Our Mission: Communities In Schools of Central Texas surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
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- February Birthdays & Service Anniversaries
- Wellness Committee Survey
- Mindfulness Success Story
- January Above & Beyond Nominees
- Link to an article outlining steps DREAM-ers can take in these uncertain times
- Experiential Group Facilitation training opportunity & discount for CIS employees
- Photos of the Week
- and more!
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- Special thanks to Brittini Ruiz and Crystal Jones for being panelists at the CIS volunteer training on middle school transitions this week!
- Shout out to Kristin Walker for organizing a volunteer training to provide CIS volunteers ideas for better supporting students through the transition to middle school.
- JUDY! For being an amazing team player! ASPIRE is lucky to have her!
- Eleanor at ASPIRE! For stepping up to cover ESL1 while teaching her own class. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the students!
- Thanks Steve for writing a fabulous AmeriCorps newsletter for our stakeholders! And thanks to Debra for providing the finishing touches!
- Congratulations Donna for opening up the 18-19 AmeriCorps recruitment season - we're already receiving applications!
- Special thank you to Nikki for organizing a bonus resource day last Saturday for members to earn extra hours. It was a really fun event!
- To Mari Gamez and Stephanie Hooton for facilitating a great (and cathartic) New PM Consult! We really needed it.
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Use the easy online form to recognize a CISter & say thank you for a job well done!
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From the CIS National Office
Recent developments regarding the White House’s proposed path for citizenship for DACA recipients have again raised questions about what DREAM-ers should do.
Politico
released a helpful article outlining steps DREAM-ers can take in these uncertain times.
Click here to download the article
. We hope you find the attached resource helpful in your work with this vulnerable population.
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Christina Hurtado
will be leaving CIS in February to pursue a new professional opportunity. Christina’s dedication to Lanier students, campus, and community and her presence within CIS will be greatly missed. Her last day with CIS will be February 16
th
and we wish her the best in this next chapter of her professional journey.
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Don’t wait for medical care. Register for Teledoc today.
Would it make you feel better to know you don’t have to leave your home to get medical care? If you are covered by any of the CIS Aetna insurance plans this year,
Teledoc
is a benefit that gives you 24/7/365 access to U.S. board-certified doctors who can resolve many of your (non-emergency) medical issues via phone or online video. To learn more about the Teledoc service and how to sign up,
click here
!
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February Birthdays
Kayla Jones, Feb. 2
Carmine Salvucci, Feb. 6
Lauren Iversen, Feb. 7
Brittini Ruiz, Feb. 19
Xenia Estrada, Feb. 20
Cynthia McCollum, Feb. 24
Amara Nitichon, Feb. 24
Gabbie Vargas, Feb. 27
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February CIS Anniversaries:
Jamie Avard, 13 yrs.
Stephanie Grizzle, 4 yrs.
Kristina Libbey, 4 yrs.
Katherine Wiley, 4 yrs.
Heather Jones, 2 yrs.
Carrie Ohl, 2 yrs.
Karen Olsen, 2 yrs.
Steve McBrearty, 1 yr.
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Communities In Schools of Central Texas Now Hiring for the Following Positions:
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Individual Professional Development Funds
Communities In Schools of Central Texas values the ongoing training and professional development of staff members and offers multiple opportunities throughout the year for individuals to grow professionally and deepen their skills. Occasionally, there may be a specific training program or professional development opportunity outside of CIS which will add to an individual’s professional development.
Click here
to read the procedures for accessing individual professional development funds to assist with training costs. (SOP)
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Message from the IT Department
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Communities In Schools
is hosting a free kite-making workshop
on February 10 from 1-3 p.m. at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center at
1201 E Rundberg Ln, Austin, TX 78753.
AmeriCorps members
, if you'd like to help out and earn hours, please
email Debra Joiner
AND send an EHORF to your AmeriCorps PC.
The ABC Kite Fest benefiting Communities In Schools will be on
March 4, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
CIS staff
, if you would like to volunteer to represent CIS at the event,
please email Debra
with your preferred time of day (morning, mid-day, afternoon) and t-shirt size (you'll get a CIS kite fest shirt!) Sorry AmeriCorps members, because this is a fundraiser, you will not be able to earn hours at the kite festival event.
Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered!
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The Wellness Committee Values Your Feedback
The Wellness Committee wants to know more about your personal wellness and how the wellness committee has been doing serving our agency. Your feedback is highly valued and will be taken into consideration when creating wellness initiatives and activities that YOU can benefit from!
A drawing will be held for
five $10.00 Target Gift Cards
at the completion of
this survey
. If you want to be entered into the drawing, please send an e-mail to the Wellness Committee (
[email protected]
) with a short note stating you completed it. This survey and drawing is open to regular employed staff only. The deadline for completing the survey is Wednesday, February 28. Thank you for sharing your voice and participating!
Wellness Challenge
The Wellness Committee wants to help you achieve your New Year’s resolution and wellness goals to keep your mind, body and soul healthy and happy by encouraging you to participate in the Wellness Challenge!
Use
this form
to digitally track your self-care activities, which can be anything from reading a book to hitting the gym, and submit your completed form by the end of the month to
[email protected]
to be entered for a chance to win a $25.00 VISA gift card! To qualify you must participate in and log at least 15 activities that support your overall wellbeing. Participants throughout the year will be eligible for a grand prize drawing of $100 in June.
Submit your January wellness form by next Monday, February 5
th
!
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Mae and Andrea, AMC members at Webb
, created a Mindfulness Moments board in a busy hallway at Webb Middle School. The board highlights the benefits of mindfulness as well as many professional athletes who utilize it.
At the bottom of the board are mindfulness activities from the Growing Mindful cards that were given out for each CIS campus last year. The activities will stay posted on the board for a couple of weeks before they are switched out for other Growing Mindful activities.
It’s an easy way to empower students to practice mindfulness on their own!
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Mindfulness Success Stories
Have you used the
Growing Mindful
Cards
in student sessions, supervision, or for self-care? The Wellness Committee wants to highlight your success stories in the Apple to encourage others to use them!
Share a short story
here
about how you’ve used them to be entered for a $20 Visa Gift Card prize at the end of every month.
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News| Reports | Resources | Events | Community
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Much if not most of our stress, emotional pain, and conflicts with others comes from friction, from resistance to life as it is.
Acceptance means you give up to the truth – the facts, reality – no matter what it is. Acceptance is the foundation of wisdom and inner peace.
Click here to read more.
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Longhorn Pride: An LGBTQA+ Visit Day
Friday, February 23, 2018 at 08:30 AM until 02:00 PM at the Student Activity Center (SAC), 2201 Speedway, Austin, TX 78712
During this special on-campus event, meet other LGBTQA+ students interested in attending the University of Texas at Austin and learn more about the resources and programs offered by the Gender and Sexuality Center. Students will attend info sessions, meet with current queer-identified students and alumni and take a tour of campus.
Click here to learn more.
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THE ART OF EXPERIENTIAL GROUP FACILITATION AND TEACHING
$ 125.00 (use
code INSPIRE2018 for a discounted price of $99 for CIS)
Tuesday, February 6th, 2018 9:00 AM — 3:30 PM • Austin, TX
Hosted by McKinney Roughs Nature Center • Highway 71 W, Cedar Creek
Workshop tuition includes lunch and your choice of one of Jen Stanchfield's latest books. Join this interactive workshop and fill your group facilitation, teaching, counseling, or training toolbox with experiential, brain-based techniques to inspire, motivate, and promote engagement and buy-in. Take away innovative methods to get your groups moving, talking and reflecting. Empower participants to take ownership over learning, practice social-emotional skills, and build a positive, productive environment. Leave with creative inspiration and new perspectives on your role as a facilitator or educator.
Click here for details and to register.
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Attention High School Staff: The Bank of America Student Leaders Program
recognizes those who lead and serve in their own communities and beyond. Bank of America will connect Student Leaders to tools and resources that will help them make communities better. Deadline to apply is
February 2nd
.
Click here to learn more
and refer to Tara's previous emails for additional details.
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THREE MILES - This American Life
There’s a program that brings together kids from two schools. One school is public and in the country’s poorest congressional district. The other is private and costs $43,000/year. They are three miles apart. The hope is that kids connect, but some of the public school kids just can’t get over the divide.
Topics: The unequal distribution of academic resources, first generation college students, college and career readiness
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Above & Beyond Nomination
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January Nominees:
"
Nicki Johnson
has always shown extraordinary initiative in all areas of the Program Manager position at Barrington Elementary, but this year has been a particularly difficult year for her campus as a whole with many significant challenges. Nicki has maintained a clear focus on student and family needs and has remained positive in the problem-solving process. Despite spending so much time addressing crises, she is able to maintain all of her case management services, is committed to parent engagement with all of her students, and is also committed to layering services with students to provide them with an array of services to support their diverse needs, such as providing mentoring, group services, and enrichment opportunities for many students on her caseload."
an excerpt from the nomination
"
Kirsten Marstiller
has been a fabulous teammate who I have been able to count on for ethical and consistent work with students. She has been a master of balancing time and stretching herself. She has been able to balance LCSW supervision, SmartKids after school programming, serving the majority of her students individually, onboarding a new co-lead, inputting timely data, getting married, and supervising an intern with grace in a way that you would think it was easy. Kirsten has maintained strong relationships with Kealing alumni so much that we have the largest high school SmartKids attendance at Booker T. that we have had in years. She connects with former students in her SmartKids community, including knocking on the door of students who left Kealing for a charter and are no longer in attendance at school to get them back in classes. Kirsten works hard to support students and make sure they don't slip through the cracks, and I know they are grateful for it."
an excerpt from the nomination
"
Lauren Iversen
was a great help to the Care Coordination team while one of our members was on a maternity leave. Not only did she work well with all the families, she was a rock star when it came to completing all the administrative requirements of our program. Thank you Lauren for your hard work and thoughtfulness."
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Recognize a CISter for going above and beyond!
Winners receive:
- A $30 Target gift card
- An appreciation plaque
- Recognition during an All-Staff event
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Home Depot donated and installed a little free library for
Communities In Schools and Andrews Elementary!
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CIS Volunteer Program Coordinator Kristin Walker facilitates Transitioning to Middle School training with panelists CIS Program Managers Brittini Ruiz and Crystal Jones, and volunteer JP Rodriguez
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Immediate Need Request Form
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Immediate Need Request Form
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Thanks to donations from the community, Season for Caring funds, and holiday and school supply drives, some of the most often requested items needed by students are now stored at the CIS Central Office. We have also established a Client Emergency Fund for students and families. Please request what you need immediately to give to a specific student or family.
Click here to make a request now.
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The photo directory is located on
Members Only
in the Human Resources section. To add or change a photo, or update your information, please
request by email
.
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Share a program with your CIS colleagues! Use this
online form
to submit a program spotlight.
The purpose of Program Spotlights is to:
- Share information with other CIS staff members
- Stay connected to one another
- Inspire one another
- Share best practices
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You can find an archive of past editions of this newsletter on
Members Only
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CIS signs and banners are available for your campus/program.
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Communities In Schools Employee Assistance Program
Benefits include law access, HelpNet, Safe Ride, Work Life, Well Coach, and 1-6 Counseling Sessions. Benefits can be accessed by phone: 800-343-3822 or 512-328-1144, or TDD 800-448-1823.
Click here
to access and select Access Your Benefits. Registration Code: AWP-CISA- 198
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HOW TO GET THE CIS CENTRAL OFFICE WIRELESS PASSWORD
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