AzTEA+News+and+Announcements

**YOU'RE INVITED!! (PDF of invitation to download and share with other interested parties) media type="custom" key="3111474"**

 Feel free to share this information to anyone you feel would be interested in the content.**
 * Posted for Cathy Poplin January 13, 2009

Happy New Year!

First all, I would like to thank districts/schools that participated in Speak Up 2008. We were one of 4 states (Alabama, Delaware, Maryland and Arizona) that had 2% or more of their students take the survey! Thank you for promoting it!

Districts/schools that participated in Speak Up 2008 will be able to access your data online sometime in February. I will receive the state aggregated data in April or May.

New Speak Up Opportunity

The email below tells about another chance for student voices to be heard. Students have the opportunity to let President-Elect Obama and his administration know their thoughts to this open-ended question: “What is the one thing you would do to improve schools?” The new survey will be open until January 20, 2009, Inauguration Day.

Please pass this on to teachers that you feel would be interested in having their students involved in sending a message to President-Elect Obama.

Thank you!

Cathy

Cathy J. Poplin Deputy Associate Superintendent for Educational Technology Arizona Department of Education

Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 5:56 PM Subject: Give Your Students the Chance to Speak Up to President-Elect Obama**
 * From: Julie Evans, CEO, Project Tomorrow [mailto:Julie_Evans_CEO_Project_Tomorrow@mail.vresp.com]

 Have the Chance to Speak Up to President-Elect Obama and give him your thoughts on this question: “What is the one thing you would do to improve schools?” Students around the country have the chance to share their thoughts on improving education with President-Elect Obama and the new Congress by participating in the new Mini-Speak Up survey. Speak Up, a national survey conducted annually by Project Tomorrow, closed its survey of parents, teachers and students on December 23rd with over 315,000 surveys submitted, but one open-ended question will remain online for all students through January 20th, Inauguration Day -- only one week left!

Here is the open-ended question that is available to all K-12 students in the United States to answer:

“Imagine you are the President of the United States (or the leader of your country) and your #1 education goal is to make sure every student is prepared for the jobs and careers of the future. What is the one thing you would do to improve schools to ensure that all students receive the education and skills they need to be successful in life?”

Congressman Mike Ross  (AR) is helping us with our annual Congressional Briefing in Washington DC on March 24th, when we will release the national findings from our Speak Up surveys and the special responses from our Inauguration survey. This is a great opportunity for your students to have a real voice in the new policies and programs that will be debated in Washington DC over the next few months. If you wanted to participate in Speak Up 2008, but ran out of time, this is your opportunity! Participation is easy and quick. Click here to have your students take the Inauguration Survey.  We've even included a sample email below that you can send out to your stakeholders today! "Students have lots of good ideas about their education. Unfortunately, too often their voices are not encouraged or not taken seriously. We are very excited to share the voices of America’s students with our newly elected leaders as they make plans for new policies, programs, and funding for education,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow.

Here are some sample ideas on how to get your students involved in the Mini-Speak Up survey today: Have your teachers lead a class discussion on this important topic. Encourage students to share their own ideas. Assign the survey as homework – students can complete the short mini survey from any Internet accessible computer – at home, at school, at the public library.

Promote this unique opportunity to your school parents through your portal, website or parent support groups. Encourage the parents to have a “dinner table” conversation and support their students’ involvement.

Hold a school or district contest to solicit creative thinking and new ideas to share with Washington DC. Reward your school or class that submits the most new ideas. Engage your community in this campaign by sharing information about your school or district’s participation through the local newspaper or news station.

Model participation as a lesson in civic engagement and patriotism. Every student can have a voice in national plans and programs for education through this special mini Speak Up survey. Make sure that your students have a chance to be part of history this month. Click here to have your students participate in “Speaking Up to the New President” today.  Here's an email message you can use to promote Speak Up to your students: Calling All K-12 Students: Speak Up to the New President! Special Mini-Speak Up Survey open through Inauguration Day, January 20th, 2009 “What is the one thing you would do to improve schools to ensure that all students receive the education and skills they need to be successful in life?”

You have the opportunity to participate in our democracy by sharing your ideas for improving our schools with President Elect-Obama and the new Congress.

It’s quick and easy through the online, mini Speak Up survey available at http://www.netdayspeakup.org/inauguration08/. This special survey, which is part of Project Tomorrow’s larger Speak Up project, will be open until January 20th, 2009.

Results will be shared with the new Administration during a Congressional Briefing on March 24, 2009 in Washington, DC. This is a great opportunity for you to have a real voice in the new policies that will be debated in Washington, DC over the next few months!

To learn more about Project Tomorrow, the organization that facilitates the Speak Up survey, visit www.tomorrow.org. Since 2003, over 1.5 million students, educators and parents have shared their ideas through Speak Up. To learn more, visit http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/. Speak Up 2008: A Success! Having just completed its 6th year, Speak Up is the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered input on education and technology from those ‘on the ground’ in the schools. More than 260,000 students, 21,000 parents and 32,000 teachers and administrators participated in this year’s surveys from schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The Speak Up surveys are open to every public and private school and district in the United States, American schools on military bases, and other interested schools worldwide. Schools that have not previously participated in Speak Up 2008 may register to participate in the mini-survey below. Click here to activate your registration to participate in the new Mini-Speak Up survey now!  

Special thanks to our Speak Up 2008 sponsors and partners! Speak Up would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors and outreach assistance from our nonprofit partners. Many thanks to our Speak Up 2008 sponsors: CDW-G , SMART Technologies  , PASCO scientific  , Blackboard, Inc.  , William and Flora Hewlett Foundation  , 1105 Media-Education Group  and Wimba <http://www.wimba.com>.

Also, we extend a special thanks to our National Outreach Partners – SETDA, CoSN and NSBA for their wonderful support. Learn more about our sponsors and partners <http://cts.vresp.com/c/?ProjectTomorrow/bbe62449d1/6aacb4fa6b/455ddfe69e> We hope that you will choose to have your students "speak up" to President-Elect Obama. If you have any questions about the Speak Up project, please contact us at speakup@tomorrow.org. Thank you for your dedication to your students and your encouragement of their civic engagement through Speak Up.

Sincerely,

Julie

Julie Evans CEO Project Tomorrow http://www.tomorrow.org

The mission of Project Tomorrow is to promote and support the innovative, research-based uses of science, math and technology resources to develop critical thinking, problem solving and creativity in all K-12 students. Project Tomorrow is a national education nonprofit organization.

Project Tomorrow 15707 Rockfield Boulevard, Suite 330 Irvine, CA 92618 949-609-4660 email: speakup@tomorrow.org Read <http://www.verticalresponse.com/content/pm_policy.html> the VerticalResponse marketing policy. <http://www.verticalresponse.com/landing/?mm/bbe62449d1> <span style="color: rgb(0, 64, 128);"><span style="display: block; color: rgb(22, 69, 26); text-align: center;">

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