Share appreciation and gratitude for a fellow CIS employee. Giving a shout out is a great way to recognize an individual or group for their extra effort and talent, and to contribute to a culture of appreciation, community, and kindness. | |
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Employee Excellence Nominee Spotlight: Marina Lichtenberger
“Marina is an advocate through and through for her students. Marina’s approach is a systems approach knowing that the student’s wellbeing is also dependent on the family’s wellbeing. There are many ways that Marina exemplifies being student-centered and family-centered. Marina is very attuned with her families, their personal situations, and their needs. Due to that, Marina is an expert at seeking out resources for her students and families and knowing the availability of those resources in the Hays District. Knowing that resources in this area are harder to come by, Marina makes herself very familiar with the local agencies, providing referrals when necessary, and reaching out to her colleagues when she needs assistance. Marina has developed great relationships with her families over the years and they know her and count on her when they have exhausted all their resources. For the past 2 years, Marina has applied, managed, and overseen the implementation of two Micro grants to support Wallace Elementary students and campus staff in their work. Marina’s ingenuity and thinking outside the box to support her campus’s Tier 1 initiatives was reflected in her current Micro Grant of $690.48, under the category of Enhancement of Traditional Work. To meet her campuses need of improving STAAR scores, her project will incentives students test taking strategies and test prep for the big STAAR day. Marina created Bingo cards for each student with test taking strategies for them to complete. Each Advisory teacher was responsible for receiving the students Bingo Cards and signing off to make sure students were completing the activities. The teachers were also incentivized in the process and some teachers were really engaged with the activity. Although not necessary, Marina seeks out these grants to support her ideas and her campus goals in her school-wide work. These projects not only get students engaged in their own learning but they get excited about creative new ways of seeing their own approach to learning. This is the essence of CIS, Marina’s approach is for her interventions to shift students perspective in how they see themselves and school, in a way that is fun and engaging. As a person, she is self-reflective, raises thoughtful questions and insights, and has a solid commitment in her DEI journey. Marina is a rock star through and through!” * excerpt
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Employee Excellence Nominee Spotlight: Alberto Santisteban
“Alberto has shown a great amount of dedication and care for the families he works with. He has intentionally found ways to meet program outcomes, and has developed great rapport with partners to collaboratively help families meet their goals. Additionally, Alberto has gone over and beyond working with a family that has had extreme medical challenges. He has been a great source of support while going through this difficult journey. Alberto’s strategic approach to his work is valued and recognized. His attention to detail with administrative requirements is also so appreciated. Thank you Alberto!”
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Nominate someone for Employee Excellence. Click here for the form and here to learn about employee recognition & appreciation at CIS of Central Texas.
The deadline to nominate is May 26th and excellence awards will be announced at our August All-Staff.
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Each year, we connect with our school district partners regarding campus service for the upcoming school year. Based on changes at the campus and/or district, we may add new campuses or shift our services from one school to another. There are times when the decision to discontinue services at a campus, campuses or a district is made due to a variety of factors. The decision is not made lightly, and we work closely with the campus and district to consider the impact on students and families, and all the options available.
We learned last week that Bastrop CISD has decided to end its partnership with Communities In Schools of Central Texas effective at the end of this school year. Ending district partnerships is not something that happens very often for our organization, but in this case, the district has decided that they want to align services and supports by hiring their own internal team of licensed social workers to work on each Bastrop campus.
All of our impacted CISCT team members have been informed and we are sharing information about other job opportunities available within the organization.
I want to give appreciation to the entire Bastrop team for all the impactful programs and supports they have provided to CISCT students and families. The team did a wonderful job bringing resources and relationships to Bastrop campuses.
Sharon Vigil
CEO
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Program Department Update | |
Chief Program Officer Jerry Roberts is currently on leave and Karen Gonzalez is the Interim CPO. Karen is supervising Sara Reeves and Dorothy Garza effective immediately. We will share an update in the coming weeks. | |
New CIS Central Office and Training Center Office Hours | |
2023 Voluntary Resignation Notice Incentive Program | |
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Communities In Schools is in the business of serving kids. To ensure CIS of Central Texas has sufficient time to properly hire, train and place professionals on sites to provide continuity of services to kids at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, CIS is offering a one-time incentive to eligible campus and community-based employees who submit notice of their voluntary resignation during the period of May 22 through June 2, 2023.
Click here for a brief overview of the program. And here is the full agreement with information about the voluntary program including eligibility requirements and timelines. Dian scheduled two Zoom Info/Q&A sessions to answer questions about the program including why CIS is offering this program and everything you’d want to know about eligibility, timelines and implementation.
Tuesday, May 23, 8:30am – 9:15am
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81845864919?pwd=VnBkYXZXdTQrOGtjdTJ1aWdZRlVHZz09
Friday, May 26, 8:30am – 9:15am
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85252186606?pwd=dkxqaXRTeW9lOVBWelZ1VU0ya2Ewdz09
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Values & Competencies Introduction | |
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Sign Up for a Checkout Meeting
Sign-ups are open for Checkout Meetings in June and July; if you are a direct service staff on the Campus Based Services team, please sign up for this required touchpoint about student data before you depart for summer break.
PMD Support & Resources
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Panelists will talk about "The State of Children’s Mental Health". The discussion will include:
· factors that are negatively impacting the mental health of children and youth
· signs parents can watch for
· how to start the conversation around mental health
· resources available for parents and caregivers
Register here
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Our May Member Recognition Event is coming up on Friday, May 26th at the Asian American Resource Center, located at 8401 Cameron Rd, Austin, TX 78754. Program Managers and other CIS staff are welcome to join us in the afternoon to celebrate and appreciate our AmeriCorps Members. Members will also be sharing about their Service-Learning Projects through a gallery walk. | |
College and Career Success Department | |
Click here to find a list of scholarships that are currently available to Seniors! This link will be updated throughout the school year as more scholarships become available. If you and your Senior would like some support completing any scholarship application, please reach out to Jami Herrera with the College and Career Success Department at [email protected] | |
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The winner of the Apple drawing for a Subway gift card is
Nicole Partin !
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Live Oak Academy Teacher Appreciation 2023! | Costco Reading Buddies and Langford CIS 2nd graders celebrating the end of the year together. | San Marcos Squad had a great time at Casa de Miel for team retreat!! Pictured: Erica Gallardo, Keren Hernández, Renelle Cruz, Elissa Gardea, Leticia Self, Caprica Neal, Vanessa Velasquez, Summer Soto. Not pictured: Anna Martinez, Cassandra Jackson, Teresa Rivas. | Andrews Elementary Loves CIS! | |
In honor of #mentalhealthawarenessmonth, Communities In Schools of Central Texas coordinated a Mental Health Awareness Spirit Week at Chapa Middle School. Big thanks to CISCT AmeriCorps Member Brianna Gonzalez who did the event as a service learning project, and to her students for making the event a success! | |
Program Manager, Asia Eblen, and XY Zone Coordinator, Brian Stacey, providing breakfast to the teachers for teacher appreciation week. | |
Akins Seniors getting a gift as a congratulations on graduating with Chick Fila for breakfast and a goodie bag with and a gift card to their favorite food place. | |
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The fantastic program managers on the AEP/ DAEP celebrated their hard work and efforts during their last meeting of the year at Bouldin Acres! Thank you all for being wonderful to meet with every month!
Pictured: Lorena Garcia, Jade Fields, Anne LeMasters, and Catarina Silva
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Communities In Schools of Central Texas surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. | | | | |
