employer in the area. If you would like assistance with any of these features or would like us to take a look at your profile and offer suggestions for how to market your district and community don't hesitate to contact us.