Upcoming Professional Development

It is time to start making your plans for the professional development sessions that are budgeted for this summer. The sessions were initially budgeted for the SPARK Summer Institute, which is always fantastic. However, I have gotten some feedback from some of you that you would prefer to keep the SPARK training sessions that are scheduled during the school year and use the summer training money for another function.

Sportime hosts a Technology Conference every summer that will instruct you in the optimal use of your Suunto Heart Rate Monitor systems. The conference has been in the Atlanta area in the past, and I believe it will be in the same spot this coming summer. The conference instructors will include individuals who have used the product the same way that you are -- in a classroom setting. You will also receive training on the HeartZones curriculum. That in and of itself is worth the registration cost.

The costs are real close between the two conferences and there would be no additional district money that would be required for the Technology Conference. Please let me know if you would like additional information regarding this particular event.

Back in the Saddle

I just got back from the national AAHPERD meeting and had a fantastic time. I got to spend time with most of you while I was there...I did miss seeing a couple of you and wish I could have gotten in touch with you while we were both in town. For those of you who I did get to meet, thanks for taking time out of your conference and beach (just kidding project directors) schedules to meet with me. Howl at the Moon in Tampa is one of the best dueling piano bars in the country. I will tell you this about that night, South Dakota PE teachers know how to rip up the town. Texas A&M associate professors are way too cute, way too fun.

So a couple of deadlines that you need to be aware of:
May 15th - For those of you who did not get the data for the Progress Report completed (and you know who you are), please make sure you work with me to get the right data in my hands so I can get the reports completed in a timely fashion.
May 21st - The is the deadline for you to request your funding from the Federal Government. The real deadline is May 30th, but we need to make sure we get the funding requested a little early just in case.
June 1st - The date we can cut PO's for the 2009-10 school year implementation. I will be on the road for most of April and May, so make sure I contact you to get a date to sit down to plan your implementation for next year. Let's be more aggressive with the evaluation calendar so we can get most of the data turned in during January 2010.

The main reason I go to the national AAHPERD conference is to meet with you, my clients. I did take the chance to meander through the trade show and attend some sessions that I think may be of value to you. I did find some new resources for equipment. The more I look around, the more I like SPARK, StationPE, and FitnessWise as the curriculum platforms to be used for the implementation of PEP programs. The curriculum for each of the programs is good, but the people behind the programs are also fantastic. I am still in awe at how well they know their jobs and the programs. I love working with the vendors that I have.

If you have any feedback on the show or ideas that have come up, please email me and let me do some research before I come out to your site this spring. I would love to talk them through with you to see if they fit within the scope and sequence of your program. I prefer to stick to the plan that was originally proposed, but small deviations in equipment, for example, are alright as long as they fit within the plan.

I am looking forward to meeting with all of you soon!