Under the Umbrella, Volume 2, Issue 10

Under the
Umbrella
Volume 2, Issue 10
May 2020

CONTENTS Volume 2, Issue 10
2 What is Normal?, G.A. Buie
4-5 USA-Kansas Conference, Jerry Henn
6-8 Perspective is a Beast, Joe Sample
10-11 Learning Without Limits, Joel Wells
12-13 There’s No Place Like Home, Denise
Jennings
14-16 Distance Learning: Supporting Students’
Social Emotional Needs, Caitlin MacLeod-
Bluver
18-21 How to Build a Summer Reading Program
That Engages Students and Families,
Renaissance
22-23 Navigating the “New Normal”, Dr. Andrew
Gaddis
24 A New Principal’s Organization Serving All
Building Leaders!, Duane Dorshorst
26-27 Remember to Breathe, Adrian Howie
28-31 Wow! Are We Exploring a New Universe
of Get Together? Leadership and
Technology Being Stress Tested, Dr. John
Vandewalle
@USAKansas
Facebook.com/USAKansas
Ryan Jilka—President, KAMSA
Christie Meyer—President-Elect, KASCD
Sean Cochran—Past President, KASEA
Eric Sacco—Director, KAESP
Mike Berblinger—Director, KSSA
Cory Gibson—Director, KSSA
Eric Hansen—Director, KASBO
Justin Henry—Director, KSSA
Jake Potter—Director, KanSPRA
Volora Hanzlicek—Director, KASCD
Mike Argabright—Director, KSSA
P.J. Reilly—Director, KLCTE
Donna Schmidt—Director, KASSP
Glen Suppes—Director, KSSA
Patrick Schroeder—Director, KAESP
Deanna Scherer—Director, KASSP
Rena Duewel—Director, KASSP
Andy Koenigs—Director, KASPA
Amy Haussler—Director, KASEA
G.A. Buie—Executive Director
Jerry Henn—Assistant Executive Director

G.A. Buie, Executive Director, USA-Kansas
In 1920, President Warren Harding had a campaign
slogan, “America's present need is not heroics but
healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution
but restoration.” This was less than a year after the
end of WW1 and The Spanish flu pandemic. I
believe 100 years later the slogan might be just as
relevant, although we still have months ahead of us
before we can say we’ve reached the end of this
pandemic, but many are patiently waiting for
normalcy right now.
Over the last two months, we’ve watched the
heroes appear, those who have braved the virus,
held hands with the suffering while doing their
jobs. Others adapted and supported the needs of
the country, but let’s not forget those who have
changed so drastically to help developed a
semblance of normalcy for our kids. I’m not trying
to get too deep, but what is normal? How long
does it take to develop a new normal, and once
you have experienced a new normal do you ever
really want to go back to an old normal?
For the past few weeks, myself and others have
discussed the idea of establishing a new normal for
students and teachers. Now this has been prefaced
as a temporary normal, because I don’t believe
most people want to remain in an online/packet
driven environment exclusively to educate kids. As
we move forward, like Harding did in the early
1920s, there will be elements of change we
discover in our temporary normal we most
definitely want to bring forward to our next normal.
Everyone during this temporary normal has
experienced loss: staff, students, and families.
Maybe it’s the life of a loved one, a job,
relationship, connections, or even the splitting of
the family unit. As schools reopens, it’s important
we understand the importance of continuing to
support the losses and help everyone heal. Even
though we understand there will be academic gaps,
the research is clear, kids can’t learn if they are
concerned about their basic needs. So, in the end,
what is normal, and can it be created again, and
can we ever get back to our old normal?
Who knows? Personally, I believe normal may only
exist day to day, week to week, county to county,
and state to state for the foreseeable future.
Nobody knows when this virus will be under
control; after all, only a few could have imagined a
virus paralyzing the world as quickly as it did in the
first place. Through this, we changed and adjusted
then, a week later, we adjusted and changed, for
many the cycle repeated itself over and over. For
me, today is normal, for today and tomorrow will
be the normal, for tomorrow, as educators, we can
only accomplish what we have the capacity
to achieve. In my mind you’re all because
you’re supporting the restoration by influencing the
most important resource we have in Kansas, our
kids. In the end, I genuinely believe tomorrow we
will be stronger because of what we experienced
today. Thank you for what you do every day.
Thanks for being a !

USA-Kansas
Conference
Jerry Henn, Assistant Executive Director, USA-Kansas
August 30-31, 2020 ∙ Wichita, KS
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!
As our whole life and career has changed since
February, I thought my article would be focused
around the USA Conference, usually in May! Most of
the articles in this Under the Umbrella are focused
around how districts are changing to meet the needs
of their students. Good information for sure, but
sometimes we just need an alternative to the high
stress of changes happening daily.
The week of the conference was always an exciting
time. When leaving the office, the anticipation of
either golfing or wine tasting was always exciting.
Getting to be with old acquaintances and making new
friends always is a good part of the convention.
Spending a good part of this conference networking
is always important to solving problems later in your
position.
Once there and finished with your activity, it is time
to get ready for the vendors. What a great way to
look at items you may be interested in for your
building or district. Many offer discounts during this
part as well. Once again, networking with vendors is
a positive for you to make the connections needed
for your solution to issues. I personally made a
connection that saved my district several thousand
dollars. It was a great connection that served our
district well.
Opening and closing sessions are both informational
and enjoyable. First session is always something to
get us thinking. How we can help our students and
move us forward. Could be many different topics can
be included. Closing session would try to get us to
enjoy the summer and recharge. It usually sends us
off in a good tone and gives us some clarity to our
lives.

The sessions are awesome. Coming from our own
colleagues and listening how they have worked
around an issue is awesome. We automatically have
a connection for guidance if needed. Always a range
of topics to keep our interest and hopefully able to
give us insight into different areas that can help us
when needed. The innovative classroom is an area to
explore technology usage in the classroom. What we
would do now to have this area to help us adapt. We
all have areas to improve upon and what a nice way
to learn in a non-threatening way.
Food! The food is so awesome it gets its own
paragraph. One never needs to go away from this
conference hungry. From the breakfasts and buffet
meals, there is plenty of great tasting food.
Lastly, the entertainment is always fun to be in
attendance. The dueling pianos has proven to be a
great addition to the conference. A great way to
relax and enjoy some interaction with professional
entertainers and colleagues.
Now with that said, there will be changes coming to
this year’s convention. Sessions will probably be a bit
different, and the amount of time we have at the
conference will be a bit different, but we will have
great sessions, entertainment, speakers and food. Be
looking for information in your inbox.
Lastly, I must say if it was not for our office staff, this
conference would not go as fluid as it has. Kim, Jessi,
Sara, Duane and G.A. do a fabulous job of making
things run smoothly. We appreciate everyone
coming to our convention and look forward to seeing
you all there in August.

TAKE IT FROM ME...
Perspective is
a Beast
Joe Sample, Superintendent, Marais Des Cygnes Valley USD 456
On March 5th, 2020 I traveled to Greenbush in
Lawrence for their monthly superintendent meeting
and discussed with area superintendents about our
usual set of agenda items. We discussed how the
legislative session was going - it was relatively quiet
as compared to previous years in terms of bills
affecting K-12 education. We discussed what items
we were identifying as potential focus areas for
professional development for next year - a big topic
of discussion was the upcoming dyslexia trainings
that was to occur throughout the state. We even
spoke about the new round of “redesign”
applications from KSDE - the room seemed to be
lukewarm as many had their doubts about how much
redesign would actually occur within their schools.
We did actually discuss COVID-19, but I have no
recollection as to what I learned about the virus or a
potential response for schools. The virus was not
necessarily new to me as I had heard about the
issues plaguing China and even some areas in the
United States, but it did not seem like an issue of
much concern. I do remember hearing throughout
the room that many of us had been contacted by an
online education company, but many of us chuckled
at the absurdity. My laughter turned a bit when I
heard an aside from a larger school district
superintendent that stated he was going to be
leaving for a meeting later in the day between the
multiple districts in his county and the county
health department. I thought, “that seems a bit
much.”
Today, April 17th, 2020, I just finished a phone call
making plans on the potential that Kansas schools
may not be conducting in-person classes during

significant portions of next school year. My district is
finishing Week 3 of Continuous Learning and, to be
honest, things have gone extremely well considering
the circumstance. Our school district, along with the
rest of the state, has now transitioned fully from inperson
education to a full remote learning operation.
Our students have transitioned quite well, grabbing
their textbooks, leftover locker items, and their
required technology or paper packets via a drive-thru
event a week after being told that we were no longer
in session for the remainder of the year. Our teaching
staff is now fully working from home - they are not
allowed back into buildings until the end of May. We
provide drive-thru food service twice a week to
anyone ages 1-18, but provide them with enough
meals to fill breakfast and lunches for 5 days a week.
My maintenance staff comes in to clean the building
after food service and to only provide minimal
maintenance as needed. In the district office, we
arrive in the office for short periods of time at
staggered intervals to avoid exposure to each other.
Communication with staff now is fully done by
email, phone, or videoconference. School events
are now only conducted virtually as we held a
virtual spirit week this week. Graduation is at
serious risk of full cancellation. My day now consists
of participating in countless videoconference
meetings just to get a handle on all of the daily
updates.
Comparing what has been learned over the course
of a month and a half is staggering to say the least.
The world, including education, has now changed
forever. How do those professional development
plans for next school year look? I would imagine the
rollout of the state-wide dyslexia training is going to
look quite different this fall. Does any
superintendent feel as if you did not go through a
“redesign” of your entire school district in the
course of just a few weeks? I’ll never forget those

three or four days where conversations amongst
my area’s superintendents went from, “Are you
going to close?” to “Do you have enough snow
days?” to “What does the health department say?”
to “Is the closure going to be longer than a week?”
to “What do we do with a closure for the rest of the
year?” During that time, certainties and blind
guesses were almost the same thing. During the
course of a 2 hour span on a Saturday, I wrote a
fully vetted, coherently thought out, term-paper
style response, with references, as to why our
district would be returning to in-person classes the
day we came back from Spring Break on March
16th, 2020. Within 18 hours it was completely
irrelevant, as the recommendation came for
districts to close their schools for the week. Within
another 48 hours, the world changed again as the
Governor closed schools until May 29th, 2020 and
the plans we had made in the meantime and
communicated to stakeholders were no longer
accurate. We then moved into awaiting the
outcomes of the Continuous Learning Task Force,
while tentatively working on plans that we
anticipated they would recommend.
Needless to say we are in new territory now and
will continue to be for the foreseeable future. As
the title of this article states, “Perspective is a
Beast.” I feel like the beast has hit me over the head
countless times this past month. What I anticipated
at times could not have been more inaccurate.
What I have learned during this situation, I could
not have learned without walking down that path.
Long story short, what I used to believe perspective
to be, is not accurate. Perspective is an absolutely
sobering, eye-opening, un-anticipating, unrelenting
thing and we have all been given a large dose of it.
Participating in meetings and collaborations now, I
have to take the tact of “we can only guess” as to
what will be occurring around the corner. We are
truly building the airplane in the air, but we are trying
to land it in a safe place at the same time.
Through all the trials and tribulations in this
transition, I can safely say that I am glad that I have
this perspective now. What educators believed to be
a tough change, is fluffy unicorns compared to what
we are experiencing now. We are traversing down a
path of evaluating how we can effectively reach our
students while not necessarily having the optimal set
of circumstances. Is it possible to conduct “new”
learning that may be outside the norm and have it be
meaningful? Does this new way of learning benefit
those that we may have had difficulty reaching
before? Does the question of resiliency become more
relevant and/or more effective to pass along through
lesson planning? Could this increase the engagement
we have with families and their student’s learning?
Will this allow for a full embracing of social-emotional
needs and getting families needed resources?
Perspective may have been a beast as we have dealt
with the circumstances, but I truly believe this
perspective will make us better educators and
inherently change education as a whole within our
communities for the better. Keep plugging along as
we find out the thing around the corner may be a
beast, but it is the perspective we need.

KEY PROVISIONS
OF THE CARES ACT
The $2 trillion “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security” (“CARES”) Act was recently signed into
law. The CARES Act is designed to help those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, while also
providing key provisions that may benefit retirees. 1
To put this monumental legislation in perspective, Congress earmarked $800 billion for the Economic
Stimulus Act of 2008 during the financial crisis. 1
The CARES Act has far-reaching implications for many. Here are the most important provisions to keep in
mind:
Stimulus Check Details - Americans can expect a one-time direct payment of up to $1,200 for individuals
(or $2,400 for married couples) with an additional $500 per child under age 17. These payments are
based on the 2019 tax returns for those who have filed them and 2018 information if they have not. The
amount is reduced if an individual makes more than $75,000 or a couple makes more than $150,000.
Those who make more than $99,000 as an individual (or $198,000 as a couple) will not receive a
payment. 1
Business Relief - The act also allocates $500 billion for loans, loan guarantees, or investments to
businesses, states, and municipalities. 1
Inherited 401(k)s - People who have inherited 401(k)s or Individual Retirement Accounts can suspend
distributions in 2020. Required distributions don’t apply to people with Roth IRAs; although, they do
apply to investors who inherit Roth accounts. 2
Suspended RMD - The CARES Act suspends the minimum required distributions most people must take
from 401(k)s and IRAs in 2020. In 2009, Congress passed a similar rule, which gave retirees some
flexibility when considering distributions. 2,3
Withdrawal Penalties - Account owners can take a distribution of up to $100,000 from their retirement
plan or IRA in 2020, without the 10-percent early withdrawal penalty that normally applies to money
taken out before age 59½. But remember, you still owe the tax. 4
Many businesses and individuals within our community are struggling with the new realities that COVID-
19 has created. The CARES Act, however, may provide some much-needed relief for our neighbors,
friends, and loved ones.
1. CNBC.com, March 25, 2020.
2. The Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2020.
3. The Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2020.
4. The Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2020.
http://www.ameritimeks.com/
Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. Ameritime, LLC and Securities America are
separate entities.

Learning
Without Limits
Joel Wells, Principal, Elmont Elementary, USD 345
My professional vocabulary has grown more in the
past month than at any other point in my 18 previous
years in education: social distancing, Zoom-bombing,
epidemiology being among the terms I have not only
learned, but have had to use in multiple
conversations related to the COVID-19 pandemic and
subsequent school shutdown. Along with the new
vocabulary has come a method of educating students
that my district (Seaman Schools) and school (Elmont
Elementary) had not even considered as a possibility
just six weeks ago. What we have been able to
accomplish in this short amount of time is
remarkable, and has required dedicated, talented
people at all levels contributing in many ways.
It was overwhelming how quickly the “helpers”
within my building and community were already
asking what they could do to serve within hours of
Shawnee County’s decision to close school buildings
on March 13th. As the statewide orders came out the
following week, the desire and willingness to help in
any way only got louder. District and building
administrators wasted no time in meeting non-stop
to develop a framework for the delivery of
continuous learning to the students and families we
serve. Teachers and paraprofessionals were
consulted throughout that process, and then took
on the challenge of designing and planning the
weekly learning that would be shared for the final
two months of the school year. There were a
number of natural worries and concerns
throughout the process, but staff at my building
worked through them with a proactive and
optimistic attitude. To maintain morale, we started
staff social media groups, held virtual meetings, and
even virtual social gatherings during the evening
hours.
In less than two weeks, our staff had built a
continuous learning plan to keep learning moving
forward for our students the remainder of the
school year. To ensure its effectiveness, teachers
have held dozens of on-line meetings, made
numerous phone calls, and exchanged countless

e-mails with their students and families. This level of
communication has required a good deal of creativity
and flexibility from staff, as we have all had to
navigate so many new communication demands.
Setting up a Google Meet or Zoom meeting was a
process seldom used just a short time ago, but has
now become as normal as sending an e-mail or text.
While relationships have always been a priority at
Elmont, they have taken on a considerably higher
level of importance as families are finding themselves
dealing with the societal aspects of this crisis in so
many different ways. My staff has been beyond
proactive and caring in providing needed supports or
simple grace in handling these needs.
The first few weeks of our continuous learning plan
implementation has not been without its problems.
We have had to get creative in the delivery of
learning materials, which has included the support
of staff and departments throughout the district.
District administration, our board of education,
food service, transportation, technology
department and countless community stakeholders
have all played critical roles in this process, showing
the importance of having such a strong sense of
district community and pride. The result has been
something that we have all taken a great deal of
pride in, and something that will keep our academic
and social learning goals moving forward. Seaman
Schools has a motto of Learning Without Limits, and
the actions and dedication shown by all since this
shutdown began demonstrate that there really are
no limits to ensuring that our students will be taken
care of regardless of the challenges that exist.

There’s No Place
Like Home
Denise Jennings, Superintendent, Jefferson County North, USD 339
“I’ve never seen anything like this” is a statement
we’ve probably all stated and/or heard often over
the past month. In the midst of our sincere fear of
COVID-19 spreading through our families and
communities, schools were tasked with an
incredible “redesign” expectation. And, while the
redesign is normally a fairly lengthy, collaborative,
and well thought-out process, we took only one
week to accomplish it in Kansas. Remarkable!
Like a Kansas tornado, the coronavirus has swept
in and tore apart routine as we knew it. Giving us
the opportunity, possibly, to return to a simpler
time, one where most families are at home
spending time together. A young, very familiar,
movie character named Dorothy taught us,
“there’s no place like home”. Hopefully, our time
together in close proximity allows for quality
conversation, investigations, and an appreciation
for home.
As our district planned learning opportunities at
home for fourth quarter, I’m not sure we
considered all the unintended learning and
kindness that has taken place on all our part,
including:
• Hundreds of free meals provided (completely
new for staff since we haven’t had a summer
program)
• Experts nearly overnight on virtual meetings
between staff and students
• Collaboration among newer and veteran
teachers regarding technology techniques
• Significant focus toward addressing emotional
needs of students, staff, and families
• Teachers and students teaching one another
how to utilize video presentations to support
learning from afar
• Collaboration of planning and preparation for
supplies and packet pick up
• Home delivery of instruction through packets
and online assignments
• Problem solving technology issues from home
• Parents balancing work and “home” schooling
• Teachers getting a more personal view of
obstacles parents are facing
• Individualized plans for the needs of all students
• Increased focus on competencies, reduced
focus on grades
• Students eager to join virtual classrooms to
interact with teacher and friends
• Expanded local connectivity through hotspots
• Donations of meat processed locally and
provided to community families

• Younger families watching out for grandparents
by shopping and delivering groceries to them
• Parent groups on social media providing
encouragement
• Staff working in any capacity needed
• Everyone truly working to stay home and social
distancing
• Extended benefits of auto-calls and websites
• 1:1 iPads at HS level and enough to provide all
families (preschool-8th grade) with an iPad for
use at home.
• A district-wide team approach from school board,
administration, and staff to support the needs of
students and families
• Immediate and constant support from our
education partners – area districts, KSDE, USA,
KASB, KNEA
At Jefferson County North, our community has
worked together to get through the past month’s
turmoil in a way similar to Dorothy and her group of
musical friends in The Wizard of Oz. I'm not sure
inside a tornado there could be a “positive” side.
But, I’m very proud of the positive outcomes above
that I’ve witnessed during this pandemic. But don’t
get me wrong, if we had the opportunity for
Dorothy to click her heals three times to bring us
back to normalcy, I’d be there cheering her on!
SafeDefend.com

Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, BetterLesson Coach
As the summer months approach, our thoughts are In
these unprecedented times, more and more schools
are making the transition to distance learning -
whether that’s online or low-tech approaches.
Educator communities are buzzing with great ideas
about how to make this work for millions of students
across our country. Yet, as we all start to make this
switch, our number one question should not be
"What tech platform should we use?" but rather,
"How will I continue to support my students’ wellbeing
and create a sense of community - particularly
for my most vulnerable and struggling students?"
Here are 5 steps to support social-emotional learning
and create community from a distance:
Teaching is all about fostering strong relationships
with our students. A few weeks ago, this often looked
like checking in with students as they entered the
classroom, after class, or throughout the school day.
These moments make students feel valued and cared
for, and thus they are all the more needed in these
uncertain times.
How can we foster these moments when we’re not in
the same physical space?
Create a free Google Voice account: This will give
you a number (that is not your personal cell phone
number) that you can use to connect with students
via calls and texts. Reach out to students one by one

to see how they are doing, ensure they have critical
resources, and be a presence in their lives.
There is no doubt that most of our students have
stayed in touch with each other through texting,
Snapchat, Tik Tok, etc. Yet deliberately creating
inclusive spaces for all students on your online
platform of choice helps ensure no students are
forgotten.
How can you do this?
While many teachers are eager to finish up their
current unit or give the next test that was planned, it
is critical that teachers build in time to re-establish
routines and relationships with students and families.
Most districts are not ready to flip on a dime to
online learning, so it makes sense to take time to
align on expectations and answer questions from
students and families.
What could this look like?
Create resources to re-establish routines and
expectations: These could be documents, videos, or
recordings, easily accessible to students and parents.
Check out the strategy Developing Norms and
Expectations for Digital Tool Use for more ideas.
Create breakout rooms: Platforms like Zoom, Verso,
or FlipGrid have tools to facilitate small group
discussions. The purpose of these discussions is to
give students a space to check in, reflect on what's
going on in the world, and ask questions. Remember
to not overload your students with too many tech
platforms but rather find one that works and stick to
it.
Encourage students to free-write: Use journaling as
a tool to help students process their emotions.
Students can share their writing on Google
Classroom, read their writing aloud on Zoom, or
share their digital portfolios with peers.
Create space for students to ask questions about
new expectations: Try Padlet, Zoom, Poll
Everywhere, or Google Forms (a resource
within Google Drive) for this.
Consider sharing wellness resources: This might
include meditation and breathing, yoga,
and exercise resources, online or on paper. Try
incorporating these into your classroom routines.

Of course, districts are trying to make students and
families aware of the available resources for food,
childcare, and medical attention in their
communities. However, connecting with each
student individually to ensure that they know of
these resources and have a clear plan cannot be
underestimated.
Show your face: Screencastify and Loom make it
easy to create daily videos of yourself to upload to
your Google Classroom.
Host office hours: Through Zoom, you can schedule a
daily or weekly time that you will host a Zoom call for
anyone who wants to show up. Or, let students know
what times during the day you are available for a
phone call.
How can you make this efficient and effective?
Try a translator app: Try using Google Translator to
send individual messages to students and families
whose native language is not English.
Set up reminders: Consider creating a system to
ensure that all students receive calls or texts on a
regular basis to make sure families have what they
need. Remind is a great tool to send messages to
families.
Identify existing local resources: In many
communities, local organizations and nonprofits are
doing a lot to support students. Make an Instagram
account that students can follow where you can
share these resources.
More than anything, make sure that your students
know that you are there for them. As hard as this is
for us as adults, we can only imagine how trying this
time is for our students. As the weeks progress, make
sure students know that you are still a presence in
their lives.
What are the best ways to be present?
We must support students' social-emotional learning
through these unprecedented times. Connecting with
students, making sure they are okay, making space
for them to talk with each other, and making sure
their families have what they need is nothing new for
us as educators. This is what we do each and every
day and what we must continue to do for our
students in these difficult times.
Caitlin is a literacy specialist in Winooski, Vermont,
where she works largely with refugee students.
Previously, she worked in Boston and Juneau Public
Schools as an ESOL, Special Education, and history
teacher. Caitlin strives to be an anti-racist educator
and has a passion for supporting all students to
develop as engaged and active global citizens.

HOW TO BUILD A SUMMER READING
PROGRAM THAT ENGAGES STUDENTS
AND FAMILIES
As the summer months approach, our thoughts are
focused on keeping students engaged in reading.
Research shows that reading at least 20 minutes a
day, every day, all year long, can make a world of
difference for students, regardless of their ages or
grade levels.
We know that daily reading practice also helps
students avoid the dreaded summer slide, which can
rob them of gains they made the previous school
year—and that puts disadvantaged students even
further behind when they return to school in the fall.
How to engage students in reading is a challenge that
educators face daily within the school setting. It
becomes an even bigger challenge during those times
when students are out of school: over weekends,
during school holidays, for unexpected school
closures, and especially during the long summer
break.
To help turn the summer slide into summer growth,
our team works with districts and schools to develop
and implement best practices that increase the time
students spend reading when their regular school
year has ended. We call this approach “cultivating a
culture of summer reading.”
Our overall goal is to ensure that students are
reading just-right books wherever they may be—in
formal summer school programs, within their
communities, at home, or on the go—and that they
are having fun reading. This is summertime, after all!

Schools that are in session during the summer
months can mirror many of the best practices they
employ all year long. Here are some basic steps that
educators can take:
• Work with students to set reading goals. Our
team encourages 20 minutes of independent
reading daily to build stamina.
• Ensure students know how to track their own
progress, which helps them to take ownership
over their reading. If students are using a digital
reading platform like myON, their reading activity
will be seamlessly captured and visible within
their accounts. Online or hard copy reading logs
are another option.
• Reinforce reading routines with students to help
them begin to develop strong reading habits.
Setting a designated time for reading each day
like D.E.A.R. (“Drop Everything and Read”) is one
way to accomplish this.
• Embed themed literacy projects that incorporate
reading and writing activities within the summer
school curricula, enabling students to practice
reading skills while engaging with subject-matter
content.
• Establish summer book clubs to motivate students
to read and help build other communication skills
as they share their reading experiences with
peers and teachers.
• Create summer reading challenges that allow
students to achieve their own personal best,
rewarding them with certificates of achievement
or other awards.
• Set up contests that motivate students to
compete for specific goals—individually or by
group, class, or grade level. Multiply the fun by
selecting weekly winners, then entering those
winners into an end-of-program drawing for
prizes and other forms of recognition.
• Celebrate reading successes at end-of-summer
events, which can include themed activities
complete with refreshments, games, and awards.
Working within the community to support summer
reading may involve partnering with public libraries
and local organizations that offer summer
programming, as well as businesses and
organizations that can provide other types of
support. Here are some proven strategies for
including them all:
• Begin by setting goals for summer reading with
community partners and enlist their support to
help launch and communicate information about
your summer reading initiative through a variety
of channels—signs and posters, local media,
social media, and word-of-mouth.
• Collaborate with community partners to
help identify opportunities and locations where
students and their families can access reading
resources over the summer months.
• Provide information on Wi-Fi access points to
support student reading of digital resources,
some of which may be within buildings owned or
operated by partner organizations.
• Work with partners to recruit and train
volunteers to support summer reading activities
within the community. Consider planning
challenges and events that can be co-sponsored
by one or more community partner organizations.
Factor end-of-summer reading celebrations into
your planning, too.
• Distribute summer reading information to
students and families before the summer break
begins and reinforce a strong reading message all
summer long in collaboration with community
partners.

Whether students are enrolled in formal summer
programs or reading independently, it is important to
engage families and promote reading at home. These
basic strategies work when families are on the go as
well:
• Rely on that critical school-to-home connection
to help families understand how important it is
for students to read at least 20 minutes a day,
every day. Explain that providing a reading space
and setting aside time in their student’s schedule
every day to read—independently or together
with family members—is essential.
• Provide families with information about their
student’s reading level so they can help them find
just-right books.
• Offer students and families connections to print
and digital reading resources, along with
opportunities to read together, including those
provided within the community. Also, share the
latest edition of What Kids Are Reading, a free
report that lists popular books and digital reads at
every grade level.
• Remind families to ask their children questions
before and after reading. Help them understand
how they can extend a reading experience by
finding and reading other books on a popular
topic or theme.
• Encourage families to celebrate reading with their
children. They might plan a special family
experience, such as a trip to the zoo, a museum,
or the aquarium, once students have met their
reading goals—or celebrate at home with a pizza
or movie night.
help you sort it out and make the best choices to
support your summer program needs.
Three potential sources of funding—your district or
school budget, grants from foundations, and
contributions from corporations—have the potential
to fund your summer learning program, either as the
sole source or in combination with one of the other
two.
Whether you are applying for corporate or
foundation funding, keep your request focused on
the students and the need, which is to prevent
summer learning loss. Explain why this is a problem.
Describe in the most compelling way possible the
target population who will benefit from the grant,
and what their specific needs are (improved
achievement, increased test scores, meeting gradelevel
proficiencies).
Remember that the summer learning products you
plan to purchase, staff you plan to employ, and other
resources you will need in order to implement the
summer program are the approach or method by
which you will meet the need—not the need itself.
Summer reading loss is real and the solution is
clear—making sure we get students hooked on
summer reading! By setting attainable goals,
providing access to engaging, just-right print and
digital reading materials, involving families,
collaborating with community partners, and
celebrating reading successes, students will come out
ahead of the curve—and ready for the new school
year.
Finding and securing funding is a topic that can make
heads spin—but there are key strategies that can
.

Cinnemon Buie
(913) 271-2094
Cinnemon.Buie@renaissance.com
Sparkle Oehlert
(877) 234-9477
Sparkle.Oehlert@renaissance.com

Navigating the
“New Normal”
Dr. Andrew Gaddis, Superintendent, Atchison County, USD 377
You don’t have to wait very long or travel anywhere
to hear a reference to our “New Normal”. This
phrase is everywhere and I find myself dissecting
exactly what it means. I think I have an understanding
but honestly can’t tell you if the “New Normal” has
ever been defined to me. I know that my life has
changed, my family’s life has changed, our school and
community’s lives have changed, but what that looks
like at all levels, I cannot grasp.
Social Distancing, stay at home, wash your hands! It
kind of feels like parenting a teenager. I am not sure
if it is “New” and I am convinced that it is not
“Normal”, however it is definitely different. As
educators, our comfort level has been uprooted
along with that of each student and parent we serve.
My experience has led me to a generalization of
educators: we are social beings who rely on effective
communication and need a certain level of routine or
control. These have all been effected by our “New
Normal”.
Since becoming an administrator, I have stressed to
all of our teachers and other staff the importance of
face to face and/or verbal communication over
written communications. Written communication is
one sided and left to the interpretation of the reader
at a given point in time. You do not have the
opportunity to read non-verbal cues or clarify
statements that may be misinterpreted, like you do
with face to face communication. Our current world
requires us to remain separated and communicate
remotely or virtually. Despite modern technology
that allows us to see each other while we
communicate, it is not the same as face to face
communication. Truly interpreting non-verbal cues
is difficult and can lead to confusion with instruction
and further separation anxiety of our students. It is
crucial that we do all that we can to ensure that our
students and families know that we are here for
them.
Social Distancing also can cause significant
emotional stress on adults as well as kids. Our
teachers and staff are accustomed to seeing and
interacting with 100’s of individuals in a given day.
The small waves, smiles and other gestures that we
don’t always recognize have abruptly been taken
away. Many of these people are now balancing
teaching their students as well as their own kids.
The struggle is very real and we need to embrace it
to help out where we can. Our routines and world
have been altered and it is difficult.
Our world as educators is one that we have a sense
of control over. We set the procedures, practices
and structures that our students follow on a regular

asis. We now are tasked with educating students in
a system that is lacking much of that control. We
cannot use some of the most effective strategies to
alter behaviors and encourage engagement.
Proximity and the “look” don’t exist in this education
model. We cannot control and instead, we must
trust. We must trust our teachers, students, parents
and community to educate our students the best that
we can while we are forced to be separated.
I have struggled with the lack of control and
uncertainty during this whole pandemic. As leaders,
we plan so that we can be prepared. During the past
month, things changed so frequently, planning wasn’t
an option and control was almost non-existent. We
planned and things changed. Frustration was an
understatement for my state of mind but we pushed
forward knowing that our students, parents and
community needed us. I wish I could say that this
has changed but we still find ourselves planning for
multiple scenarios, with no certainty of the
direction we will be able to move.
The one thing that provided relief and what I look
forward to almost daily, is the constant
collaboration provided by administrators and
educators from across Kansas. Knowing that others
were in the same situation and fighting for all
students was a blessing in a time of darkness.
Moving forward, I am almost certain that this “New
Normal” will create significant change in our lives
and education as we know it. My hope is that the
collaboration and comradery that surfaced out of
crisis will continue to make us all better for the
students of Kansas. Thank you for your dedication
and work now, and moving forward.

A New Principal’s
Organization Serving All
Building Leaders!
Duane Dorshorst, Executive Director, KASSP & KAESP
In January of this year, the Boards of Directors of the
Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals
(KAESP) and the Kansas Association of Secondary
School Principals (KASSP) met in Salina to decide the
future of their respective organizations. Also in
attendance was a representative of the Kansas
Association of Middle School Administrators
(KAMSA).
At the end of the day, all of the current associations
decided to dissolve their current associations at the
end of June and form one organization that is
designed to meet the needs of principals at all levels.
Thus, the birth of the Kansas Principals Association
(KPA).
The board worked throughout the day to start setting
the structure of the new association including the
setting of new regional boundaries, merging existing
board members into new roles, and defining the
vision and purpose of the new association.
Next year’s officers include Mr. Benjamin Jimenez
(Assistant Principal, Manhattan High School) as the
president and Dr. Shawn Roberts (Principal, Scott
City Elementary School) as the president elect. The
vice president position is open at this time due to a
resignation, but will be filled by a high school or
middle level representative. Stacey Green (Principal,
Stockton Elementary) will serve as the association’s
past president.
Next fall when you get your mailing from the USA-
Kansas office, it will only have one choice for the
state affiliate for principals – the Kansas Principals
Association! We will still be associated with both
the National Association of Elementary School
Principals (NAESP) and the National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP) at the national
level.
We are dedicated to meeting the needs of all
building level leaders in our state. According to
future president Ben Jimenez, “Change has been a
part of life lately. It is exciting to be a part of the
new Kansas Principals Association, where we will
keep all the same values of our previous
organizations and improve in areas of
communication, networking, and professional
development. I look forward to the challenge of
leading our association into the future, and working
side by side with my colleagues across the state to
serve the needs of our school communities.”

Remember to Breathe
Adrian Howie, Superintendent, Hugoton USD 210
In my household, March 17 has become a traditional
day to throw a corned beef on the smoker and cook
some cabbage, carrots, and Irish red potatoes. This
date fell over Spring Break for my district, so I was
really looking forward to a relaxing day. As I woke up
that morning, I had no inkling that the day would
unfold quite differently this year. St. Patrick’s Day
2020, the day our education world got flipped on its
head.
Two weeks prior, I was aware of the COVID-19
outbreak (it had not been declared a pandemic at
that point), but had not really spent much time
processing the potential impact it might have on the
state of Kansas or my district. I had only recently
started thinking about the need to begin processing
and adding pandemic protocols to our crisis plan.
While we may have been prepared to deal with the
structure of the crisis, I wasn’t fully prepared for the
nuances of the moment. Over the past month, in
reacting to the COVID crisis, I have learned 5 valuable
lessons.
In my
situation, I am blessed to have one of my former
school board presidents as the County Health
Director. She and I have built a strong working
relationship over the years. This has been extremely
helpful as I have nearly daily contact with her
regarding how the school can support the
community in these chaotic times. If we had not
already established this relationship, we would have
spent valuable time trying to build trust.
When the governor announced school
buildings would be closed for the remainder of the
year, I knew that there would be more questions
than answers. When I met with my administrative
team, I told them we would be dealing with things
in 2 week segments. If there was a question that
applied to something outside of those two weeks,

we would table it until we got to that time frame.
This allowed us to take things in bite size pieces and
not feel overwhelmed. This is the most powerful
lesson I have learned.
As I continue to
remind our staff, our role in this crisis is about so
much more than just providing academics to our
children. We provide meals which helps many of our
families financially. We provide structure and routine
to our students’ day. Our role as the lifeblood of the
community has not diminished. Our community still
looks to us for calm and stability. We shouldn’t run
from this, but instead should embrace the
opportunity.
that none of them were trained. Being able to have
compassion and empathy for the struggle allows us
all to see each other as humans. This “new normal”
is challenging. We have to become the cheerleaders
for our staff, our students, and our community. We
cannot get so caught up in the crisis that we forget
to provide encouragement.
In times of
crisis, things change quickly. It can be very easy to
get caught up in the speed of things and react
without processing the possibilities. Taking a
moment to breathe, allows you to slow things down
in your mind to be able to make the decisions that
need made, when they need made.
(Expectations, Empathy, and
Encouragement). From the very beginning, we had to
provide stability and calm to an environment that
had become chaotic and foreign. In order to do this,
we had to provide clear expectations of how school
would look. I had to be very clear with staff where we
would not compromise as a system, but also where
we could be flexible. Additionally, it became critical
for us to empathize with our staff, our students, and
our parents as they are all now immersed in a routine
Times of crisis are never easy, but they are
inevitable. When they come, we must be prepared;
rely on built relationships; deal with things in small
bits; embrace our role as leaders, give the 3 E’s; and
above all, remember to breathe.

WOW! ARE WE EXPLORING A NEW UNIVERSE
OF GET TOGETHER? LEADERSHIP AND
TECHNOLOGY BEING STRESS TESTED
Dr. John Vandewalle, CEO Lumen Touch, johnv@lumentouch.com
This is where we left off last month: “Are you prepared for
the Corona virus concerns? Are your teams set up and
communications ready? It is a good time to check your
emergency management processes and run checks on your
communication technologies”
Did we ever think we would be looking at this picture? Is
this today? Are we all working to get through this? As
many of you may recall, we cited a book a while ago by
John Kotter. As one of the gurus of change management,
John’s premise is that no change will happen until there is
a crisis. Sometimes as leaders we
follow the crisis or we create the
crisis….. and one other - we maintain
the crisis to perpetuate and solidify
the change. There are many
examples where we have seen this
play out such as the crisis Ford Motor Company went
through and the current challenges faced by Boeing in big
business.
Well, worldwide changes occur in
response to tectonic shifts such as this
pandemic while local shifts happen
because of epidemics or crises that affect
certain local sectors or domains. These socalled
paradigm shifts occur throughout
time and space resulting in evolutions and revolutions but
ultimately shift happens. From the podium of a leader, one
can embrace the shift or fight it and in so doing we
influence the curve and the shift.
Strong leadership is what pulls us out of crises and creates
a new future that is dramatically different from the time
prior to the crisis. As a country and nation, we are proud
and courageous when faced with adversity and we pull
through coming out stronger and prepared for the next
era. We should now capitalize on the present to accelerate
school redesign in Kansas, after all:
Speaking of
paradigm shifts, I came across this program that does
leadership development for students and loved their
quote.
So, let’s all scope on the opportunities
before us. Some of the challenge
questions that are circulating
include the following:
• Could I have
been better
prepared for
this?
• What should I
do now?
• What should I do next?
• What should I do so that we don’t get into a similar
crisis?
• Is there a new normal?
• Will we come out of this unscathed?
Let’s return to the
model of redesign we
are inculcating with
different organizations
and ask ourselves if
anything has changed
because of this new
state. Those school
Goals
Unusual Clarity
Crystal Clear Picture of The Future
Navigate the Complex Education Place
Goals are:
• The drivers of the organization
• The billboards on the way to
excellence
• They are dynamic
• They have a community
dependency
districts that have well-defined plans that address
leadership and technology as part of their plan are finding
the current situation much easier to deal with than others.

We spoke to a math teacher by the name of Ollie in one
school district that redesigned her learning environment 5
years ago because of personal circumstances. Her learning
environment is completely virtual even when students are
in the classroom.
She purports many metrics on ROE (return on education)
and ROI (return on investment) because she followed a
model similar to the above. Ollie has not had a hiccup and
neither have her students or parents – for her it is learning
as usual with the shift of the learning paradigm while
many others in her State are straining with the cataclysmic
shift they are having to undergo. The technology platform
their district uses is not new but modern and has been
developed for redesign that speaks to “meeting the
student where they are”, “giving the student choice and
voice”, “having independent plans of study“, “project
based learning”, “moving at the pace of the learner” etc.
This has allowed her to move seamlessly into this new
world which has become very challenging for others in her
position. One may say that Ollie is way ahead of the curve
right now and falls into that leadership category of being a
paradigm shifter.
I was impressed when I encountered The Oakes Public
Schools in Oakes, North Dakota and saw their Portrait of a
Graduate. This creates laser focus when we understand
these are the outcomes that students and their support
team can strive for. Staying focused on these will pull them
through this crisis and make them stronger.
We would be remiss if we did not address the challenge of
the future. We will address that more in upcoming articles.
To ground ourselves in trying to work the future, it is
probably important to have a little feel for the landscape.
Calculations of the virus’s basic reproduction number,
or R 0 — the number of people on average one infected
person will pass the virus to — suggest a range of 2–2.5.
In Israel, in order to ensure that no child is left behind,
they kept their day care centers and their special
education centers open with protocols of care.
At the micro and the macro level, good leadership kicks in
to create the future, so let’s cooperate with the best, the
brightest, the willing, the paradigm shifters and those with
vision, mission and goals as drivers of change and crisis
management. Let’s remember that we are all in this
together and together we will THRIVE!
Focusing on our goals and being agile around these goals
is now more important than ever.

This is a paradigm shift
• What are the guidelines we will have in place to
protect all our stakeholders – visitors, testing, campus
sanitation, cyber security, resumption of sporting
activities and against who. The list goes on.
• Should we be doing routine medical testing and
should we be gathering this community data into our
student and staff records to keep a finger on the
pulse?
• How do we track staff engagement, attendance and
the new parameters of performance?
Since Covid-19 is more infectious than seasonal flu, we see
the reason why social distancing will contain the spread.
When we talk of flattening the curve, this becomes a
necessity so that we do not overwhelm our medical
resources that affects people’s health across the board.
This is a paradigm shift where we can flatten the curve and
shift it to the right.
Now all of you may be asking why
we are talking about this here. Well
as leaders of our learning
community, we have and will have
big decisions to make as we surface
from the back end of this game
changer.
Some of the very challenging dilemmas we are and will be
facing include:
• If this goes on, how will we function?
• Do our staff have the tools to continue without being
taxed even more?
• Is the staff in the district, geared up for this new
paradigm?
• Will the new calendar year look anything like what we
had? Is the agrarian calendar out?
• Is seat time really a metric of value or learning?
• Should we extend virtual learning through summer?
• How are we making accommodations for marginalized
students – those with special needs and services;
those with no on-line connectivity; those with little
family support; those without food?
• What grading system will we be using going forward?
• Are we equipped to address students and families
with special needs during and while emerging from
this?
• Our roles as community educators has shifted….. now
what?
• How and with who will we be deciding on whether our
schools should re-open?
• Wash our hands as often as possible.
• Consider a small
bottle of sanitizer of
some type in your
pocket so that we
have instant access.
• Wear a mask in front
of others. This shows
respect for them and
our loved ones. Any
mask is better than
no mask!
• Keep our distance
• Keep a special interest and take extra precautions for
those who are in the “at risk” groups
• Be prepared to listen as we all have our own concerns.
This will foster the community trust.
• Keep our eyes and ears tuned for trends, information,
sage input that hovers above the fray and allows us to
stay ahead of the game. Gather and use data to make
informed decisions.
• Share our leadership with our constituents to give
them confidence and courage.
• When all else fails, break out of our silos and reach out
to our community for mutual support
• If we are struggling, call a friend or perhaps make a
new friend
• Stay communicating – more than before
• Meet regularly with our team
• Focus on our vision, mission, goals and values
• Recreate our plan/s and ensure that it infiltrates
through out
• Revisit our plan weekly with our team because the
dynamics are in flux

• Re-recruit our team and thank them more than often
• Pay special attention to leadership and technology
• Be more creative and entrepreneurial than ever
• Brake down our silos and reach out aggressively that
makes us uncomfortable
• Be the example of supporting local on all fronts
• APPRECIATE THE HEROES AT THE MOMENT -> YOU
ARE PART OF THE PARADE
Finally, to sign off, just so that we can reflect on the role
our leadership plays in our community, consider what we
learnt from history in previous pandemics. There is a
direct correlation between social interventions such as
social distancing and the return of the economies in each
locale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMmH_2EYohQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrxYhv2O3wU
I have included these videos to give us all a little different
perspective on history the economy and where education
fits in and what leadership roles we can ponder.
This is not a political positioning but rather an opportunity
for all of us to take some inventory items that we may not
have contemplated and include them in our thinking and
plans for the new era.
Corona free Counties
(04/12)

KAESP—Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals
KAMSA—Kansas Association of Middle School Administrators
KASBO—Kansas Association of School Business Officials
KASPA—Kansas Association of School Personnel Administrators
KASCD—Kansas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development
KASEA—Kansas Association of Special Education Administrators
KASSP—Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals
KLCTE—Kansas Leaders of Career and Technical Education
KanSPRA—Kansas School Public Relations Association
KSSA—Kansas School Superintendents Association