Staff Spotlight:
2019-2020 Award Winners
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Since the 2019-2020 school year awards were unable to be celebrated in person at this year's Orientation Day due to the pandemic, members of the Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 leadership team recently surprised these deserving recipients at their buildings with a special presentation. The award winners are based upon written nominations by co-workers and supervisors, which are then reviewed by CIU 20 supervisory and administrative staff who choose the award recipients. See the winners below, along with a video compilation of the award presentations.
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Colonial Academy Community Comes Together for Families in Need
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The students and staff at Colonial Academy have collaborated on multiple initiatives this holiday season that have strengthened the social-emotional components of their time in IU programs and helped families in need during the pandemic.
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East Stroudsburg University Student Teachers
Assist with Backpack Buddies Program
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As a community service project, East Stroudsburg University (ESU) student teachers teamed up with the Colonial Academy Backpack Buddies program to collect food for students and families in need for the holiday season. ESU student teachers Ms. Alyvea Scarfalloto, Ms. Johnna Eisenreich, and Ms. Emma Lance, collaborated with Ms. Darlene Klingel, the organizer of Colonial Academy’s Backpack Buddies, and Mr. Nick Strebig, culinary arts teacher, to support this worthy cause for the Colonial Academy community.
The ESU student teachers held dress down days to collect food items, and organized collections at the CIU 20 central and transportation offices. At the end of the collection, they received a huge variety of canned and packaged goods that gave students and families the chance to fill their Thanksgiving table.
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Inaugural School-Wide Turkey Trot
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On November 20, 2020, Colonial Academy held the first ever Turkey Trot race to benefit families in need during the holiday season. Students from the Emotional Support, Autistic Support, Life Skills, Partial Hospitalization, CAPS, and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth programs came together by donating canned goods, if they were able, to participate in this inclusive school-wide event. In total, Colonial Academy provided nine families a Thanksgiving dinner.
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This event brought teachers, mental health workers, associate teachers, and school administrators together with the students as they provided emotional support throughout the race.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the runners were divided into different heats that went off every half hour until all heats were completed. Awards were given to the top four finishers of each heat. The top high school male runner, Isiah, came from Mrs. Tracy’s homeroom and the top high school female runner, Trinity, came from Mrs. Kollmorgen’s homeroom. Quinton from Ms. Steele’s high school class also qualified as a top runner. Top finishers in the middle and junior high school were Adam from Ms. Curcio’s homeroom, Tyler from Mr. Gabbard’s homeroom, and Justin from Ms. Siegfried’s homeroom. Chris from Mrs. Kutzler’s homeroom ran his way into the top runner position of the 11:00 race.
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See the link below for video highlights of the inaugural Turkey Trot race!
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Grant Funds Resources for Remote Learning
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The Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 Early Intervention and some School Age programs were the recipients of grant that funded remote learning resource bags for our families. The bags feature various learning items from PBS, including a loaner Raspberry Pi that has social-emotional lessons from the popular children's show Daniel Tiger. Schools can also upload additional lessons in the future to this device.
The bags were distributed to CIU 20 families at various IU buildings. Families will fill out a survey so that the effectiveness of these remote learning bags can be studied.
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Kiwanis Club of Easton Partnership
Evolves During Pandemic
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For 40 years, Colonial IU 20 has partnered with the Kiwanis Club of Easton on a holiday party that is typically attended by over 150 students in our programs. This year's party was cancelled due to the pandemic, but the gracious Kiwanians volunteered to create special treat bags to be sent home with the students that would have traditionally attended the party.
The treat bags were assembled by Kiwanis members at the CIU 20 central office and then delivered by CIU 20 supervisors to students in their classrooms. Colonial IU 20 is proud of this long-range community partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Easton and we are thankful for their flexibility to continue this tradition.
Thanks to Shop Rite, Just Born, Keystone Foods, Charlie Adams, Neil and Sue Gallagher, and James and Janet Owen for providing the bags and treats.
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Partnership Advocacy is Focus of Family Engagement Series
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On November 18, 2020, Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 kicked off this year's Family Engagement Series with a session focused on Partnership Advocacy and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Collaboration. Upcoming sessions throughout the school year will revolve around the importance of communication between families and educators throughout various parts of the IEP process to maximize outcomes for students.
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At the November 18, 2020 kick-off meeting, a video was shown that detailed the efforts that went into creating "IEP Binders" that will aid families in advocating for their children at IEP meetings throughout the school year. The binders were funded through the Families to the Max SEED grant from PEAL, PATTAN, and HUNE. The components of the binder were cultivated by the CIU 20 Parent Support T.E.A.M. and students with life skills needs put together 130 binders that will be distributed to families in CIU 20 programs.
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This year's Family Engagement Series is being coordinated by Dr. Dan Cullen, CIU 20 Supervisor of Special Education, in partnership with the CIU 20 Parent Support T.E.A.M. - a group of families that network, learn, and support each other with the educational journeys of their children with special needs.
The group routinely meets with CIU 20 leadership to keep the lines of communication open, and is founded by Caterina Campbell. Nikki Huggan serves as co-leader.
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See the link below for the full video that digs deeper into this partnership advocacy journey.
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Follow us on our social media channels to learn more about the resiliency of #AmazingIU20Kids and creative approaches to learning that our #AmazingIU20Staff have implemented!
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At Colonial IU 20, we believe in RELATIONSHIPS that support student growth, RESPONSIVENESS to stakeholders crucial needs, RESULTS demonstrated through effective services and programs, and INNOVATION to improve student outcomes.
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Colonial IU 20 provides educational, administrative, and management services to 13 school districts and 3 career and technical centers in Northampton, Monroe, and Pike Counties. As one of the community’s largest employers and contributors, the 1,400 full and part-time staff at CIU 20 provides direct and indirect services to 79,000 public school children; 9,000 non-public school children; and 7,000 professional staff in our service region of 1,200 square miles.
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