In 1999-2000 Region 10 ESC and several school districts in the area entered into a unique cooperative. At the time, school districts had been hampered by a very tight labor market and districts struggled to recruit and retain enough teachers. The new cooperative created the Teacher and Employee Retention and Recruitment Plan (TERRP) based on federal law allowing education institutions to create a plan, known as a 401(a), that permitted the matching of certain retirement savings.
Since its beginning 23 years ago, the TERRP expanded to include three distinct retirement savings programs, a third-party administration system, and, most importantly, educational programs to help educators understand and plan for retirement. Today the cooperative is known as Region 10 Retirement Asset Management Services, or RAMS. School districts across the state have used it to streamline the work of their payroll departments; they have provided incentives for employees to come work or keep working in their schools; and they have provided their employees help in planning for a better financial future.
Today, Region 10 RAMS has almost 300 school districts, charter schools, and ESCs participating with plans. That includes districts with less than 50 employees, as well as 17 of the 20 largest school districts in the state. As of September 30, 539,658 educators have accounts in RAMS plans and the RAMS trust funds collectively invest $742,927,920 on behalf of those educators.
We have included an article in this issue of Reach! on page 42 telling the story of how two new programs adopted by the Region 10 ESC Board of Directors are now benefiting the employees of Region 10. I hope you will take the time to read about our story. It is just one of the great articles in this fall’s issue.
Reach! magazine is published twice annually by Region 10 Education Service Center, whose mission is to be a trusted, student-focused partner that serves the learning community through responsive, innovative educational solutions. For more information about advertising, or to suggest a story idea, please contact Rachel Frost, Chief Communications Officer, at rachel.frost@region10.org. To learn more about the program of Region 10, visit www.region10.org.
WITH a quick chirp and flash, the holodeck of Star Trek comes to life and previews the future of education. In this virtual and augmented world, students listen to Shakespeare delivering a line for Romeo and Juliet, collaboratively analyze the work of Jane Austin with students from around the world, and write essays with the help of Baldwin, Woolf, and Twain.
Meeting people from across the world, collaborating on projects, physically manipulating objects that all participants can see and experience, and doing it all real-time in a virtual space seemed like fantasy wrapped in technobabble a decade ago. No more. The science fiction worlds of The Matrix, Neuromancer, and Star Trek are all, in their own way, becoming a vision of the future; that future is the Metaverse.
“In simplest terms, [the Metaverse] is the next generation of a more immersive internet,” explained Hakan Satiroglu, General Manager of XR Terra - an Extended Reality (XR) training and resource
TO THE METAVERSE
Want to prepare your teachers for the Metaverse? Interested in the mobile lab? Contact Michael Pflug today!
Michael Pflug michael.pflug@region10.org 972.348.1270
platform. “As an industry, XR is going to have a $13 to $15 trillion impact globally by the end of this decade… so it’s going to affect all our lives from professional to personal.”
So, what is the Metaverse? The Metaverse is a catchall term used to describe the future of the internet and how people will interact with it. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are ways in which a person can interact with the internet. VR typically involves wearing a headset that covers the eyes and ears allowing a person to be fully immersed in a virtual world around them, such as experiencing Shakespeare's Globe Theater from the convenience of the classroom. AR is used to add on to the world around the user - using a camera on glasses to display the paralleling themes in Jane Austin’s work. XR is, and continues to be, a growing industry with “applications in corporate education, healthcare, automotive
manufacturing, oil and energy, defense, and more,” explained Satiroglu.
“This is the future, and people need to be prepared to build these virtual worlds and create the tools to access them,” shared Michael Pflug, a Career and Technical Education Consultant for Region 10 ESC spearheading this partnership with XR Terra. Most people working in XR, according to Satiroglu, are self-taught. This is why XR Terra and Region 10 ESC have joined forces. Satiroglu and his team have developed a series of bootcamps to train both students and teachers in VR and AR. “Learning these skills is something that a lot of schools, teachers, and administrators have been struggling with,” shared Satiroglu. “This is going to bring a lot of excitement to the classroom.”
Earlier this year, XR Terra partnered with Region 10 ESC to bring XR education
into the classroom by training a group of 30 teachers. “We ran a very simple four-day program. We had the teachers learn the basics like ‘What is XR?’ ‘What is AR and VR?’, but we also taught three or four apps that they can immediately offer in their classroom,” explained Satiroglu. “They have already started utilizing some of what they learned in the classroom.”
“What [XR Terra] does aligns directly with several goals of the Texas Education Agency,” explained Pflug. “What they are doing is moving to be a part of accountability through the Industry Based Certification. One of the Industry Based Certifications is the Unity Certified Programmer. Hakan’s training really jumpstarts the teachers into understanding Unity which can be parlayed into the certification exam.”
In addition to the quick summer bootcamps introducing teachers to XR, XR Terra will offer more indepth programs to teachers. “We have programs running at various times to accommodate different
schedules,” previewed Satiroglu.
These training programs will give teachers the opportunity to master the applications and tools necessary for developing extended realities.
Additionally, Region 10 ESC, through the Texas Regional Pathways Grant, will create a mobile computer lab where teachers and students can learn about the Metaverse together.
“It’s going to be a fantastic way to get teachers exploring, to get them learning, and to get them working towards their Unity Programmer Certification,” explained Pflug.
Extended reality and the Metaverse can seem like a fantastical future rooted only in science fiction. It can be hard to believe that within a decade or two people will be able to meet and collaborate in ways that can only be imagined. Thankfully, partnerships like the one between XR Terra and Region 10 ESC are working to prepare the next generation for the futurethe Metaverse.
Are you a campus partnering with Region 10 ESC and the Perkins SSA grant? Expand VR integration into your classroom by simulating various industries. Contact Julie Anderson today!
Julie Anderson julie.anderson@region10.org 972.348.1758
It’s going to be a fantastic way to get teachers exploring, to get them learning, and to get them working towards their Unity Programmer Certification.
“JACK-IN”
Superintendent Dr. Gerald Hudson has a new leader on his team working to connect with scholars in a way that many adults often struggle to achieve. Her name is Skylar Wesley, and in addition to being a senior at Cedar Hill High School, she also serves as the district’s first Teen Superintendent.
year, she also went on a Listening Tour across the district where she met with student leaders from each campus.
Wesley went through a rigorous interview process to earn the position of Teen Superintendent.
Wesley’s responsibilities as Teen Superintendent include meeting regularly with the CHISD Communications Department and Dr. Hudson, and also creating content for social media that covers a wide variety of relevant topics. Last
“The connection and the feedback that the Teen Superintendent is able to provide has been first-rate,” Dr. Hudson shared. “We’ve learned a great deal about the importance of having a reliable student voice and giving that student the support and encouragement to gradually develop her own voice in the role.”
Wesley will continue to serve as the Teen Superintendent until she graduates this spring
I was at school one day, scrolling through my email, and came across a letter about the position and chose to apply at that very moment. I was hoping that I’d get chosen for the position, but I didn’t expect to be. Therefore, when I started to make progress and became one of two finalists to be
something coming up during a week, I create news videos to be sent out to every scholar in the district. However, what is most important about my role, and this is also my goal, is to motivate and inspire all students to reach for the stars and make a difference in the world around them.
time, the Board of Trustees and more members of the district. While visiting campuses, I met the principles and administrators along with some of the top scholars of each campus as well. I was able to participate in many board meetings, award ceremonies, Longhorn Futures Committee meetings (even became a member along the way), and was chosen to deliver the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2022 graduation ceremony for both Collegiate Academy & High School and Cedar Hill High School.
This opportunity has helped me grow as a leader by building my confidence and being able to prove that my voice has power. Being Teen Superintendent has taught me to not be afraid to take risks and feel free to place my ideas on the table. The role has helped me be able to guide and help others through educating myself for possible questions someone may approach me with.
interviewed I was shocked. After my final interview, some time went by and I didn’t think I made it. It wasn’t until Dr. Hudson called me and delivered the great news that I had become the first Teen Superintendent of the Cedar Hill Independent School District.
The most rewarding part of my position is knowing that I have inspired many students. From grades K-12, I have helped other students want to better themselves and know that they have the power to take a stand. I have had people reach out to me thanking me for what I have done and that I have positively impacted the scholars of each campus. It’s feedback like this that helps me continue to do what I do for those around me.
Since I’ve been in this position, I have learned that CHISD truly has the best interest in mind for every scholar. The Superintendent and Board of Trustees, as well as myself, are doing the best we can to better the campuses and invite more people into the school district. For example, we have a bond election going on to bring money into the district to better and build facilities for our scholars. We just want what’s best for our Cedar Hill family.
As the Teen Superintendent, my role is to represent all scholars of CHISD. I visited the 12 campuses within our district and got to sit and chat with several students and was able to tour several of the schools. I attend and sometimes speak at school events around Cedar Hill and participate at board meetings for the district on behalf of scholars. When there’s
What came unexpected to me as Teen Superintendent was how much I was able to be involved in, and people I have met. For example, when running for the position, I was able to meet Dr. Hudson in-person for the first
As I prepare to leave high school and go into the next chapter of my life, I want to attend SMU for their prehealth program and Parker University for chiropractic. I want to become a chiropractor and hopefully own my own chiropractic office here in Dallas, TX one day. For more than a year now, I have been working as a Chiropractic Assistant Alternative Intern for my chiropractors Dr. Rebecca Tibbits and Dr. Yaxaira Almeida. Together they have helped me better my health and figure out what career I’d want to pursue in the medical field after high school.
Q: Why did you apply to become the Teen Superintendent?
Q: What does your role as Teen Superintendent involve?
Q: How has this opportunity helped you grow as a leader?
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of becoming the Teen Superintendent?
Q: What has been the most unexpected part of being the Teen Superintendent?
Rea I-Time Assessment and reporting on children's progress across the whole school, are some of the most significant challenges facing schools and districts today. It can come at a substantial cost yet often does not provide the information needed to gain the insights to make robust decisions.
What if there was an education consultancy who could provide you with:
•Real-time, continuous formative assessment
• The same reporting quality across every class
•A standard learning metric that benchmarks every student in your school
• Data-driven instruction embedded in the school day
• An Education Success Partner dedicated to your school to determine the best format of the tu t oring sessions
Whizz Education collaborates with schools across the USA to identify specific learning objectives and develop strategic implementation plans which encompass; high impact math tutoring, continuous formative assessment and course correction, driven by combining quantitative learning data with an understanding of our partners' local context. An added benefit to Whizz Education is our ability to support Special Educational students for inschool and at home learning. Whizz can remove barriers to promote equity and inclusion to ensure that every student can achieve in math!
As a long-standing education partner accountable for learning outcomes, Whizz Education can support you and your school through a consultative process that takes into account the unique context of your school, to recover lost learning experienced by your students during the pandemic, rapidly.
Whizz Education now joins the organizations approved for Region 10 ESC Cooperative Contracts, it offers affordable access to board acceptable, EDGAR compliant solutions.
Becoming a preferred supplier, means the process is streamlined for those schools looking to Whizz Education as an avenue of support in relation to the urgent call to action of House Bill 4545 to provide 30 hours of individual tutoring for students at risk of failing STAAR.
Michelle Turner, the District Engagement Consultant with Region 10 Data Solutions, is thrilled to partner with Whizz Education through our EdTech Cooperative.
Whizz Education uses analytics generated by the virtual tutor Math-Whizz, synthesized with qualitative feedback and reflections from our Education Success Partners to enable the implementation plan to be refined so students and teachers realise the full benefits of individualized tutoring. We refer back to the objectives of improving
ARE and increasing the Math Age for example, by working in collaboration with schools to understand the context, any challenges and behaviors, and then we develop a course correction to improve performance.
Data can also be used to compare students' progress with performance in a school's chosen third party assessment. Whizz Education collaborates with schools across the USA to identify specific learning objectives and develop strategic implementation plans. By working together, we can make a significant contribution to recovery through data driven, continuous assessment programs designed to spot learning gaps and enabling teachers to give targeted support without additional burden.
By Max Smith, Region 10 ESC Digital Marketing Specialist
THE SKY WAS CLEAR, the weather was perfect, and the smiles were big, as Region 10 mentor and mentee teachers experienced a day of fun, connection, and learning during a special edition of Learning on Location designed for mentor and mentee teachers. They tried their hands at archery, roasted marshmallows, practiced team-building
exercises, and explored how they could use the outdoors in their own classrooms.
There were two separate sessions offered for teachers, with 30 mentor and mentee teachers at Camp James Ray in Pottsboro, and 80 teachers at Camp Wisdom in Dallas.
For Celina ISD Mentor Teacher Tyffani Nyseth, the day was a much-needed opportunity to take her mentee out of the classroom and into the outdoors for a day of bonding.
“The outdoor education camp was outstanding! Kylee Harris, my mentee, was so excited to go that she made a countdown until the day we left,” Nyseth said. “The experience helped Harris and I make a true bond away from the classroom. We laughed, joked,
and walked away with memories that we will never forget. We both grew as a team, and more importantly, as friends.”
Nyseth believes this experience is one that every mentor and mentee should try.
“I would recommend this workshop for every first-year teacher and mentor,” Nyseth shared. “It was a perfect chance to support one another, bond, and have some great discussions.”
THE ALLEN ISD STEAM Center has added a scaly and horned ambassador to greet K-8 students as they enter the facility. The not-yetnamed juvenile triceratops is an animatronic exhibit on loan from Allen’s Billings Productions – The Dinosaur Company.
The ancient reptile welcomes students with a roar and provides an opportunity for learning more about the creatures that roamed the earth 66 million years ago.
“We’re always looking for ways to partner with businesses in our community,” said Larry
Labue, Allen ISD’s STEAM Center Executive Director.
“Since Billings Productions – The Dinosaur Company is a local business, this is a perfect partnership with the STEAM Center.”
Billings Productions also sees the partnership with the District as a way to expand their local presence and provide a learning opportunity for students.
“We started talking with Billings about a year ago. We had always wanted to work with them but never had the opportunity. When they offered the triceratops, we jumped at the chance,” Mr. Labue said.
We love sparking an educational interest in paleontology and animatronics.Photos: Courtesy of Allen ISD ERECKSON EIGHTH GRADERS VIEW THE ANIMATRONIC TRICERATOPS IN ALLEN ISD’S STEAM CENTER
Naturally, Labue expects the dinosaur to lend excitement to the elementary and middle school learning experience. “The dinosaur will enhance the educational experiences for our elementary school and middle school students as they learn about the prehistoric environment and the creatures that inhabited the era,” said Labue.
However, the animatronic exhibit can also extend its educational reach to a variety of high school courses. “Our robotics classes recently investigated how the animatronics and pneumatic systems work in the model and they were fascinated by the electronics and movement mechanisms,” said Labue.
“Since we’re a STEAM center, this is truly a great experience for our students,” he said. “We work to connect students to real-world jobs and situations. Billings incorporates so much of what we’re teaching here from design to construction and even robotics. Billings is a prime example of the kind of work we’re training our students to do.”
For its part the Dinosaur Company expects the partnership to grow in the future.
“We are happy to loan our Triceratops to the STEAM Center to teach children about dinosaurs and animatronics,” said Ande Davidson, Marketing Coordinator for the company. “We love sparking an educational interest in paleontology and animatronics when families tour our facility, and we are excited to have the opportunity to continue that education within the Allen community. We can’t wait to see where this partnership with the STEAM Center will lead and will be working with the STEAM Center to update our field trip curriculum to align with the Texas TEKS.”
Labue and Billings also want to expand the experiences of older students and the STEAM ambassadors by working with the company. The STEAM ambassadors are students who conduct tours and activities for members of the public visiting the facility.
“We’re also discussing how our students can become involved with Billings through internships and work programs,” said Labue. “Also, our STEAM ambassadors are looking for ways to help enhance the field trip experience when The Dinosaur Company conducts student tours of its facilities.”
All-in-all, it’s a great way an old dinosaur is teaching Allen ISD students a few new tricks.
FOR A GROUP of
Lancaster ISD middle school students, the path to accessing post-secondary education information became a lot easier with the implementation of the GEAR UP program. Designed to increase early college awareness, readiness, and success for low-income and historically underrepresented students, the federally funded GEAR UP program provides seven-year grants to middle and high schools. GEAR UP, which stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs,
provides services such as college tours, summer enrichment programs, career exploration, as well as job shadowing.
What makes this middle school program unique is that it’s led by two individuals who have roots in the Lancaster community. Guiding the class of 2027 cohort at Elsie Robertson Lancaster Middle School, Region 10 GEAR UP Site Coordinators Brittney Hervey and Alexis Wasson were all smiles at the official program kick-off.
“One of my favorite parts about the program is that it creates awareness and access for communities and students who might not have otherwise received the exposure,” said Wasson.
Previously serving as a school counselor in LISD for six years, when Wasson stepped into this role, she was already familiar with the systems, community, and students, which gives her and the program a better opportunity to be successful.
Hervey, a product of LISD herself, understands the challenges students face when planning post-secondary options. For this reason, it is essential to her that a connection of trust is formed between the program staff and students.
“I attended Lancaster schools from childhood through my senior year, and even after graduating from college, I returned to teach for seven years. I’ve sat in the same seats as them and grew up in the same community. Ensuring their success is personal for me.” Hervey shared.
Through community support, partnerships, and supplemental programming, students in the LISD GEAR UP program will be exposed to experiences such as College and Career
game night, the Career Cafe Lunch and Learns, and local college tours in order to create exposure to college culture. In fact, many students at the kick-off were already thinking ahead. When a group of cohort students was asked why they wanted to go to college, replies such as “keeping the family legacy going” to “getting a master’s degree in engineering and teaching” were shared.
it a family affair so that everyone is comfortable and confident about their students going off to college,” said Hervey.
For the next six years, students in this cohort will be spoiled by the love and support they receive from Hervey and Wasson. Wasson described their role as “college and career coaches,” but when one of
~ Brittney Hervey, Region 10 ESC GEARUP Site Coordinator
With goals like these, it’s no surprise that the GEAR UP program’s support goes beyond the needs of the student. A parent engagement component is also included with the goal of educating and preparing parents to send many first-generation college students away from home. Even for students with collegeeducated parents, the process to search and apply for college is different. According to Research. com, more than 3 million students graduated from high school in 2020, with 62% of them opting to apply and enroll in a college or university, creating a more competitive application process. Thanks to the GEAR UP program, families are exposed to the most accurate information, resulting in an increase in students who are likely to enroll and succeed in college.
make sure that we’re keeping them up-to-date and just making
the students was asked about the support Site Coordinators provide, the response was simply, “They are my heroes because I feel like I can trust them and I can lean on them whenever I’m going to need them.”
“We
“I’ve sat in the same seats as [these students] and grew up in the same community. Ensuring their success is personal for me.”BRITTNEY HERVEY AND ALEXIS WASSON WERE ALL SMILES AT THE OFFICIAL GEAR UP PROGRAM KICK-OFF. Photos: Max Smith, Region 10 ESC
CARIN MCSPERITT’S Head Start classroom at Central Elementary is bustling with activity as students take turns rotating around different stations. Some sit on a small couch and read a book, some try their hand at solving puzzles, while others demonstrate their artistic talents while painting.
In the middle of it all, McSperitt bounces from station to station, helping each of her students to get the most out of their experience.
“I love that I am their first experience with school, and I do all I can to ignite in them what my teachers inspired in me; the desire to discover, to learn, and to improve,” McSperitt shared. “As teachers, we hold such great power.”
Teaching Head Start is a role that McSperitt would have never imagined being part of just four years ago. After teaching for more than 20 years, McSperitt admits that her passion was starting to dim.
Fortunately, now-retired Central Elementary Principal Chelsea Capehart saw her potential, and transitioned her from a 2nd grade classroom into a Head Start teaching position. While McSperitt didn’t initially view the change favorably, she credits the support she received early on from the Head Start program.
“The Head Start office staff checked on me frequently, especially the first few days of school, reassuring me that I would be successful,” McSperitt said. “Region 10 did and continues to do an amazing job of providing professional development specifically for early childhood education and the Head Start program; I felt like I had plenty of assistance at my fingertips.”
Thanks to the Head Start teachers and Instructional Assistants, it wasn’t long before McSperitt felt right at home in a Head Start classroom.
“The Head Start teachers and the Instructional Assistants work together as a group and go above and beyond to help each other whenever needed. After three weeks, I settled into the routine and I was actually enjoying myself,” shared McSperitt. “By the end of the first year, they would have had to take me
out of that classroom kicking and screaming. I had found my spark, my passion, for teaching again.”
Now serving as the Team Leader for Mabank’s Head Start teachers, McSperitt tries to ignite that spark in each of her students. She has brought in members of the community for her students over the past year, from local firefighters to farmers and their cows. She believes these opportunities allow her students to build connections, expand their vocabulary, and learn about future possibilities.
“I love that I am their first experience with school, and I do all I can to ignite in them what my teachers inspired in me; the desire to discover, to learn, and to improve.”
~ Carin McSperitt
TEACHING HEAD START IS A ROLE THAT McSPERITT WOULD HAVE NEVER IMAGINED BEING PART OF JUST FOUR YEARS AGO.
Most significantly, she worked with a group of teachers to create a successful grant proposal for $2,500 for a sensory path at Central Elementary.
“We feel that by providing a sensory path for the students in our school, we are creating a culture of acceptance and awareness of students that may have different learning styles and needs,” McSperitt explained. “Students will be able to step out of the classroom, move through the sensory path, and give their bodies and brain the reset they need to be productive and successful in the classroom. Many students struggle with proprioceptive issues. By providing a safe location in the school for them to achieve a calm state, those students may find more success in the classroom.”
For Region 10 Head Start Site Facilitator Kimberly Wilson, McSperitt has been an asset to the Head Start team.
“McSperitt is someone that you can always count on,” shared Wilson. “She is early to arrive, and most days she is the last to leave. She not only holds herself accountable for doing what is best for kids, but she also encourages her peers as well.”
McSperitt’s efforts to share her passion with her students was recognized this year, when she was named the Teacher of the Year for Mabank ISD. Crediting her own teachers who ignited her passion for teaching, she encourages all teachers to share their passion with their students.
“My fourth grade teacher, Quannah Steiner, ignited my passion for educating others when she allowed me to read and work with first grade students. Ever since that time, I knew I would be a teacher,” McSperitt said. “I’ve had amazing educators in my life, and I find that it wasn’t in the content they taught, but in how they made me feel. I strive daily to be like those educators and bring out the best in my students. They allowed their passion for education to burn brightly and shared it with their students. Remember, when you share your fire, it doesn’t dim your light; it makes the world a brighter place.”
In a number of her speeches, Greta Thunberg makes it clear that climate change should be spoken about everywhere and often with the kind of gravitas that the earth's predicament warrants. She marvels in her speech entitled 'Almost Everything is Black and White' (207 8) that 'the vast majority [of people don't have a clue about the consequences o f our everyday life'. This i s something that teachers are well-equipped to change.
Math education i s essential i n developing a n understanding o f climate c hange and that learning will help students to deploy their math in innovative, world-changing ways.
Whizz Education is delivering a suite of free learning activities across disciplines that will focus on the topic of 'Building for the Future.' Activities will be based around the UN's Sustainable Development G oa ls 7, 9, 7 7 and 7 3. They will encourage children to learn about the environments i n which they live and to support the development o f a sustainable world with a focus upon sustaining mathematical ability, i n measurement and geometry.
Without numbers, students would not understand ideals like the carbon budget o r the limit of 7 .5 degrees of warming at the center of climate
change debates. Without using data to think abstractly, our senses and observations alone would not confirm that climate change is occurring or that we need to act.
Discussing climate change, celebrating world environment day, initiating projects for students to improve the sustainability o f their own school (for example, by reducing food waste o r starting clubs) might be just some examples to help save the environment and could have a profound impact on the future of the planet and can be used to cultivate ever important mathematical knowledge and skills.
Why not get involved and encourage your school to join-in with Whizz Education's Building for the Future activities? For example, students could be measuring rainfall. They will be elevating math skills by collecting and recording how many inches of
liquid are captured o n a daily basis and discussing how to make the records useful, fair and impactful in the future.
As well as teaching students to handle numbers, the summer project has the capacity to inspire, engage and empower. Numerous studies have shown that climate change education has the biggest impact when students are encouraged to take responsibility for learning about issues that impact them and their communities. Help make a difference!
Whizz Education is an education partner dedicated to improving learning outcomes.
For further information and to access free resources from Whizz Education's climate project please see: https:Uwww.whizz.com/en-us/ summer-challenge-2022/
WHEN Region 10 Special Education Liaison Evan Heckmann entered the teaching profession 23 years ago, never in his wildest dreams did he expect to add “media award recipient” to his list of accomplishments. However, for two years in a row, Heckmann has been part of the team that has taken home the Barbara Jordan Media Award for Podcast in 2021 and 2022. SPEDTalk, a podcast aimed at elevating the conversation about special education issues in Texas, has become a resource that individuals count on to learn more about working with students with disabilities.
Collaborating with Special Education Liaisons and SPEDTalk hosts John Bullion (ESC 12) and Pam Humphrey (ESC 11), Heckmann carefully edits each episode assuring that the important conversations are coherent and easy for listeners to digest. Since 2018, SPEDTalk has invited listeners in to hear discussions on a range of different topics, some of which are personal encounters that shine a positive light on special education in Texas.
“SPEDTalk is filling a void, where there needs to be an opportunity to be positive and talk about the good things that are happening, by highlighting and really
elevating what’s going on in special education in Texas,” Heckmann shared.
Born in Dallas, Heckmann grew up around motion picture film sets. His father, a now-retired director and producer, would bring him on various film sets and even sometimes allow him to be in projects. As a teenager, Heckmann went to his father asking more about how the film industry works hoping to follow in his footsteps, and maybe even take over for his dad should a family business come out of it. That’s not exactly the life Heckmann’s father had in mind for his son, and instead encouraged him to seek a different career. An
interest survey or two later, Heckmann concluded that his own career path would revolve around sports, the outdoors, and his love for people. Those discoveries eventually led to a degree from Texas A&M, along with a teaching certificate.
“I progressed through all the different layers and levels of teacher coach, assistant principal, and head principal and now working here (Region 10 ESC) as a Special Education Liaison,” says Heckmann.
As a Special Education Liaison, Heckmann works collaboratively with other liaisons across the state to support school districts in all
aspects of special education. His work sometimes affords him the opportunity to learn about and meet individuals that have been impacted by the support that he and other liaisons across Texas provide to school districts. In fact, the podcast episode that won the 2021 Barbara Jordan Media Award, titled “Don’t be Afraid to be Included,” was a result of someone bringing a story to the SPEDTalk team. The episode allowed a student with disabilities to share his own school experience.
“Someone said to us, ‘I think you might want to talk to this kid.’ As a student with a disability, he wanted to spread the message to other people based on his positive experience going through school. The student shared, ‘If things aren’t working out the way you want, don’t withdraw. Don’t be afraid to be included in the things that are going on in your environment.’ That was powerful that the voice came from him,” shared Heckmann.
Looking back over the last 23 years, Heckmann is truly grateful for the support he’s received on his journey. While it may be only two or three voices that listeners hear on SPEDTalk, there are several other individuals assisting with marketing, story pitch, and a whole host of other elements that go into creating an award-winning podcast. Heckmann may never take home the Golden Globe or Oscar for best film, but he is doing something much more impactful, just as his father had hoped.
SPEDTalk is available to listen to on Apple, Google, iHeart Radio, or other podcast platforms.
SPEDTalk earned the Barbara Jordan Media Award for Podcast in 2021 and 2022.
Episodes “Don’t be Afraid to be Included” and “Loving Students Doesn’t Lower Expectations” bring a positive lens to and elevate the special education conversation.EVAN HECKMANN EDITING AN EPISODE OF SPEDTALK Photo: Deon Quinn, Region 10 ESC
LACK OF RESPECT, high stress, long hours, low pay, high stakes tests. These are all reasons teachers give for leaving the classroom and sometimes even the profession. With so many districts beginning the current school year with unfilled positions, the teacher shortage is an issue that demands attention. Rather than approaching the problem from a deficit mindset and continuing to ask questions about why teachers have left, Region 10 ESC decided to take a proactive approach and find out what motivates teachers to keep doing their jobs.
We know that a motivated, high-caliber teacher is the best way to ensure positive student outcomes and that high teacher turnover has a negative impact on student achievement.
According to the Texas Education Agency (tea.texas.gov), 11.57% of Texas teachers left the education profession following the 2001-21 academic year. That means 88.43% of them stayed in teaching. What can we learn from that 88% about what keeps them going back to school every day?
We dug into previous studies to see what researchers have learned thus far. In a very tiny nutshell, here are the biggest reasons teachers stay:
1. A sense of purpose 2. High self-efficacy 3. Connection with colleagues, campus, and community 4. Supportive administrators
It is, of course, more complicated than a list of four reasons. Teacher motivation is complex and does not fit neatly into categories (Chiong, Menzies, & Parameshwaran, 2017). Further, there are also other reasons which surfaced less frequently in the literature, some of which are related to the four reasons listed above.
The single biggest reason long-term teachers gave for staying in the profession was that they were able to see and believe in the potential outcomes of their work on the current and future lives of their students (Landrum, Guilbeau, & Garza, 2017; Webb, 2018). On an even larger scale, they were able to view their work as having a positive impact on society as a whole (Aria, Jafari, & Behifar, 2019; Aytac, 2021; Parr, et al., 2021; Whipp & Salin, 2018). Two different studies (Chiong, et al., 2017; Voltz, et al., 2021), focused on teachers who had taught 10 years or longer and found that they were able to focus on their own sense of purpose regardless of the external factors affecting their jobs or their campuses. In short, these teachers were able to remember their “why” throughout the day-to-day highs and lows of their jobs.
A second characteristic of persevering teachers was that they had confidence in their ability to teach and believed they were intellectually equipped to handle the challenge (Aria, et al., 2019; Aytac, 2021; Chiong, et al., 2017; Ismail & Miller, 2020; Landrum, et al., 2017; Parr, et al., 2021; Whipp & Salin, 2018). This trait, often called self-efficacy or teacher efficacy, was seen in the literature almost as often as a sense of purpose and has been studied for decades (see Henson, Kogan, & Vacha-Haase, 2001). One study (Voltz, et al., 2021) linked teacher self-efficacy with a high quality teacher preparation program. Interestingly, one other study (Parr, et al., 2021) found that teachers who reported having negative experiences with school as children were motivated by those experiences to stay in the teaching profession longer!
Just like students, teachers felt a need to belong on a campus (Aria, et al., 2019; Sudibjo & Suwarli, 2020). This sense of connection as a motivating factor was found in both rural (Whaland, 2020; Zost, 2019) and urban settings (Rinehart, 2021). Teachers who felt supported by their coworkers were more likely to stay in their jobs and, in some cases, also more likely to believe that others had a respect for the teaching profession (Whipp & Salin, 2018).
After a sense of purpose, self efficacy, and a connection to others, teachers specified support from their campus administrators as a reason they continued teaching (Aria, et al., 2019; Lowery, 2021; Rinehart, 2021; Viano, et al., 2021; Whaland, 2020). It should be noted that three of the studies (Lowery, 2021; Rhinehart, 2021; Whaland, 2020) were recent unpublished doctoral dissertations which may be a positive sign of forthcoming research in this area. Regardless, teachers expressed that when administrators respected and listened to them, they were happier in their jobs and more likely to stay. Also notable was one small study of math teachers (Webb, 2018) which found no relationship between administrative support and teacher longevity. Teachers in that study identified their desire to help students as the main reason they stayed.
The four reasons delineated above are likely interrelated. Further, other reasons surfaced in research that might be considered tangentially (if not directly) related. For example, teachers in one study (Whipp & Salin, 2018) talked about autonomy as a reason to stay in their jobs. Autonomy is likely the result of strong administrative support as well as self efficacy. Another study (Viano, et al., 2021) revealed school safety, student discipline, small class sizes, and access to high quality professional learning as reasons teachers stayed. We can speculate that those conditions were brought about by a supportive administration.
DOUG WILLIAMS has served the students, staff, and community as the Superintendent of Sunnyvale ISD for the past 15 years. During this time, he has established a culture of innovation and exhibited exemplary and visionary leadership to enhance the quality of education for the students of Sunnyvale ISD.
Mr. Williams has led the district through three successful bond elections to build the elementary and intermediate campuses and expand the middle and high school campuses to accommodate for rapid student growth.
Mr. Williams has served as a leader across the state
through his work and leadership with the Texas Association of School Administrators, as legislative chair, vice president and most recently as the organization’s president.
He has been an advocate for students across the state of Texas through building relationships with legislators, educating elected leaders on the needs of schools, dedicating time to testify in support of and opposition to education-related bills, and serving as invited testimony and consultant for legislation related to school finance.
Congratulations to our 2022 Region 10 Superintendent of the Year, Mr. Doug Williams.
I believe the Quinlan ISD Board of Trustees is directly answering major challenges they face in Southern Hunt County. I am very impressed by the work done in their CTE programs, including endorsements in Cosmetology and Welding. Additionally, the percentage of graduates earning associate’s degrees is a major accomplishment. Their board members are, for the most part, long-time residents of Quinlan…Long-time residents can have the ‘it was good enough for me’ mentality. Not the case in Quinlan. These programs, and others like them, are a clear indication that the board members and administration actively work to pursue programs that are good for students.
- Region 10 Board of the Year Selection Committee Member
Get to know Shelley Jeoffroy, Region 10 ESC 2023 Elementary Teacher of the Year and 2023 Texas Teacher of the Year.
In this video Shelley shares why she is so passionate and what inspired her to become a teacher.
Shelley Jeoffroy, our Region 10 Elementary Teacher of the Year, has served students for more than 17 years not only in Texas, but across the world. She is passionate about treating and teaching students holistically - seeing their lives and education as not a series of disparate strands but as a singular rope woven together. Her many years of teaching abroad are used to enrich her students’ lives by bringing the world into her classroom. Jeoffroy seeks out opportunities to bring her classroom and community together by bringing in guest speakers, creating school clubs, and finding ways for her and her students to give back to those in need. Her passion was recognized at the state level with her receiving the 2023 Texas Teacher of the Year award!
Lori Harlin, our 2023 Region 10 Secondary Teacher of the Year, has served students for more than 38 years as both a college professor and high school teacher. Harlin’s students enter a classroom built on expanding students’ understanding and confidence through a culture of kindness and community. She designs lessons that will challenge her students and connect to relatable, real-world applications. Most importantly, she is an advocate for her students’ education and their biggest cheerleader.
Get to know Lori Harlin, Region 10 ESC 2023 Secondary Teacher of the Year.
Lori has taugh for more than 38 years, both at the university and high school levels. In this video she shares what inspired her to transition from teaching adults to teaching teenagers.
Babies’ Day Out
Region 10 hosted babies and their families for Babies’ Day Out! Families heard from a panel of fellow parents of children with visual impairments and connected with support services.
At Camp Wisdom, students participated in archery, s’more making, team building, and other fun activities during a special edition of Region 10’s Academics Outdoors!
opportunity to throw out the first pitch at the 2022 Battle of the Ax baseball game, courtesy of an invitation from baseball player Owen Ewton. Kemp has been working with Region 10’s Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Specialist Bentley Posner, and he also received special guidance from Adapted PE Specialist Thomas Swinden to prepare for his big moment!
As part of Region 10’s Parasports Jam, students from across Texas participated in a Goalball tournament! Helping to coach one of the teams was Region 10 O&M Specialist Chelsea Schumacher.
More than 80 students walked from Region 10’s Spring Valley building to the Region 10 Abrams building, as part of the White Cane Day celebration.
Little Room, Big Impact
Region 10 O&M Specialist Micha Seely installed a Little Room for Noah in Midlothian. Little rooms help infants like Noah learn movements.
Shades On
Lookin’ Good, Feelin’ Fine
Region 10 was buzzing with excitement when students joined Region 10 to learn some self-care tips!
Emma practiced using her Bose Altos sunglasses to navigate with Region 10 O&M Specialist Micha Seely. The bluetooth sunglasses tell her the location, upcoming intersections, and landmarks/business around her. The glasses pair with the Soundscape app in order to provide her with an audio beacon, and she uses Apple Maps for walking directions.
LUKAS MACDONNELL PLAYING BY EAR “CANON IN D” BY JOHANN PACHELBEL
Max Smith, Region 10 ESC
NOTES flow from Lukas MacDonnell’s keyboard while his fingers dance across the keys as he performs “Canon in D.” It’s not long before his bedroom transforms into a studio full of music as he demonstrates the keyboard’s various features.
This is not an uncommon scene in the MacDonnell household. Music, especially the piano, has always been a passion for Lukas, a sophomore at Midlothian High School who has a Visual Impairment.
“He’s been able to play the keyboard by ear for a very long time,” shared his mom, Heather MacDonnell. “He’s always been musically inclined. When he was a baby he had cancer, neuroblastoma. The only thing that he wanted
when he was awake was his little iPod Shuffle that had the clip-on and his Jack Johnson music, that’s all he listened to. He would listen to it on repeat all day.”
Ever since he was almost six, Lukas has been interested in learning how to play different instruments. He played the drums for one year, and he also knows how to play a little bit of guitar. His main focus, however, has always been the piano and keyboard. He can explain everything from why the keys on a piano are heavier than the keys on a keyboard, to how a synthesizer produces its own sound. While his musical preferences have evolved and changed over the years, one piece of advice his doctor gave his parents has continued on with them.
“When he was sick, the doctor said ‘Don’t baby him, treat him like a regular kid.’ That was one thing that stuck with my husband and I,” Heather shared. “We expect him to go out and try new things. That isn’t hard for him because he wants to do everything.”
Lukas has not shied away from that expectation. After competing in track and swimming while at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), he joined Midlothian High School’s Wrestling team.
“I had a few friends at TSBVI that did wrestling, and they said it was really fun,” Lukas said. “It’s been fun, and I’m probably going to end up doing it the whole time I’m in high school. It’s one that I can easily do, you don’t have to see very well to do anything because you’re in constant contact with your opponent.”
While Heather has always known that her son is very competitive, she was surprised when she first found out about his interest in competing in wrestling.
“We went to the counselor’s office to get his school schedule, and he’s like, ‘I want to be in wrestling.’ This was the first time I had heard of this, because it wasn’t something he had talked about. However, I knew it was something he would be able to do,” recalled MacDonnell. “His coach even says he can be more intuitive about where his opponent is moving, because he understands the movements more than someone who can see.”
While Lukas is busy at home learning music, at school he has also been learning to cook with Region 10 Orientation and Mobility Specialist Micha Seely. Every few weeks they will go to the grocery store to gather ingredients for a meal, which they will then cook the following day. Seely stays in constant communication with Lukas’s mom, keeping her updated on their activities.
has been one of my favorite students to teach. He’s always up for whatever challenge I give him during his sessions whether it be street crossings, soliciting help, advocating for himself, or cooking.
“He has been one of my favorite students to teach. He’s always up for whatever challenge I give him during his sessions whether it be street crossings, soliciting help, advocating for himself, or cooking,” Seely shared. “Not to mention his technology skills are so advanced, there have been times he has taught me. I truly see him achieving big things in his future.”
Even with so many different interests, Lukas has always been set on one goal for his futurestudying Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Heather believes it is the perfect platform for her son’s inquisitive mind. For Lukas, it is the perfect combination of his interests.
“Being a mechanical engineer sounds like the most fun to me, because you can do just about anything with that job,” Lukas said. “I’ve always liked technology and mechanics, and it’s a mix between those two.”
For now, Lukas will continue to explore his numerous interests. While he hasn’t publicly performed music for an audience yet, that will soon change when he performs in his first piano recital in December.
We expect him to go out and try new things. That isn’t hard for him because he wants to do everything.
HePhoto: Micha Seely, Region 10 ESC ~
WOLFE CITY ISD is one of 13 districts in Texas, and one of only two districts in Region 10, to receive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus grant. The awarded funding totals $1,185,000 for three new electric buses and charging infrastructure.
Earlier this year, Superintendent Anthony Figueroa met with WCISD’s energy partners, TXU Energy, to discuss the possibility of filing for the Clean School Bus Rebate Program. With a very short 30-day application deadline, Justin Vanhooser, WCISD’s Transportation Supervisor, was brought on board. Vanhooser attended various meetings with TXU representatives as well as ISDs that currently have electric buses, and also test drove electric buses.
Sheila Gardner, WCISD’s Curriculum Director, worked closely with the district’s EV bus consultant, Longhorn Bus, and NUVVE (vehicle-to-grid tech), to submit the grant for the new buses.
“I am proud of the work my team has put into this grant and I am excited for WCISD as a whole. As districts across the country face unprecedented economic hardships, this grant
will save WCISD valuable school resources as we upgrade our school bus fleet by replacing three of our older diesel buses with electric buses. This will save the district money, as the price to charge the buses is less than the price to fuel our diesel buses. Prices of school buses also continue to rise, and this grant replaces buses that needed to be removed from our current fleet due to age and condition. Additionally, as students and teachers line up at the bus porches, we are thankful for the reduction in fumes, noise, and heat that the older diesel buses generate. It is a great day to be a Wolf,” said Figueroa.
IN CAMPBELL ISD, second-grade teacher Beckie Rodgers went to great lengths to set up a “Surgery Center” where students conducted “surgery” on sentences!
“My students have been in a narrative writing unit for 20 days, and the theme of our lessons was a medical theme,” shared Rodgers. “After brainstorming ‘Our Ouch Moments’ (a time when we have been hurt) we spent days fixing punctuationcapitalizing, editing, revising, etc. our narratives.”
Materials such as band-aids and doctors bags were provided during these lessons, which gave Rodgers the idea for this final lesson in the unit.
“At one point, one lesson was brain surgery, where students used large plastic tongs to pull possessive nouns from the brain (bowl of red cinnamon candy),” recalled Rodgers. “While planning these lessons I thought it would be neat to finish with a big bang and do a surgery center with stations.”
Rodgers set up six stations for her little surgeons. One was strictly imaginative play where students engaged in taking each other’s blood pressure and listening to heartbeats with real equipment. The other five stations included lessons in complete/incomplete sentences, silly writing using medical terms like “stretcher” and “ambulance”, capitalization and punctuation, and narrative writing prompts.
Rodgers gave the students a little hint the day before that something big was planned, and her students were so excited when they walked in to see their classroom transformed into a surgery center! Just like real doctors, students wore name badges, gowns, gloves, caps, masks, and shoe covers. To give the classroom the feel of a hospital, Rodgers draped eight-foot plastic tablecloth sheets from the ceiling with binder clips to create “surgery” rooms. Students also had clipboards with patient confidentiality cover sheets.
At the end of the day, students went home with goodies, including special sunglasses they used to look for “small moments” in their writing.
“They seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day; the giggles and laughter were priceless,” shared Rodgers. “I thoroughly enjoy going above and beyond for my students to help them love learning, especially for something as necessary and challenging as teaching writing.”
Kemp ISD students spent five months constructing the tiny home.
Tanner Huth has big plans for his future; he dreams of one day owning his own construction company. This big dream was inspired by a not-so-tiny “tiny home” project that was assigned as part of the Geometry in Construction class during the 2021-2022 school year.
“My initial reaction to us building a tiny house was very surprising to me.
I thought we were going to build stuff like a bench, a little shed, or even patio furniture,” Huth explained. “I would have never thought we were building a tiny house, which made me excited.”
Plans for the project were already in the works when Mitchell Park, Kemp High School Geometry in Construction teacher, was hired to lead the project. He and his students
Buyer Chris Bell was in the market for a tiny home to add to his 50acre property in east Texas when he learned about the Kemp ISD tiny home project.
“We already have one tiny home that we rent out as an Airbnb, so this was a great opportunity to add another one,” Bell said.
For Bell, the price was right at $24,000 and he was happy to support the Kemp ISD construction program.
“I think the construction program is an awesome opportunity for the students,” Bell shared. “Students learn so much more when the learning is hands-on.”
had a shared sense of excitement about the opportunity to build a tiny home.
“When told that I would be the teacher in charge of the project, I could not accept the position fast enough,” Mr. Park said. “The students loved the idea of getting real world experience along with their math credit. I do think that a few students found the project a little daunting, but they did not back down.”
From design to construction, the students took ownership of the project with guidance from Mr. Park along the way. Mr. Park shared that it was when the walls started going up that the students really understood exactly what they were accomplishing.
Along the way, the students had to overcome quite a few obstacles.
From product shortages to severe weather conditions, students experienced real world issues that taught them how to adjust, be flexible, and develop a new plan that would work. After five months of construction, the tiny home was ready to hit the market.
The revenue from the sale of the tiny home is currently funding the program’s second tiny home project.
“I am very excited to have more time this year, which will allow for a deeper understanding of how math intertwines with the construction,” Mr. Park said. “I hope our students come away from this project understanding that sometimes - I wish that I could get them to say all the time - their math teachers are correct, math really is useful and needed in life.”
THE NEW thinking and writing demands of the redesigned state assessments for Reading Language Arts (RLA) will require students to construct short and extended written responses to text-based questions, as well as think through a variety of new item types. The Region 10 ELAR team of Vicki Reynolds, Chandra Shaw, and Jennifer Gunn have been busy developing resources and professional development to assist our educators in doing just that…make informed decisions and deliver high quality TEKS-based instruction!
Beginning the fall of 2020, the team has consistently presented the most up-to-date information on the redesign to Region 10 ELAR coordinators at ELAR Cadre and to district directors at the quarterly Curriculum Directors’ meetings. They’ve also shared STAAR updates to campus principals at each of the Vital Information for Principals (VIP) meetings offered by the Supervision & Leadership Development team. In addition to providing
updates to district and campus leadership, the Region 10 ELAR consultants have been busy on the ground creating and presenting more than a dozen professional development sessions geared towards supporting educators with instructional shifts needed for the new
ELAR TEKS and STAAR redesign. Since the Fall of 2020, the ELAR team has carefully designed every ELAR session to align with current STAAR redesign expectations, especially the importance of academic oracy in student success and the integration of reading and writing instruction across the content areas.
As a team, we are pleased to work in partnership with our many LEA’s to provide the most up-to-date evidence-based professional learning opportunities for all of our stakeholders.
The Region 10 ELAR team will continue to support students by offering quality services that provide real instructional solutions within Region 10.
By Melissa Shaw, Region 10 ESC Regional Testing CoordinatorEVERY YEAR districts face the anticipation of state assessments. This year, districts are facing new learning as the state approaches the first delivery of the newly designed STAAR test.
Since the summer of 2021, our Region 10 team has been feverishly serving LEAs to prepare central office, campus leadership, and teachers for the changes ahead. Specifically, LEAs have received general overviews of the new item types that will make up at least 25% of the new STAAR.
The redesign will allow Texas to assess students in a way that is more reflective of the effective teaching practices in classrooms across the state.
We have presented 40 STAAR Redesign Sessions in an effort to meet the needs of all of Region 10’s
LEAs. The latest session at Region 10 included more than 550 in-person and virtual attendees. The session was a true testament to the power of collaboration as Content Consultants, led by Arynn Rasmussen, and the Data Solutions Team, led by Amber Jones, supported specific breakout sessions for attendees.
This STAAR redesign has allowed for Region 10’s various service areas to strategically support educators.
Lorna Salgado, Special Populations Consultant, has offered STAAR Redesign sessions on accessibility for students that are served by 504 and special education. The Data Solutions team continues to offer Beyond Multiple Choice: Assessing with Interactive Items that allow teachers to familiarize themselves with the new item types.
Region 10 will continue to support all Region 10 LEAs with the STAAR redesign and help LEAs prepare for the future of STAAR.
The Region 10 English, Language Arts, and Reading (ELAR) team focuses on real solutions for the STAAR redesign.
Through a collaborative effort, Region 10 teams step up to provide strategic support as LEAs navigate the STAAR redesign.
THE EXECUTIVE Education Preparation Program here at Region 10 ESC has been a wonderful experience and has allowed me to grow in my pursuit of becoming a superintendent of a school district in our region. The academic classes at Texas A&M-Commerce have also assisted me in my daily job duties here at Region 10 ESC. The connection to both the education service center and the school district worlds is one of the best components of the program and its objectives.
We have had the opportunity to collaborate with many districts in Region 10 to complete several projects that were successfully implemented in school districts. One of my favorite projects was collaborating with a superintendent in the creation of a school budget. This opportunity allowed me to better understand the entire process and its effect on student achievement.
This program has allowed me to grow professionally and personally to better serve our schools and communities. I feel the connections that I have made with the other cohort members will last a lifetime. The support of Region 10 and its partnership with Texas A&M University-Commerce has been invaluable and I would definitely recommend this program to those interested in pursuing an executive leadership position.
Dickerson Region 10 Program Coordinator Supervision & Leadership DevelopmentTHE REGION 10 Executive Education Preparation Program has been instrumental in my professional growth by giving me practiced-based experiences aligned to competency-based leadership skills.
Along with Texas A&M University Commerce graduate classes, this program has allowed me to practice the skills necessary to become an effective superintendent in both my current role and with districts across Region 10.
This unique blend of traditional coursework along with realworld field experience has given me deep knowledge of the different roles within district leadership and their importance in relation to the superintendency. In addition, my cohort has become a very close group and I know that we will stay connected and support one another for years to come as we take the next step in our leadership journey.
BenNUMBERS DON’T LIE, but sometimes no one is looking at the numbers. Region 10 Education Service Center found that to be true in the spring of 2022 when it discovered some interesting data about itself. One of the core principles of Region 10 is taking great care of employees, and it focuses supporting its people in every way possible. Inadvertently, a hole had developed in that support that data eventually exposed. Region 10 was only passively helping employees plan for their futures. The staff were not saving and investing for their own retirement the way they should. After seeing the data, the Board of Directors took quick action on recommendations from Region 10 leadership.
At its April 2022 meeting, the Board approved two plans to prompt change in employees’ retirement investment planning. The first action was to encourage staff members to save for their own retirement by establishing the Region 10 Retirement Savings Plan (RSP) and then they incentivized staff by creating the Region 10 Retirement Matching Plan (RMP). Creating the dual approach of encouraging and incentivizing proved critical in achieving a simple goal: increase the number of employees saving and investing for retirement.
What were the numbers that indicated the need for action? Some were national data and others were Region 10 specific. The report from the annual Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute includes the following information from survey respondents:
• 34% say they have less than $25,000 in savings or investments
• 19% indicated having less than $1,000 saved
• 23% say they are not confident they will be able to live comfortably in retirement
• Only 14% of workers without a retirement plan (not Social Security or a pension) are currently saving for retirement compared to 78% of workers that do have a retirement plan.
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) conducted a study of retirement accounts for individuals ages 50-65, which showed that women’s account
balances averaged approximately 50% of men’s account balances. Since 84% of all Region 10 employees are female, this data was particularly important.
The data specifically for Region 10 was not particularly positive either. Everyone at Region 10 is part of the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS), but for most employees a TRS pension will only replace 65-75% of their pre-retirement income. To make up for the 25-35% income reduction, employees need to supplement their TRS pension from another source. Region 10 employees, like most Texas educators, will not be eligible for a Social Security benefit or eligible for only a substantially reduced benefit. As a result, employees will need personal savings and investments to make up the difference.
Based on March 2022 payroll data, only a third (145 of 444) of Region 10 employees were participating in the voluntary 457b and 403b plans available to them. That number was even more discouraging considering 19 of the 145 were contributing less than 1% of their annual pay (see chart #1). This was the setting for the adoption of the Region 10 RSP and RMP.
Access to retirement investing through 403(b) and 457(b) plans have been available to Region 10 employees for many years. Having access and choosing to use that access is different, so the approach taken to design the savings and matching plans had to overcome the inertia of the situation by encouraging and incentivizing. The encouragement takes the form of automatic enrollment in the RSP with an opt-out clause. Starting July 1st every current employee was automatically enrolled in the 457(b) plan adopted by Region 10 at a rate of 1% of the employee’s annualized salary/ pay. New employees are automatically enrolled during orientation. Any employee may choose to opt-out of the plan, but few have taken that option.
The incentive in these plans is a matching plan sponsored by Region 10. Matching plans are an accepted part of the corporate environment in the United States but are very rare in the education and non-profit realms. Nearly everyone has heard of the 401(k) plan in for-profit industries; the Region 10 RMP, adopted in April, uses rules in a different sub-section of the same law, section 401(a).
The plan guarantees that every employee who saves at least 1% of his/her annual salary/pay in the RSP or a 403(b) will receive a 1% match into their RMP account.
There is also a provision in the plan that allows the Board to provide a matching amount greater than 1% based on the financial health of the Center.
The leadership of Region 10 felt that successful implementation of the RSP and RMP would only happen if enough time was taken to help employees understand what the plans can do for them. Every employee had to attend an information meeting during the month of June where the plans were explained. Chart #2 shows one graphic that was used to help employees how the annual Board approved raise, the RSP, and RMP would work together.
The Center also encouraged employees to meet with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). The CFP were provided at no cost to employees along with a larger library of online resources and videos specifically built for Texas educators. Employees are allowed to set their own appointments with the CFP during office hours and are urged to include their spouse or a trusted friend in the meetings.
The numbers don’t lie, and now that the numbers are being watched, the success of the new savings and matching plans is easy to see. Now with the RSP and RMP in place, the percentage of employees at Region 10 contributing to their own retirement has skyrocketed from that disturbing 33% to an astonishing 97%. Who opted out? The 12 employees who chose not to participate fall in to one of three categories: retired/rehired part-timers, about to retire in January, and a few with severe financial challenges in their lives right now. The Board also increased the matching amount by approving up to a 2% contribution to the RMP if the employee sets his/ her own contribution at 2% or greater during 2022-2023.
THE GOAL of educational funding is to have a direct and meaningful impact on students, teachers, and the overall local education agency (LEA). Federal education funds provide LEAs the opportunity to service students in supplemental ways that would otherwise not be available. Additionally, federal grants help further bridge the support for our most at-risk students, schools, and families. Federal funds have played a big role in recent years, especially since the pandemic.
The pandemic created new learning gaps among students, more pronounced Social Emotional Learning (SEL) needs among students, and higher demands from all public school educators. Federal funding has been able to lessen these post-pandemic barriers by providing LEAs with supplemental funding to address these new challenges. The mindset of continuous improvement, coupled with innovative federal funding plans, has led three Region 10 districts to experience high levels of student achievement and engage in innovative funding plans despite the new barriers that public schools face. Like many others across Texas, these school districts saw the challenges created by the pandemic as an opportunity to use the additional federal funds to have a greater impact on their students, teachers and communities.
MCKINNEY ISD receives Title I, Part A federal funding. These federal funds are used to improve the quality of education programs and ensure students from low-income families have opportunities to meet challenging state assessments. Finch Elementary, a McKinney ISD campus, is an example of a Title I campus that has continued to grow their students regardless of the pandemic barriers that public schools have faced in the past couple of years.
Finch Elementary demographics: • 73% of their students are economically disadvantaged, • 61% of their students are English Learners, and • 21% of their students participate in a special education program
Finch Elementary also received an “A” TEA Rating for the 2021-2022 academic year. This is an example of a campus that has had the mindset of continuous improvement and intentionally using Title I funds to further support and improve the quality of education for all students that are part of the Finch Elementary learning community.
Federal funds have played a big role in recent years, especially since the pandemic.
~ Dr. Abigail Hobart, Region 10 ESC
CELINA ISD received ESSER III federal grant funds. These federal funds were provided to LEAs to specifically address the additional needs that the pandemic brought to public schools. There are numerous ESSER grants that were available to LEAs. The ESSER III grant, however, is unique in the sense that it requires LEAs to set aside a specific percentage of these funds to address learning loss and social emotional learning (SEL). Celina ISD saw the opportunity that the ESSER III grant provided for their district. ESSER III funds provided an avenue to address the growing need and support students with intentional SEL support by funding supplemental counselors. In order to develop students who have a mindset of continuous learning and improvement, the social-emotional mindset of the student needs to be developed simultaneously. Celina ISD is a district that has seen the importance of SEL development and has intentionally used ESSER III funds to make a positive impact on students. Taking care of the whole child provides the context for students to thrive and learn.
PROSPER ISD received several of the ESSER grants. These federal grants provided an opportunity for LEAs to address unforeseen challenges brought about by the pandemic. In addition, the ESSER grants have provided a platform for innovative expenditure planning to take place. The needs during the pandemic were like no other. For the first time, LEAs were transitioning to a remote model of teaching and learning. With the ESSER grants, Prosper ISD was able to continue providing the opportunity of remote learning for an additional year for their students. The remote learning option for the students of Prosper ISD was possible through the 2021-2022 academic year. The district realized that a population of their students would benefit from the remote option for an additional year and decided to use these federal funds to address this need. Prosper ISD’s mindset of continuous improvement, coupled with intentional and innovative funding plans, created an opportunity to ensure that different contexts of learning were available for their students as they were transitioning to a post-pandemic learning environment. Prosper ISD embraced the challenge and reinvented the learning for their students to continue thriving in the mist of the pandemic.
