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New England League of Middle Schools 460 Boston Street, Suite 4 Topsfield, MA 01983 Tel: (978) 887-6263 Fax: (978) 887-6504 Email: nelms@nelms.org |
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September 9, 2007 |
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NELMS Annual Legacy Continues into October — 20% of Goal Raised 
As you know, the priorities and needs of middle level educators have changed dramatically over the last five to ten years. In these times, the need for effective advocacy has never been greater. Policy level decision-makers and others need to be informed about current research as well as effective practices. Advocacy is one way to educate and inform those that make these key decisions and the need never goes away! NELMS has always advocated for the middle level, but now, more than ever, we need to do it differently and more effectively and frequently. Advocacy does not generate the necessary revenue to sustain this labor-intensive work; therefore, we need your financial support NOW to create a lasting legacy for the middle level advocacy! NELMS needs each and every middle level educator and friends of middle level educators to become involved and support the NELMS organization and our advocacy work. The key to our success is wide participation and the involvement of every NELMS member by contributing NOW! (NELMS is a 501c3 charity organization registered with the State of Massachusetts and the IRS.) To date we have raised just over $10,000 or 20% of our $50,000 target. Many schools are joining together and making a donation as an entire staff. Some are designing special days and activities to help raise money for the drive. One idea is, “Jeans for Teens Day”, in your school! Teachers and/or students are asked to contribute $.50 or $1.00 to the NELMS Legacy Fund for the privilege of wearing jeans to school on a specific day. Some schools expect this to be a monthly activity. What are your ideas? Do you have a simple plan top help raise the funds that will help many more understand the unique learning characteristics of the 10 to 14 year old! Can you donate:
Want more information? Click here! Want to learn about what we intend to do with your donated money? Click here! Want to see our strategic plan? Click here! Want to learn more about and see who is on our Development Committee? Click here! Want to give us a lead to prospective large donors? Click here! We need your help in this first ever appeal to create a lasting legacy that will support and nurture middle level education now and into the future. Please take action TODAY! On-line discussion groups are days away! In a time where it is difficult for educators to meet face to face4, NELMS is launching meeting places where New England educators can chat and learn from each other. We will be announcing the first special groups shortly that include guidance, school nurses, and others. As we grow this we are sure that there will be bugs to work out so your patient is appreciated. We have learned for others that there needs to be a critical mass for this to be successful, but that it also needs to be relevant for those that want to participate. We think that New England might just be the “right size” for this type of conversation; not too big, not too small! We will start with content and special school based areas and hopefully soon progress to topic groups. The only requirement is that participants be a member of NELMS. Four middle level educators have offered to help “monitor” a group. They are Karen Olmstead - e-portfolios, technology integration, and web 2.0 technologies; Sandra Stuart - math; Katie Wiater - school nurses; Angela Fiandaca - guidance counseling, advisory programs, student issues, Student Assistant Teams, and more. Look for emails within the next two weeks that will announce these new services. Want to moderate the conversations? Please let us know so that we can get “your group” up and running as soon as possible. NELMS Board Elections: You know you want to get involved as a member of the NELMS Board! According to the NELMS Board of Directors four-year election cycle, there is currently a call for nominations for representatives in Connecticut Region 2 (Eastern CT), Massachusetts Region 4 (Western MA), Rhode Island 1 (all of RI). Each of these areas on the “NELMS map” will have an election to determine who will represent their region for the next four years, beginning in May 2008. Teacher Representative to be elected in Connecticut by members in all three CT Regions. Members interested in representing their region or being the teacher representative on the NELMS Board of Directors can go to the NELMS web site at www.nelms.org to learn the criteria and print a nomination form to complete and return. Nominations are due by Friday, October 12, 2007. NELMS members in the appropriate regions will have the opportunity in December to cast ballots for these vacancies on the Board of Directors. Please exercise your right to vote and look for your ballot in the mail in early December. Comprehensive members will receive two ballots (one to be completed by the principal and one by the NELMS membership contact person). Other memberships will receive one ballot. Elections are overseen by the Nominations and Elections Committee of the Board of Directors. Election results will be confirmed at the January 2008 Board meeting and announced at the NELMS Annual Conference in March 2008. Don’t put it off; click into a great group at nelms.org and get that nomination process started now! The traditional NELMS Unified Arts conference typically held in November, will not take place this year. We have experienced low attendance numbers and great difficulty attracting presenters. We are taking this opportunity to reevaluate the professional development needs of middle level Unified Arts educators and specifically the conference. This change in no way lessen our commitment to a very special and important component of middle level education. If you have any suggestions about effective cost conscious ways to accomplish this, please let us know via email at nelms.org or by calling 978-887-6263. One activity we are considering is a job specific list-serv or blog. What do you think of this idea? Are you willing to monitor one? 25 people participated in the NELMS Leadership academy lead by Spotlight School Principal Sue Dumas. The first three days we spent in and around the newly remodeled Sturbridge Host Resort on key leadership topics. A panel of outstanding principals participated in an afternoon of honest and inspirational discussions. Over the course of the year, five more days are planned for the Academy that includes visits to spotlight schools and discussions regarding relevant projects. This continues to be a great event so plan now to budget money for next years Leadership Academy. NELMS 2007 Recognition Awards – Deadlines Near! Most deadlines are in early October. Do NOT wait!! Recognize someone today! Technology Award Master in the Middle Award new Scholar Leader Awards Exemplary Integrated Unit: Beane-Brodhagen Award Promising Practitioner Award Parent & Community Group Award SUPERintendent Award A+dministrator's Award Spotlight School Award OCTOBER IS Month of the Young Adolescent! It is an annual international collaborative effort of education, health, and youth-oriented organizations. Initiated by National Middle School Association (NMSA) and supported by NELMS and your New England State middle level organization, Month of the Young Adolescent brings together a wide range of national and state organizations to focus on the needs of this important age range, ages 10 to 15. The key messages for the celebration are
Click her to go to NMSA web Site and more information on Month of the Young Adolescent http://www.nmsa.org/moya/ A new school year is beginning. Click here to select a printable Interdisciplinary Planning Guide and good luck with the new school year!
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