Many of you are looking at the title of this article and have already assumed that I am referring to students attending school. We all know how important student attendance is, but this article is actually about teacher attendance. In the small schools of Nebraska, teacher attendance is probably not a problem, but in some larger schools it is a significant concern. The National Council on Teacher Quality surveyed school districts in 40 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas for the 2012-13 school

year. Here are the findings: (1) on average public school teachers were missing 11 days out of a 186-day school year, (2) 16% of all teachers were classified as chronically absent because they missed 18 days or more in the school year, (3) the study did not find a relationship between teacher absence and the poverty levels of the children in the school building, and (4) schools with formal policies that discourage teacher absenteeism did not appear to have any better attendance rates than those without such policies.

The Buffalo School District had the second highest rate of excellent attendance but also

had the highest rate of chronically absent teachers. Almost 40% of the teachers in Buffalo missed at least 18 days during the 2012-13 school year. The chronically absent teachers located in Cleveland were 34%, Columbus had 32% of teachers, and Nashville had 30%.

It is somewhat easy to draw conclusions to these facts that may or may not be accurate. I am sure that most educators would agree that having teachers in the classroom on a consistent basis is beneficial for student learning. The question that teachers must ask themselves is, do I really enjoy teaching?

- Dennis Radford

Early Intervention is happening in all

of the Educational Service Unit #17’s counties, but most are not aware of

what this is, why it is important, and

how to go about asking for help.

“Many things we need can wait. The

child cannot. Now is the time his

bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot

say tomorrow, his name is today.”

- Gabriela Mistral.

Early intervention is a system of

coordinated services that promotes the child's age-appropriate growth

and development and supports

families during the critical early

years. A child may receive help from

an early childhood special education

teacher, a speech therapist, a physical therapist, and/or an

occupational therapist. If you

happen to notice any of these

specialists in action it may look like

they are just playing with the child, which is what it is suppose to look

like. Children under the age of five

generally learn through play. Early

intervention services take place all

year long and do not follow the

school calendar, so you will see many of us around in the summer

time.

The sooner your young child starts

receiving early intervention services,

the more opportunities your child

will have to fully develop his or her abilities. It is possible to receive

services in early childhood and not

require them at all during the K-12

years, but not in all of the cases.

"Experts tell us that 90% of all brain

development occurs by the age of five. If we don't begin thinking about

education in the early years, our

children are at risk of falling behind

by the time they start Kindergarten."

- Robert. L. Ehrlich

Anyone can refer a preschool-aged child to be assessed for early

childhood intervention. For example,

we receive referrals from parents,

preschool teachers, doctors, and day

care providers. It takes a simple phone call to get the process going.

For children under the age of three,

please call the Early Development

Network at 1-800-531-9316. Your

local school district should be called for children between the ages of 3

and 5. Please give us a call if you

have any concerns about your child’s

development.

1. Be a role model: Eat healthy family meals together. Walk or ride bikes instead of watching TV or surfing the web.

2. Make healthy choices easy: Put nutritious food where it’s easy to see. Keep balls and other sports gear handy.

3. Focus on fun: Play in the park, go to the pool, or walk on a nature trail. Cook a healthy meal together.

4. Limit screen time: Don’t put a TV in your child’s bedroom. Avoid snacks and meals in front of the TV.

5. Check with caregivers or schools: Make sure they offer healthy foods, active playtime and limited TV or video games.

6. Change a little at a time: If you drink whole milk, switch to 2% milk for a while, then try even lower fat milks. If you drive everywhere, try walking to a nearby friend’s house, then later try walking a little farther.

- Reprinted with permission from NIH

News in Health, February 2013 Issue, http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/

feb2013/feature1

In this front-page New York Times story, Jan Hoffman reports that the “sputtering, nearly 20-year movement to start high schools later has recently gained momentum, as hundreds of schools in dozens of districts across the country have bowed to the accumulating research on the adolescent body clock… During puberty, teenagers have a later release of the ‘sleep’ hormone melatonin, which means they tend not to feel drowsy until around 11 p.m. That inclination can be further delayed by the stimulating blue light from electronic devices, which tricks the brain into sensing wakeful daylight, slowing the release of melatonin and the onset of sleep.”

A just-released University of Minnesota study of eight high schools found that the later a school’s opening bell, the better off students are in terms of mental health, attendance, and, in some schools, grades and standardized test scores. There was also a marked reduction in automobile accidents. Researchers found that getting eight or nine hours of sleep in the teen years, as the brain develops and hormones surge, improves learning and moderates the tendency toward impulsive and risky behaviors. Students who get less sleep reported significantly more symptoms of depression and more use of caffeine, alcohol, and illegal drugs.

However, there is plenty of resistance to later start times. Here are some of the arguments made when school boards consider the question:

- Afternoon sports practices end later and getting to and from away games is challenging.

- After-school jobs start later or might be impractical. - Homework time is curtailed – or students have to stay up

later to complete it. - Morning routines are complicated for working parents with

younger children. - There’s skepticism on whether teens need 8-9 hours of sleep.

“It’s still a badge of honor to get five hours of sleep, says Dr. Judith Owens of Children’s National Medical Center. “It supposedly means you’re working harder, and that’s a good thing.”

But brain researchers say otherwise. “Without enough sleep, teenagers are losing the ability not only to solidify information but to transform and restructure it, extracting inferences and insights into problems,” says Jessica Payne of the University of Notre Dame. During REM (rapid-eye-movement) sleep, the brain is highly active, sorting and categorizing information from the day before. The more sleep a person gets, the better the information is organized.

- Reprinted with permission from Marshall Memo 528, March 17, 2014. Article is a summary of: “To Keep Teenagers Alert, Schools Start to Let Them Sleep In” by Jan Hoffman in The New York Times, Mar. 14, 2014, http://nyti.ms/Nnd2oG

At the end of each school year, it is ESU #17’s custom to have a Closing Day with all of our staff members. This day is generally spent reviewing the successes and challenges of the previous year and planning for the upcoming year. This year, our closing day included an additional purpose: gathering nonperishable goods for the local community. Our First Annual ESU #17 Food Drive was held as part of an initiative to achieve the Governor’s Award of Excellence in Wellness. This award is achieved in conjunction with EHA (Educators Health Alliance). ESU #17 has decided the Food Drive will become an annual event. This year, all of the proceeds were donated to the Brown County Ministerial Association Food Pantry. It is our hope to support all of the communities we serve by donating the proceeds to a different food pantry each year. In addition to our food drive, ESU #17 also held a drawing to recognize the participation of individual employees in the EHA Wellness health initiatives offered throughout the year. Each employee who had completed any of the challenges throughout the year was entered into a drawing for one of two iTunes gift cards. Congratulations to Rachel Williams and Mary Beel for winning our drawing this year! We look forward to another school year of EHA challenges, community involvement and healthy living!