April - June 2013 Carson City School District

Page 1 Carson City School District Hires Project Leads for Race to the Top

Special points of in- terest: Race to the Top, a federally ed to Race to the Top. These dates selected for these posi-  What is a Project awarded grant to Carson City individuals will support both tions have previous experi- Lead? School District, has allowed the district office as well site ence performing the many  Getting to know your the district to implement spe- leaders at each location in the duties encompassed within site leader cific curricular, instructional, implementation of instruction- these crucial positions; how- and assessment improvements al, curricular, and assessment ever, all four selected staff  Meet the implemen- in it’s secondary schools. To modifications, in alignment members posses the ideal tation teams for our help facilitate these changes, with the district’s previously skill sets to lead the many secondary schools Carson City School District has submitted and approved grant projected tasks and ventures hired Implementation Special- application. Project leads will on their perspective campus- ists as well as Project Leads at also mentor implementation es. each site. specialist members, assisting in Inside this issue: their continued growth and As project leads, staff members familiarity within these posi- will serve as the campus coor- Carson High Implementa- 2 tions. Three of the four candi- tion Team dinators for all endeavors relat-

Pioneer High Project 4 Lead - Candi Ruf

Carson Middle School 5 Project Lead and Imple- Carson High School Project Lead-Allen Gosselin mentation Specialists

Eagle Valley Project 6 Allen Gosselin is an RTT-D Gosselin served as a regional Lead and Implementation Implementation Specialist and trainer for WNRTP, facilitating Specialists the designated team lead for professional development for Carson High School. He brings ’s five western districts Three Administrative 7 27 years of experience to the in the areas of school improve- Assistants Hired district, including 25 years as a ment planning (SIP), co- Quarterly Accomplish- 8 classroom teacher, grades K-12, teaching, instructional strategies ments and has twice been recognized (T4S) and PLC/collaborative by his peers as a teacher of the practices. year (Eureka County School District, 1989 and Douglas High School, 2000). In addition to his classroom experience, Mr.

Page 2 CARSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Volume 1, Issue 2

Carson High School Implementation Team

Ben Contine is an Implemen- the co-teach model. Recently, izing. He holds a Bachelor’s tation Specialist for Career and Mr. Contine served as Chair- Degree in Political Science, a Technical Education (CTE) in man of the Carson City School Master’s Degree in Special the Carson City School Dis- District’s Strategic Plan Com- Education, a Master’s Degree trict. He serves as the lead mittee, facilitating the develop- in Educational Leadership outreach coordinator and de- ment of the Empower Plan. and holds an Administrative veloper of the district’s com- The plan was unanimously License and TESL endorse- munity partnership program. adopted by the Carson City ment. Mr. Contine has been After an early career in politics School Board in 2012. Mr. identified as an educational and community organizing, Contine has been named the agent of change committed Mr. Contine worked as a spe- Ormsby County Education to empowering students as cial education teacher in both Association Rookie of the Year, lifelong learners ready to the Clark County and Carson Carson City Rotary’s Teacher of innovate, adapt, and succeed City School Districts. He was the Month, and presented a City in a changing world. Ben Contine recognized for his work as an Life Magazine “Local Hero” interventionist and expertise in award for neighborhood organ-

Michele Lewis is the Career and Tech- ment Manager before recently recognized by the nical Education (CTE) Administrator moving on to become Nevada Association for Ca- in the Carson City School District. the Administrator at reer and Technical Educa- She began her career in 1983 in Eure- Washoe County School tion with the Award of Ser- ka, Nevada, where she was the agricul- District’s CTE high vice – the highest recogni- ture science teacher and advisor for school – Regional tion given by the associa- the Diamond Mountain FFA Chapter. Technical Institute tion. She has earned the She then served as one of the first (now AACT). Honorary American FFA Tech Prep coordinators in Nevada She has been with Car- Degree and has served on and was instrumental in moving this son City School Dis- the Douglas County School initiative forward by working with the trict since 2005 and has District Board of Trustees Nevada Board of Education and Uni- served as dean of stu- and the Nevada Interscho- versity of Nevada Regents to develop dents and administrator lastic Activities Association a joint tech prep agreement, which – for CTE programs at Board of Control. All of after many modifications and amend- Carson High School. these awards speak to Mich- ments – is still in use today. She has received many ele’s passion for inspiring Ms. Lewis then went on to serve as awards for her dedica- students to reach their full- the Nevada FFA Executive Director tion to CTE, such as est potential for premier where her work revitalized the Neva- the Nevada CTE Edu- leadership, personal growth da FFA Foundation and established cator of the Year, Ne- and career success. the Nevada Agriculture license plate, vada Agriculture which provides annual income to the Teacher’s Association FFA organization. After earning a Member of the Year, Master’s degree in Education Leader- and the coveted Bill ship, Ms. Lewis spent a year at Cuesta Trabert Memorial Award for Excellence in College as the Workforce Develop- Occupational Education. She was most

Page 3 CARSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Volume 1, Issue 2

As a native sinusitis and medical imaging da Teacher of the Year. This honor Carsonite, Cheryl Macy exams. Although her hospi- gifted her with a great deal of profes- attended Carson High tal work excited her, she sional development on topics ranging School, where she now decided to become a teacher from ESEA to teacher leadership to works as Implementa- and returned to UNR for her crafting messages for the media. During tion Specialist. After education classes. Mrs. Macy this time, Mrs. Macy developed her high school, she attend- has taught English for four- platform on the relationship between ed the University of teen years, spending five sleep and success in school. In 2012, Nevada, Reno, earning a years as Speech and Debate Mrs. Macy had to opportunity to visit degree in English with a Coach and five years as Lan- China with the NEA Foundation, minor in American His- guage Arts Department where she was able to visit a middle tory. During this time, Chair. Her work as a teacher school and a specialized career and Mrs. Macy worked as a leader inspired her to get her technical high school, as well as an clerk and Continuous Master’s degree in Education American company out-sourcing in Quality Improvement Administration from Grand China. These opportunities have ex- coach for the Medical Canyon University, which panded her understanding of what our Imaging Department of lead to a year-long internship students and our schools need to im- Carson-Tahoe Hospital. as dean at Eagle Valley Mid- prove. All of these experiences fur- While there, Mrs. Macy dle School. In 2011, Mrs. thered her love of curriculum, instruc- co-authored a paper on Macy was named the Neva- tion and teacher leadership.

Mena Dedmon has been a teacher for 13 end of her first year and remained in years. She lives in Minden with her hus- that capacity until returning to the Unit- band, an English teacher, and her two ed States. daughters aged 8 and 3. Her first job in education was teaching US History, World Next, she taught grade 7 World Geogra- Geography, and Leadership at Pau-Wa-Lu phy and Leadership at Carson Middle Middle School in Douglas County. During School from 2011 until she was moved this time she was an annual participant in to Carson High School as an implemen- the Teaching American History Project tation specialist under the RTT-D grant. (TAHP) in Washoe County. She twice While at CMS, she mentored her second served as the master teacher for TAHP student teacher. summer institutes and participated in fel- lowship program at the National Archives. Ms. Dedmon has a Master's Degree in In 2008 she sat on the panel which revised Teaching History (MATH) from UNR. the Social Studies standards for the state of Nevada.

Next came a three year stint as an ESL teacher at the Koc School in Istanbul, Turkey. The Koc School is a private Turk- ish school working with a focus on bilin- gual instruction. While there, she and two colleagues developed a discipline policy that was adopted school-wide. Ms. Ded- Mena Dedmon mon was selected as the 6th grade level leader for the English department at the

Page 4 Carson City School District Page 4

interests focus on working with other Sarah Lobsinger received her Bachelor’s teachers and her current projects include degree in Secondary Mathematics from implementing Common Core Standards in Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, mathematics throughout the district. In Oklahoma and has taught middle school addition, she serves as the Implementation and high school mathematics in Oklaho- Specialist for the Race to the Top Grant at ma, Texas, and Nevada. She has taught Carson High School. Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry at Carson High School for the past 8 years. Ms. Lobsinger’s love of teaching began at the age of 4 when she taught her cats and stuffed animals how to write numbers and letters on her chalkboard. A strong advocate for teaching students to love learning, she involves her students in ex- ploring new ways in applying their knowledge of mathematics. Her current professional Sarah Lobsinger

Pioneer High School Project Lead-Candi Ruf

Candi Ruf received a Bachelor of Arts in Hard of Hearing, Autistic, and GATE English and Secondary Teaching Creden- students. Additionally, Ms. Ruf is a tial from the University of Nevada, Reno certified Write…from the Beginning and began her teaching career at Proctor Thinking Maps Teacher Trainer and R. Hug High School in Reno, Nevada Cognitive Coach. She served as a New where she taught 9th, 10th, 11th grade Eng- Hire Mentor for two years and was a lish. In addition, Ms. Ruf reinstated the three year member of the CCSD Eng- Journalism class and monthly newspaper lish Language Arts Curriculum Mapping as well as curriculum mapped, piloted, Team for third grade. Additionally, Ms. and co-taught a transitional English Ruf served on various site-based com- course for students moving out of self- mittees including Safety, Nevada Day, contained or immersion programs into Spelling Bee, Principal’s Advisory, and mainstream classrooms. She also served Climate. as Cheerleading Advisor, Drill team Advi- Currently Ms. Ruf is the Implementa- sor, Class advisor, and Speech and Debate tion Specialist for Pioneer High School Coach. and is working on her TESOL Certifica- In 2006 Ms. Ruf returned to the class- tion. room after certifying in Elementary Edu- cation at College. She taught third grade at Bordewich Bray Ele- mentary School for 7 years. As a co- teacher utilizing the Inclusion Model, she worked with Special Education, Deaf and

Page 5 Carson City School District Page 5 Carson Middle School Project Lead-Amy Burton

Amy Burton is lead for the School Proficiency Writing Ex- . She has presented Carson Middle School imple- am, and a T4S observer and on PLCs, vocabulary study, and mentation team. Burton has Professional Learning Commu- teacher learning. Her literacy over twenty years of teaching nity facilitator. In addition, Bur- coursework resulted in a reading experience in English Language ton earned a National Board endorsement from UNR. In Arts and Journalism. She began certification in ELA in 2005 2008 Burton transferred to the her teaching career in 1991 as a and was awarded Teacher of the Northern Nevada Regional Pro- middle school ELA teacher in Year at CCHS. These interests fessional Development Team in northern Virginia after receiv- and accomplishments led to her Reno, NV, serving Washoe ing her masters of education selection as a regional trainer County and continued her work from the University of Virginia, for the Western Nevada Re- with program evaluation. In Curry School of Education. gional Training Program addition, she began focusing on Since then Burton has taught (WNRTP) in 2006 serving Car- secondary literacy and teacher ELA and journalism courses to son City, Churchill, Douglas, leadership through professional research in a laboratory class- various age groups ranging Lyon and Mineral counties. learning communities. In 2009, room setting and was selected by from 6th grade through com- While with WNRTP, Burton Burton chose to focus her pro- Dr. Shane Templeton, co- munity college and university specialized in program develop- fessional development skills at developer of Words Their Way, to adults in both northern Virginia ment using the backward as- the site level. She joined Traner be filmed teaching academic and Nevada. In addition she sessment model. During her Middle School’s faculty to ex- vocabulary in that setting by has taught secondary literacy work as a regional trainer, Bur- plore a holistic approach to Pearson Publishing Group. It courses at the University of ton was accepted to the Univer- teacher-led professional learn- was this experience that led Bur- Nevada, Reno. Burton began sity of Nevada, Reno, College ing. While at Traner, Burton ton to be interested in Carson exploring teacher leadership of Education doctoral program coordinated an academic vocab- City’s Race to the Top project, and professional development in secondary literacy. Through ulary professional development which took a similar systemic while teaching ELA at Church- her doctoral studies Burton partnership with UNR’s Dr. approach to a district level. ill County High School when began to present her action Dianna Townsend, trained with While working as an implemen- she was selected as a trainer for research findings at professional the Teacher Development tation specialist, Burton chose to the Nevada State Standards, a conferences throughout the Group in coaching mathematics switch her doctoral program at scorer for the Nevada High instruction, conducted action UNR from secondary literacy to educational leadership.

Jeremy Lewis is currently department chair. In addi- closely with the EVMS Imple- an Implementation Special- tion, Mr. Lewis has a strong mentation Specialists to align ist at Carson Middle School background in computers ELA curriculum and assess- for the Race to the Top Dis- and ments between the two middle trict Grant (RTT-D) award- schools and begin the imple- ed to Carson City School mentation process of the District by the U.S. Depart- information technology and Learner-Centered Model. ment of Education. Mr. has been an essential re- source for CMS staff. In addition to education, Mr. Lewis holds a bachelor’s Lewis enjoys music, comput- degree in communications As a fellow teacher, Mr. ers, art, gardening, bicycling, & journalism from Sonoma Lewis has fostered collabo- snowboarding, and spending State University and a mas- ration and designed cross- time with his wife and two ter’s degree in teaching curricular instruction be- daughters. from Sierra Nevada Col- tween 8th grade English Lan- lege. guage Arts and social stud- As a teacher for the Carson ies. He has earned the re- City School District at Car- spect of his peers and was son Middle School, Mr. Carson Middle School’s Jeremy Lewis Teacher of the Year for 2011 Lewis has been a special education teacher, an 8th -2012. grade English Language During the life of the Eagle Arts teacher, the ELA de- Valley Middle School SIG partment chair, and lead Grant, Mr. Lewis worked

Page 6 CARSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Volume 1, Issue 2

Jeff Greb is currently an Implementation Specialist at Carson Middle School. He taught English at Carson High School beginning in 1995 and taught students at all grade and ability levels, from remedial freshmen classes to Advanced Placement seniors. He holds a BA in English from UCLA, attended graduate school at CSULA, and earned his teaching education license through SNC. He also holds a MA in Education Administration and Supervision from University of Phoenix and is currently working on his doctorate in Educational Leadership. From 2010-2013, Mr. Greb served as CHS Language Arts Department Chair. In addition, he has held numerous leadership positions within the district. He is a former president of OCEA and currently serves as vice president. Mr. Greb has chaired and served on a wide variety of education committees at the site, district, and state levels. For example, he was an item writer as well as content reviewer of the Nevada HSPE reading test for over 12 years. He was also a site trainer for CHS when state stand- ards rolled out beginning in 1999.

Prior to beginning his teaching career, Mr. Greb worked in various positions at Griffith Observatory and as Implementation and Support Coordinator for Public Storage Management, Inc., the world's larg est private landlord.

When not working, Mr. Greb enjoys writing poetry and music, reading, and fishing.

Eagle Valley Middle School Project Lead-Kari Pryor

Kari Pryor is currently an Imple- Learning Communities, Cogni- When not working, Ms. Pryor mentation Specialist at Eagle Val- tive Coaching, and mathemat- enjoys spending time with her ley Middle School and serves as ics. She holds a BS and Master’s son, hiking, camping, and the Teacher on Special Assign- Degree in Elementary Educa- finding new hidden hot spots ment Cognitive Coaching Train- tion. Ms. Pryor is also a nation- in Reno, NV where she cur- er. She taught at the elementary ally certified Cognitive Coach- rently resides. level for 8 years before leaving the ing Agency Trainer. classroom to work in staff develop- ment and facilitation. Prior to join- ing Carson City School District in 2010, Ms. Pryor worked for the Douglas County Professional De- velopment Center as the New Hire/Mentor trainer and the K-6 Elementary Mathematics Special-

ist. Her career in professional de- velopment continued when she left Douglas County to work for the Western Nevada Regional Train- ing Program (WNRTP) where she supported 5 counties throughout western Nevada in the areas of effective instruction, Professional

Page 7 CARSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Volume 1, Issue 2

Kim Whisler graduated from Northern Ari- of Education and Carson City School zona University Summa Cum Laude in 1997 District to help implement the with a B.A. in Elementary Education. She Common Core State Standards for worked in the Carson City School District Mathematics. In 2010 she was for the past 17 years. Her first year was selected as the Carson Middle spent working as a substitute teacher. She School Teacher of the Year. was then hired as a 2nd grade teacher at Mark Twain Elementary School in 1998. Mrs. Whisler is currently working Since that time she has taught 4th grade, 5th as an Implementation Specialist at grade, 6th and 7th grade math, advanced Eagle Valley Middle School. math, and social studies.

Mrs. Whisler has served in many leadership positions. She has been a grade level repre- sentative, math department chair, and served on various committees at the school sites. Mrs. Whisler spent 3 years participating on the Nevada Mathematics and Science Lead- ership Cadre in collaboration with the Uni- versity of Las Vegas Nevada. She also spent time working with the Nevada Department

District Hires Three Exceptional Administrative Assistants

Paige Ellis is a Senior Office Specialist for Carson City School District’s Race to the Top project. She is currently working on- site at Carson High School as support for the Implementation Specialists. Mrs. Ellis comes to her current position with a varied work history. She began her professional career as a secretary for Robert’s Home Improvement, where she handled the budgeting and daily administration. Later, she enjoyed working in various positions for JCPenney, including Visual Specialist, Catalog Supervisor and Shoe Supervisor. Her supervisory roles at JCPenney provided opportunity for honing her problem-solving and people skills. Wanting to continue to develop these skills, Mrs. Ellis went to work for the Dollar Tree, where she was hired as Freight Manager/Assistant Store Manager. Over the years, these professional positions have given Mrs. Ellis opportunities to gain skills as well as develop her natural abilities. As a natural problem-solver, Mrs. Ellis enjoys a challenge. She enjoys using computers to manage data and track budg- ets and is always exploring new ways to use technology in her work. Mrs. Ellis is passionate about education and is currently enrolled at Western Nevada College. Her enthusiasm for her job, passion for learning, and her admirable work ethic has made her an excellent choice for her role as a Senior Office Specialist in a school setting.

Paige Ellis

Page 8 CARSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Volume 1, Issue 2

Cheri’ Hall is a Senior Office Specialist, working for the Race to The Top grant in the Carson City School District, and is located at Carson High School. Mrs. Hall has 20 years’ experience working with the public, both in-group settings as well as one-on-one. Cheri’ communicates with a sense of optimism and purpose. She has the ability to listen attentively, while showing respect and concern for others. She brings to the team a keen sense of knowledge in social skills and interpersonal rela- tions, as well as determination in accomplishing set goals; all while remaining ever vigilant in her positive outlook and attitude. In Mrs. Hall’s past, she was given the Miss Congeniality award when she was in the Douglas County Pageant.

Cheri’ Hall

Jenae Stryffeler is currently a Senior Office Special- degree, potentially in the education field as ist, working out of the Carson City well as her personal School District office. Mrs. Stryffeler training certification. comes from a varied and extensive When not working, Mrs. background; she is a United States Ar- Stryffeler enjoys travel- my veteran, and although never de- ing, having been to al- ployed, feels that her somewhat brief most all 50 states, exer- enlistment taught her the importance of cising, hiking, riding her teamwork and dedication to any goal, whether professional or personal. Mrs. bicycle, and spending Stryffeler also worked at Arkansas Chil- time with her family. dren’s Hospital for a time, and refers to this period of her life as the most hum- bling experience she’s ever had. Mrs. Stryffeler has an apprentice electrician license, experience as a 911 dispatcher, and brings years of administrative assis- tance experience, having worked at We- ber County Fire District in Weber County, Utah for several years. Mrs. Stryffeler recently graduated from Truckee Meadows Community College with an Associates of Arts degree and has her sights set on obtaining her Bachelor’s Jenae Stryffeler

Race to the Top

Carson City School District 1402 West King St Carson City, Nv 89703 Phone: 775-283-2022 Fax: 775-283-2090 E-mail: [email protected]

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. - Gail Devers

RTT-D Quarterly Accomplishments

 Hired Implementation  School support teams nect.” This program will on creating a tool to Specialist (IS) staff mem- continue their meetings allow staff to monitor stu- monitor the development bers including one admin- and formed leadership dent progress toward meet- of the curriculum and istrator on special assign- teams composed of dis- ing and achieving mastery assessments for all cours- ment. trict office staff of standards. es.  Set up monthly progress  Each group developed  Scope of Work: work is reports with the school their first 90 day plan for continuing on this item. board each campus, and begun This process includes veri- implementation. fying the expected out-  Developed and imple- comes, tasks, and program mented training for IS  Alignment meetings with evaluation for the project. staff, including developing Western Nevada College An initial outlay of one skill sets related to curricu- and Carson City School million dollars was released lum and assessment. Im- District have begun work by the USDOE, with the plementation Specialists in the area of school to remaining balance available also participate and con- career alignment; testing upon request once the duct trainings in: Cogni- includes the Accuplacer Scope of Work and perfor- tive Coaching, setting and program develop- mance expectations are learning targets, as well as ment. *As of July 1, 2013 the district has approved. met the timelines and obligations T4S (classroom observa-  The district selected and laid out in the initial application. tion data.)  Program evaluation: the purchased a student data program evaluation focuses system “Mastery Con-