Upcoming Events, Trainings and Recognition

Are you looking for a specialized professional development opportunity for Family and Consumer Sciences educators in your district? This two-day training in Salina is tailored directly to the needs of FCS educators in Kansas and will cover topics like work-based learning in the FCS classroom, managing an effective FCCLA chapter, methods for running a high-quality FCS program, and much more.  

Whether you are a new or veteran test coordinator, make plans to attend one of the mandatory trainings held across the state beginning in September.  

Every district must have a district test coordinator. It also is required that each district test coordinator attend annual security and ethics training before training all district staff involved in giving state assessments. 

Do you want to recognize and reward first-year educators in your district? The Kansas Horizon Award program offers school districts the opportunity to honor outstanding teachers after their first year in the classroom. 

The program, sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, recognizes and rewards first-year teachers who have served as examples of excellent teaching in their elementary or secondary classroom.  

The Presidential Scholars program recognizes and honors high school seniors who have demonstrated high achievements academically or in the arts — some having to overcome special challenges or hurdles to do so. 

Applications are being accepted for the 2025 United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) and are due Oct. 10. The students selected will be notified after Dec. 1. 

Make plans to attend this year’s Great Ideas in Education conference, “Lighting the Path Forward,” Oct. 23-25, by clicking here to register, make room reservations, access the schedule and see the list of titles, strands and audiences for the breakout sessions.  

NEW: College credit is now available. Click here for information. 

Attention teachers and other district staff: Please share with your future educators the 11th annual northeast regional Educators Rising Kansas conference will be 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Nov. 6.

FastBridge screening assessment measures give instructional teams a wealth of data. Yet, how do teams harness that data to inform instructional practice at the ground-level?  

During a no cost, one-day event, the Kansas Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) and Alignment team will guide districts in navigating several key FastBridge reports in order to make sense of the data and connect it to specific practices that ultimately impact student learning. 

Calling all school districts – time is of the essence! Check this recording at the 1:37 time stamp to see if your school or district has virtual learning to schedule. You can use the remaining virtual learning for any 60-minute session(s) in the Professional Learning Catalog. You can hold the session(s) at any point in the school year, but you do need to schedule it before Sept. 1 so that it does not expire.    

Reach out to scheduling@renaissance.com for more information or schedule your time here. 

August  

26: Counting KIDS Workshop, 1-4:30 p.m., Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center, Oakley. Email auditing@ksde.org with questions. 

27: Counting KIDS Workshop, 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Dodge City USD 443 district office building. Email auditing@ksde.org with questions. 

28: KESA 2.0 facilitator training, in-person, Southwest Plains, Sublette. Click here to register. Contact Pat Bone at pbone@ksde.org for more information.  

29: Counting KIDS Workshop, 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4:30 p.m., Auburn-Washburn USD 437 district office building. Email auditing@ksde.org with questions. 

29: KESA 2.0 facilitator training, in-person, Northwest Plains, Oakley. Click here to register. Contact Pat Bone at pbone@ksde.org for more information.