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Media Coverage - Archives 

For more recent IU 13 media coverage (within the past year), please visit the Media Coverage page.

Lancaster-Lebanon IU is offering you a job and good health
4/28/11 - WHP-CBS 21

For the second year in a row, the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, or IU 13 for short, has been recognized as one of the healthiest places to work in Lancaster County. Read more and view video ... 

Teaching teens how to handle finances
4/13/11 - WHP-CBS 21

Any classroom of students is welcome to participate and Wednesday it was students from Lancaster's IU 13 program that learned Finance 101. Read more and view video ... 

Students Talk about Bullying in Relationships
3/11/2011 - WGAL- 8

Special coverage from the 2011 Youth Peace Council Day of Peace. View video ...

Midstate teens to learn how to curb bullying
3/4/2011 - WITF.org

By MELANIE HERSCHORN

More than 100 midstate students will learn about depression and acquire skills to combat bullying at an event today in Lancaster. The annual Day of Peace, hosted by Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, will teach teens that bullying does not have to be tolerated. Anita Heller, a psychologist and event coordinator, says the goal is to change school culture to that of tolerance. "Not only ethnically, but different styles of living, different interests," she says. "It's to transcend different groups. It's the whole idea of we're in this together and let's support one another and respect each other." Heller says today's event includes a presentation by Aevidum, a grassroots organization, which made up of students from Cocalico High School in Denver, Lancaster County. She says the group is dedicated to teaching students about depression and suicide prevention. Heller notes teens will also watch a theatrical performance called "Box out Bullying," aimed at empowering bystanders to get involved in stopping bullying.

Fighting back against bullying - Youth Peace Council
3/4/2011 - WPMT-Fox 43

View video.

Rep. Ryan Aument visits IU 13 School to Work program
2/2011 - www.repaument.com

Learn more and view photos at Rep. Aument's website.

IU 13 eyes cyber school program
Students interested in taking classes their schools don’t offer could take them online
2/10/2011 - Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer

As they struggle to meet students' needs, cash-strapped school districts find themselves in a Catch-22 situation.

On the one hand, they want to offer more courses and programs to better compete with increasingly popular cybercharter schools, which are costing them millions of dollars in tuition each year.

On the other, the economic downturn is making it difficult to pay for new programs and personnel.

Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 thinks it has a solution.

The IU is developing a virtual school consortium that would allow public school students to take online courses while remaining in their "home" school districts.

Students interested in taking classes their schools don't offer, such as Chinese, Latin or advanced-placement statistics, could take them online from their home or at school.

And students who want a full-time cyberschool experience could take all their courses through the IU and never set foot in their home school while still earning a diploma from that school.

The IU would not teach the courses — by law, it's barred from doing that — but it would serve as the link between course providers and school district students.

The program, now in the planning stages, is expected to begin in the fall.

"It's about giving their students more options," Pam McCartney, IU 13's instructional services director, said of the proposal.

"That's part of our role — to help (districts) expand their services without increasing their own staff when they don't have the resources to do it."

The educational services agency, which serves 22 districts in Lancaster and Lebanon counties, is already negotiating with several companies to provide the courses, McCartney said.

Districts would pay an annual administrative fee to the IU, based on their enrollment, plus a fee for each course in which a student enrolled.

Details on course fees were not available, but the cost would be much less, overall, than what districts now pay for students who enroll in cybercharter schools, IU officials said.

Hempfield, for instance, pays $9,381 per year for each regular-education student and nearly twice that amount for each special-education student enrolling in a cyberschool.

The district spent more than $710,000 last year on cybercharter school tuition. Throughout Lancaster County, districts paid $9.7 million in charter school tuition last year, according to the state.

The IU program could help districts "avoid the sharp rise of future cyber expenses," said Mike Leichliter, superintendent of Penn Manor School District.

Cyberschool enrollment in Penn Manor has grown from six students in 2002-2003 to 78 students this year, he said. Over that period, tuition costs have mushroomed, from $23,111 to $552,000.

Providing more options for students who prefer online learning may result in fewer students switching to cyberschools, officials said.

It also could help students who are struggling by allowing them to make up for failed courses online, at their own pace. Students eager to tackle more challenging courses also would have more options.

The IU would be responsible for administering the program and assuring the courses meet schools' academic requirements. It would work directly with students and their families to provide course materials and Internet access, if needed.

The IU hopes to offer more than 100 courses for students in middle and high school.

School districts that already provide their own virtual courses — including Solanco, Ephrata, Conestoga Valley and Manheim Township — might not be interested in participating.

But the IU already has had interest from about a dozen districts, said Brian Barnhard, the agency's assistant executive director.

IU 13 expects to finalize the details of the proposal in the coming months. 

IU 13 to host college fair
2/7/2011 - LDNews (the website of Lebanon Daily News)

Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13 is planning a Transition to Post-Secondary Education Fair next month for students with disabilities.

The fair will be 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 10 at the IU-13 Conference and Training Center, 1020 New Holland Ave., in Lancaster. It is free and open to the public.

Registration deadline is Feb. 24.

Participants attending the fair will discover skills needed to pursue a post-secondary education and examine the changes in demands from high school to post-secondary studies.

This event will begin with a general session, followed by grade-specific breakout sessions for 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade students.

Speakers for the breakout sessions will include college disability coordinators, guidance counselors and members of the Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network, a student leadership and advocate group composed of older youth with disabilities.

A networking session for parents and educators will be available during the morning breakout sessions.

In the afternoon, attendees will have an opportunity to attend a traditional college fair and meet with representatives from colleges, universities and trade and technical schools.

Also available noon to 12:30 p.m. will be a series of "Lunch and Learn" sessions with a focus on assistive technology for college-bound students.

Disability service coordinators will assist participants in choosing which post-secondary school may be the correct choice for them.

For more information, contact Linda Swisher at 606-1878 or via e-mail at linda_swisher@iu13.org.

Flooding again damages IU building
School's out until January for those who attend classes in the former Beth Steel headquarters
12/20/2010 - LDNews (the website of Lebanon Daily News)

By JOHN LATIMER, Staff Writer

Freezing temperatures caused a pipe to burst on the top floor of the Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13 building on Sunday, causing damage and forcing the agency to cancel classes.

The damage was still being assessed Monday, and a dollar amount had not been calculated, said IU 13 spokeswoman Shannon Guthrie. Parts of the building at 1 Cumberland St. were still open for office workers, but all of the classes for the agency's alternative education, pre-school and adult literacy programs have been canceled for the rest of this week and next week, when it was already scheduled to be closed for the holidays, she said.

Parents and others can call 450-1500 to speak with social workers if they have questions and concerns about programs at the building.

It is the second time in just under three years that burst pipes have damaged the building which once housed the offices of Bethlehem Steel. In January 2008, a burst pipe that gushed for hours in the attic before it was discovered caused a partial ceiling collapse and nearly $400,000 in water damage that took three months to repair.

The damage caused by Sunday's flooding was much less significant, because alarms sounding at 6:39 a.m. alerted crews from the Lebanon Bureau of Fire, said Guthrie.

"The damage is much different, because the alarm system went off and notified the firefighters, and they were here in minutes. They took care of the water and utilities, and had the situation under control very quickly," she said.

Guthrie said the preliminary inspection showed damage to some tile floors, carpeting, and supplies. The damage should be repaired in time for classes to resume in January.

"That is what we are hearing," she said. "Although it is still early in the assessment, the initial reports make us fairly confident that students will be able to return on Jan. 3."

The three-story, brick-and-stone building was constructed in 1907 as the main office of the American Iron and Steel Manufacturing Co. and later became the local headquarters for Bethlehem Steel. After the company closed its Lebanon plant, the building was purchased by Fourth Lincoln Corp., which leased it to IU 13 in 1989. In 2001, IU 13 purchased the building with a consortium of Lebanon and Lancaster public schools and renovated it for $3 million.

Water damage closes Lebanon school for the week
12/20/10 - WHTM-abc27

View video.

IU 13 receives grant for citizenship program
10/22/10 - LDNews (the website of Lebanon Daily News)

By BRAD RHEN, Staff Writer

Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 recently received a federal grant so it can help more immigrants become U.S. citizens.

The $100,000 grant is part of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Fiscal Year 2010 Citizenship and Integration Grant Program.

"This is the biggest and best opportunity we've had to provide citizenship services in Lancaster and Lebanon," said Tim Shenk, adult education director for IU 13. "We've had a variety of grants along the way that have allowed us to have classes here and there, but this is really intensive, and not only are we providing classes, but we're also providing free citizenship and naturalization services.

"It's a fantastic opportunity to partner with other community agencies on this grant," Shenk continued. "It's a really hard test because students need to have a command of English and an understanding of U.S. history and laws, so it's important for students to have the support they need in order to become U.S. citizens."

Shenk said the program is open only to legal immigrants, and paperwork will be checked before they are admitted into the program.

The project, as proposed by IU 13, will use IU 13's English as a Second Language program and citizenship instruction to prepare individuals for the immigration and naturalization test.

Volunteers from the Literacy Council of Lancaster-Lebanon will conduct mock interviews with the students to get students for the oral exam. IU 13 will subcontract with Church World Service in Lancaster to provide naturalization application assistance.

"The way it works is we are running the classes and teaching the students the English they need to take the test," Shenk said. "Once they are prepared for the actual exam, we will refer them to Church World Service, and then Church World Service will assist them with the citizenship and naturalization process."

Planning started Oct. 1, and IU 13 is currently looking for classroom space and teachers and developing the curriculum, Shenk said.

The first class will be held in Lancaster starting Nov. 8, and the first class in Lebanon will begin Jan. 3.

The program is expected to assist about 120 people from Russia, Ukraine, Iraq, Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Vietnam, and some other Central and South American countries.

"Serving adult learners and helping them better themselves is our driving mission," Shenk said. "This opportunity will enrich the lives of the students involved, as well as strengthen our existing adult education program for future students."

Anyone interested in the class should call 606-1364 or e-mail jovianna_castro@iu13.org. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Grant to help fund Intermediate Unit 13 citizenship program
10/11/10 - Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer

Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 has landed a federal grant to help more immigrants become U.S. citizens.

The $100,000 grant will fund an unusual partnership involving IU 13, Church World Service, Franklin & Marshall College and the Literacy Council of Lancaster-Lebanon.

The IU will offer free citizenship preparation classes to lawful permanent residents, and Church World Service will help them apply for naturalization.

The literacy council will assist the effort by conducting mock interviews with the students, who must complete oral and written exams to pass the naturalization test.

Students enrolled in citizenship classes at F&M also will assist students in the classroom.

The program is expected to serve about 120 people from Russia, Ukraine, Iraq, Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Vietnam and other Central and South American countries.

Without the grant, those people likely would go unserved, said Tim Shenk, IU 13 adult education director.

The IU has been struggling to maintain its adult education services in the face of steep budget cuts. State and federal support for the programs has dropped by 17 percent, or $684,000, since 2006-2007.

The grant money comes from an unlikely source the IU had never tapped before: the federal Department of Homeland Security.

"Apparently, they want to provide more opportunities for folks to become citizens," Shenk said.

The citizenship classes will include lessons on U.S. history and civics taught in English by IU 13 instructors trained in English as a Second Language.

The free daytime and evening classes will begin Nov. 1 at various locations in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

Church World Service will assign caseworkers to help participants navigate the complex process of applying for naturalization and taking the test, which is administered in Philadelphia.

The assistance will be free, but applicants will have to pay the naturalization application fee of $675.

To be eligible for the program, participants must have a green card.

The citizenship program is the second partnership involving IU 13 and Church World Service.

Last fall, the agencies used a $100,000 federal grant to run a vocational ESL program for Cuban and Haitian refugees that focused on the vocabulary skills used in several fields, including child care, welding, truck driving and nursing.

That program also included a citizenship component.

More information on the new citizenship preparation program is available by calling 606-1364 or sending an e-mail to jovianna_castro@iu13.org.

Teachers face tough talks
Both sides here expect difficult contract negotiations
9/13/10 - Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer

Teachers and school district officials are bracing for what could be a bruising year of negotiations over new contracts for about 3,000 teachers.

Both sides say the weak economy and increasing financial pressures on schools will likely make contract talks more challenging in 2010-11 than in years past.

"It will be very difficult," said Paul Gottlieb, a negotiator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. "The economic situation puts pressure on everybody on both sides."

Gottlieb is the PSEA representative for Octorara School District, one of four districts — along with Warwick, Penn Manor and School District of Lancaster  — that soon will begin negotiations to replace or extend teacher contracts that expire at the end of the school year.

Teachers with Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 and Lancaster County Career & Technology Center also are working under contracts that expire June 30, 2011.

Two other school districts — Manheim Central and Solanco — have been negotiating since last school year to replace or extend contracts that expired over the summer.

All of the teachers involved in talks are working under old contracts that, on average, boosted their salaries by 3.6 percent to 4.4 percent a year.

Those raises were negotiated long before the financial collapse of 2008. The economy has rebounded, but growth has been slow, unemployment remains high and per-capita incomes actually shrank last year in Lancaster County.

Despite the weak economic outlook, teachers in nine districts that negotiated new or extended contracts last year won fairly generous raises, averaging about 3.7 percent a year.

Those hikes, however, were partially offset by major concessions, mainly on health care costs, in the new multi-year agreements.

In negotiations this year, school districts are likely to ask for more concessions and offer lower raises — if any at all.

District officials say their ability to generate revenue in 2011-12 will be severely restricted by the state, which is expected to limit tax hikes for most districts under Act 1 to 1.4 percent — less than half of this year's 2.9 percent base limit.

They also cite rising costs in 2011-12 from the federal health care overhaul, increasing energy costs and pending spikes in pension costs, which are set to quadruple by 2012-13.

In addition, federal stimulus funds that pumped millions into school budgets the past two years are running out, and the state is likely to rein in education spending in 2010-11 as it grapples with a multibillion-dollar deficit under a new governor.

SDL school board member Michael Rowen said teachers and unions need to understand that school districts are operating in a changed economic environment.

"The money's not there to sustain the direction we were in," he said. "To simply go on assuming you're going to get increases may not be a reasonable expectation."

SDL estimates it will pay an additional $2 million in pension payments in 2010-11 and nearly $8 million more in 2012-13.

With next year's stricter property tax constraints, the district will be able to generate about $1 million in additional revenue, compared with $2.3 million in 2010-11, officials said.

Teacher salary increases alone this year are costing SDL $2.1 million.

Dave Calendar, president of Lancaster Education Association, said teachers are aware of the economic situation and will work toward reaching a settlement "that's fair to teachers, fair to the district and fair to taxpayers."

He declined to discuss possible contract proposals.

Gottlieb said teachers "are not unrealistic people."

"Of course (the economy) influences what we come to the table with," he said. "School boards will have to decide where to prioritize and where to put their money."

Here is a synopsis of the status of current and upcoming contract talks. Districts that have not started negotiations must, under state law, begin talks by Jan. 1.

• Lancaster County CTC (83 teachers) —  Teachers don't want to renegotiate their contract but want it to "roll over," union president Samuel Betancourt said.

Under that provision, which is unique to the CTC, all terms of the agreement would remain unchanged except salaries, which would be adjusted each year based on the average of pay hikes in the 16 districts that send students to the CTC.

The union plans to meet Sept. 16 with CTC executive director Dave Warren to discuss the rollover plan, which would require the approval of both sides.

• IU 13 (500 teachers) — The IU has met with teachers to discuss the possibility of extending the current contract by two years, IU 13 spokeswoman Shannan Guthrie said.

If an agreement on an extension can't be reached, negotiations on a new contract would begin in November, she said.

• Manheim Central (239 teachers) — Talks are scheduled to resume the week of Sept. 20.

• Solanco (259 teachers) — Negotiations will continue in  mid-September.

• School District of Lancaster (1,000 teachers), Penn Manor (366 teachers), Warwick (325 teachers) and Octorara (210 teachers) — Talks have yet to begin.

Intermediate units provide menus of options
August 2010 - PSBA Bulletin
by Sarah McCluan

Download/View article

Program Stresses Rigor, Relevance in Science
8/26/10 - The Diplomat, Franklin & Marshall College

For most members of the Franklin & Marshall community, the summer months offer a break from the classroom and the things that go along with it: assigned reading, papers, exams and grading. But for Sarah Dawson and Suzanna Richter, school was in session—and “intensity” was the name of the game.

Dawson, director of the Wohlsen Center for the Sustainable Environment, and Richter, adjunct assistant professor of geosciences and scholar-in-residence at the Wohlsen Center, led 80 hours of content-deepening professional development for 30 high school and middle school teachers as part of “Project ARRMS: Achieving Rigor and Relevance in Math and Science.” F&M served as the project’s science institute, delivering content through the lens of environmental science while highlighting key biology and chemistry concepts and competencies.

The College’s role in the project resulted from its partnership with Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, which received a $587,925 grant in May from the Math and Science Partnership, a nationally funded grant program. The project included a host of organizations, including public school districts throughout Lancaster and Lebanon Counties; five private schools; three colleges, including F&M; and several local businesses.

Carol de Wet, associate dean of the faculty and professor of geosciences, and Dick Fluck, associate dean of the faculty and the Dr. E. Paul and Frances H. Reiff Professor of Biology, played key roles in helping IU 13 to craft the proposal that led to the grant.

During the weeks of July 26 and Aug. 9, Dawson and Richter led nearly double the amount of class time they would teach for a single course in a semester, without labs.

“A major emphasis was to make science more relevant to students,” Richter says. “If you do that, they’re more willing to listen. We pulled out interesting case studies and generated a wealth of discussion. A couple of times a day, you’d hear the teachers say, 'I never knew that.’”

Dawson and Richter say there were no “typical” days during the two weeks of classes; each class was a different adventure in science. One day, the teachers traveled to Schuylkill County to visit the Ashland coal tunnel and Centralia, learning about acid mine drainage and the role of geology in uncontrolled coal fires. They also discussed the exposure risks associated with working in coal mines.

The group also spent a day at Millport Conservancy, where they explored how biological and chemical indicators reflect changes in the health of streams. Millport offered an opportunity to relate forest and soil carbon storage to the carbon footprint of humans.

“We decided from the get-go to focus on sustainability issues,” Dawson says. “I think we should start teaching children about these issues from the very beginning. By the time most students are in college, they've already decided many of the things that are important to them. The students who take courses dealing with conservation and sustainability are already largely on board with those principles. It's a little like preaching to the choir.”

The goal, Dawson and Richter say, was to give teachers the tools to teach students about environmental science in a different way. If the teachers cannot afford to take their students to places such as Centralia and Millport, they now have the ability to improvise by doing similar lessons near their schools and even in their classrooms.

“For us, it was rewarding for the teachers to see, to do, and then be motivated to go on to teach their students,” Richter says. “They had a hands-on opportunity to see and discuss activities for their specific field.”

Now that the course is over, Dawson and Richter have a chance to look back on their whirlwind summer of preparation and teaching.

“The whole idea was community outreach,” Dawson says. “By working with local school teachers, we’ve tried to emphasize a relationship between F&M and the community.”

Job-Saving Bill Clears One Senate Hurdle
8/3/10 - WGAL-8
View the report here

A call to ARRMS
7/20/10 - Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

Project ARRMS photo

 

 

Teachers measure parts with electronic micrometers in the "Pressroom Area" of Electron Energy Corp. as part of Project ARRMS - Achieving Rigor and Relevance in Math and Science - a program to make math and science instruction more relevant to students.
(Richard Hertzler / Staff)

 

By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer

Unlike many other companies struggling through the recession, Electron Energy Corp. has been expanding its work force lately.

The East Hempfield Township magnet manufacturer has added about 25 workers in the past year, Kristina Connell, director of human resources, said.

One might think the company would have a glut of highly qualified workers from which to choose in these tough economic times, but filling the openings has been a challenge, Connell said.

"Many applicants are lacking basic math skills -- adding, subtracting and, especially, working with decimals and fractions," she said.

Some candidates also don't understand how to "do things in a certain order to get a specific result, an understanding that everything is a process and how to follow that process," she said.

On Friday, Electron took steps to improve the caliber of the local labor pool by welcoming 30 middle and high school teachers into its tidy Landisville plant, which produces rare earth magnets used in mine sweepers, cruise missiles and the aerospace industry.

The teachers spent the day at the plant as part of Project ARRMS -- Achieving Rigor and Relevance in Math and Science -- a partnership involving Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, 19 public school districts, five private schools, three colleges and local businesses.

The program, which is designed to make math and science instruction more rigorous and relevant to students, was established this summer by IU 13 with a $578,000 federal grant.

Participants are getting advanced instruction in math and science at Franklin & Marshall, Elizabethtown and Lebanon Valley colleges, then seeing how that knowledge is put into practice in real-life settings, such as Electron and other businesses.

After studying hypothesis testing, standard deviations, and statistics and probability earlier in the week, the teachers watched Electron workers use those skills in the design, manufacture and testing of magnets made to exacting standards.

They watched as quality-control leader Bonnie Johnson used a huge computer-controlled microscope to check hundreds of dimensions on a batch of thumb-sized magnets.

The teachers also learned about tolerances, measurement errors and hypothesis testing as they toured other areas of the plant and chatted with engineers, managers and laborers about their jobs.

The tour was inspiring, said Scott Miller, a Cocalico High School statistics, algebra and geometry teacher.

"A lot of times in the classroom you can give kids a book problem or even try to give them a real-world problem, but to actually be here and see people using this stuff that you're teaching in your classroom, that's a whole different twist," he said.

"It's going to give me just one more example to share that, hey, this stuff's important, and people do use it in the real world."

The training at LVC also opened Miller's eyes to a new way of teaching statistics using Pascal's triangle, he said.

"With kids, if they can't learn one way, you need to try another way, and this just gives me more tools to work with, a different way to present concepts," he said.

In addition to touring Electron Energy, the educators will learn how math and science are used in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries and how both subjects were integral to Pennsylvania's rich manufacturing history.

During the science portion of professional development, sponsored by F&M, the teachers will visit the Chesapeake Bay to study the relationship between water chemistry and quality and the diversity of life in freshwater ecosystems.

Other topics will include acid mine drainage and the biological consequences of coal mines, using the underground mine fires in Centralia as a case study in geology.

In all, teachers will get 80 hours of professional development this summer, followed by 24 hours of mentoring during the 2010-11 school year by coaches who will help them apply their new knowledge in the classroom.

The goal is to make math and science courses more challenging yet more accessible to students of all academic abilities.

In future years, the students' math and science skills will be assessed to determine if the curriculum tweaks have improved their knowledge base.

Depending on the availability of funding, the program will be expanded over the next two years to include more teachers at more schools.  

Grant opens door for IU, districts to develop literacy curriculum
7/7/10 - Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer

For years, educators have been stressing the need to integrate reading and writing skills into science and social studies classes to better prepare students for life after high school.

Now, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 and two area school districts will be putting that concept into practice — and showing other schools how to do it.

The IU, in partnership with Elizabethtown and Lebanon school districts, has landed a $505,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a Literacy Design Collaborative.

The three entities will design curricula that embed literacy skills into content instruction, increasing the academic rigor of courses.

The collaborative then will share curriculum "templates," including specific teaching units for each subject, with other schools within the IU, which includes 22 districts in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

In all, 21 teachers and five Intermediate Unit staff members will participate in the initial stages of the program.

In the fall, Elizabethtown will begin implementing four new social studies units in seventh grade and four science units in the eighth grade.

Lebanon School District will begin teaching two science and two social studies units in grades six through nine.

The curricula will contain the same content material as traditional social studies and science courses, but with more emphasis on reading and writing.

For instance, students studying a unit on civil rights would learn how to find and verify original sources and write persuasive arguments, critiques, editorials and speeches on topics related to the civil rights movement.

"Teachers will incorporate reading, writing, thinking and problem-solving centered around a task where students will produce some kind of writing or communication sharing," said Amy Slamp, superintendent of Elizabethtown Area School District.

Instead of relying on English classes to teach students analytical reading and writing skills, social studies and science teachers would embed those lessons in the curricula.

"There's an expectation that kids already know those skills, but if they don't, who's going to teach them?" Slamp said.

The program targets the middle to early high school grades because that's when students' literacy skills tend to decline, said Pam McCartney, IU 13 director of instructional services.

What the program seeks to do is better prepare all students — regardless of academic ability — for the demands of college or the working world.

"We know that those students who can speak and write well can compete in the global marketplace," McCartney said.

The grant will pay mainly for professional development for participating teachers and administrators and for IU 13 to oversee and evaluate the program.

Slamp said the goal of the collaborative is to create "plug-and-play" curriculum templates that schools can implement without the need to change course content, textbooks or teaching materials.

She's hopeful the collaborative will receive additional funding from Gates to expand its scope in future years.

Local Woman Wins State Award for Assessment Work
6/26/2010 - Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era 

A pioneer in the use of a new form of student assessments has won a statewide award.

Kristen Lewald, who helped develop the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System, recently received the Dr. Gary L. Miller Memorial Award from the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units.

Lewald, of Lancaster, is statewide PVAAS project director for Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, which serves schools in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

Lewald worked with two governors, four secretaries of education and several statewide education agencies to develop PVAAS, which compares a student's PSSA mathematics and reading test results with how that student should have performed had he or she had an average educational experience.

PVAAS also provides projections about the future performance of students on PSSAs.

Districts use the data to assess student growth in a given year and to help their schools make Adequate Yearly Progress, the state standard for compliance with No Child Left Behind.

PVAAS began in 2002 as a pilot program with 19 school districts. Today, Lewald heads a team that works with 476 districts to interpret and analyze PVAAS data.

The Miller Award is given each year to an IU employee who demonstrates leadership and character by making a significant contribution in delivering Intermediate Unit programs and services.

Lewald has worked for IU 13 since 1999.

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Project SEARCH photo

 

 

Leesha McBayer, foreground, draws blood from a patient at Lancaster General Health's downtown outpatient pavilion with her supervisor Nicole Brantner.
(Blaine T. Shahan/Sunday News)

 

On the job SEARCH
School-to-work initiative is a cooperative venture that trains students with learning disabilities in health care fields.

3/28/2010 - Lancaster Sunday News

By PAULA WOLF, Staff Writer

Late last summer, when she enrolled in Project SEARCH, Leesha McBrayer had no idea what kind of job she'd end up with in the medical field.

But today the 18-year-old works part time in Lancaster General Health's downtown outpatient pavilion, drawing blood in the lab testing area and performing EKGs.

"I love my job," said McBrayer, who is in training and hopes to obtain full-time hours. "It's amazing."

McBrayer is one of the first two graduates of the local Project SEARCH program, which trains students with learning disabilities and other handicaps for jobs in health care. The school-to-work initiative is a partnership among LGH, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 and the York Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

While OVR provides funding, IU-13 handles the educational aspect of the program, and Lancaster General supplies classroom space and on-the-job supervision.

Project SEARCH of Lancaster County is closely modeled after a program started at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in the mid-1990s by registered nurse Erin Riehle. Since then, it's been replicated in many states and even worldwide.

Locally, the 2009-10 class has 11 students, representing Conestoga Valley, Cocalico, Donegal, Ephrata, Hempfield, Lampeter-Strasburg, Lancaster, Manheim Township and Solanco school districts.

Gordon Allen, IU-13's school-to-work supervisor, said the pilot year has been so successful, Project SEARCH is expanding to accept 13 students for 2010-11.

Participants must apply for the program and be accepted, he said. The York Office of Vocational Rehabilitation came up with grant money to start Project SEARCH, and funds also come from the school districts which have students enrolled, Allen said.

The program follows the school year calendar. He said the students start by spending five to six weeks in the classroom, learning Lancaster General Health's rules and regulations and life skills such as budgeting and banking.

They also undergo employment orientation.

Then, over an eight-week period, the students serve up to three internships, or rotations, in different areas. Lancaster General Health has 14 departments mentoring Project SEARCH participants.

Before they're hired, they must have their high school diplomas, Allen said. In some cases, the students will face competition for available jobs, he said.

So their employment "is not a given," Allen said.

Students may get follow-up services from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and from the Lancaster County Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Early Intervention Program if they're eligible.

If they can't secure work through LGH, efforts will be made to place them with another employer — such as a retirement community — where their skills are well-suited, Allen said.

Leesha McBrayer was chosen over 11 other applicants for her job at Lancaster General. She did quite well in her phlebotomy (blood-drawing) class before being hired.

Originally from Cocalico School District, McBrayer said she now lives with her grandparents in Lancaster so she can be closer to her job. She also looks forward to getting her driver's license soon.

Brittany Martin, from Conestoga Valley School District, is the second Project SEARCH alumnus. She works full time in the renal dialysis department at the suburban outpatient pavilion (formerly the health campus).

Martin said she sets up and cleans the machines, checks supplies and handles other duties.

Her supervisor, Scot Shrom, said she's "picked up things really quickly" and is assuming more and more responsibility.

James Spires, from Hempfield School District, is still doing his rotations. When it's time to apply for a job, Spires said he wants to work in sterile processing at LGH.

That involves sterilizing surgical instruments, and occasionally working in the decontamination room. "I'd love to do that," Spires said.

Sonya Wallace, LGH's director of diversity and inclusion, said she became quite familiar with Project SEARCH when she was employed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

"It's a real nice fit" for Lancaster General, she said.

People often assume diversity refers to race, ethnicity or gender, Wallace said, but individuals with disabilities fall into that category, too.

Project SEARCH, she said, "is a perfect example of diversity being alive and well."
 
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