Cooperative Link : Spring 2005

Center for Academic Excellence

The “Gathering of Champions”—August 5th—Camp Snoopy Ballroom, Mall of America

Plans for the “2005 Gathering of Champions” are underway —schools are recognizing students as “Academic All-Stars” and sending in their nominations for students to attend the event. The Gathering of Champions will take place on Friday, August 5, 2005, at the Camp Snoopy Ballroom at the Mall of America. The Gathering of Champions is a statewide event created in 1990 to celebrate the accomplishments of K–12 students selected as “Academic All-Stars” by their schools or academic challenge providers.

The Gathering is a day-long celebration honoring Minnesota’s Academic All-Star students! A series of recognition ceremonies, each of which lasts about 40 minutes, that will be repeated several times during the day, with the first program beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the final program beginning at 6:00 p.m. Participating students will be recognized on the Camp Snoopy Ballroom stage as she/he receives a Certificate of Achievement and other items, including discount certificates for rides at Camp Snoopy and discount purchases from participating mall merchants.

For more information on the Gathering of Champions, to pre-register for a show or order a tee-shirt, please visit the CAE website, www.mncae.org.

What Works? Ask the Students! Survey—10th Year Anniversary: An Additional Opportunity for “Academic All-Stars”

In conjunction with this year’s Gathering of Champions (GOC), the Center for Academic Excellence is inviting Academic All-Star students to take part in a ten-year anniversary of the original What Works? Ask the Students! Survey —please encourage your all-star student to participate. (Details for survey participation were provided on your informational sheet for the Gathering.)

In 1995, the What Works? Ask the Students! Symposia and Survey asked a representative group of 8th and 10th graders to describe what did and did not help them learn: what was important to them in terms of teaching, motivation, school culture, instruction, learning outcomes, receiving encouragement or insistence, feedback, the school environment and curriculum. Now, ten years later, the Center for Academic Excellence is asking students in Minnesota what works for them as learners. We invite your student Academic All-Stars, with the help of their parents or teachers, to participate in an online version of the 1995 survey.

After the GOC recognition event, CAE will publish the aggregated results of the survey and a comparison to the 1995 results. The 1995 report is currently available as a PDF file on the CAE website: www.mncae.org/resources/what_works_programs.html.

Blue Ribbon Panel Convenes to Review Educator Applications

2005 marks the seventh year of the WEM Foundation Outstanding Educator Awards, honoring unsung heroes of the education profession in three categories: Academic Challenge Coach of the Year, Teacher Achievement, and Ethics in Education. A special Blue Ribbon Panel convened on May 13th at the Minnesota Department of Education to review teacher applications and make recommendations to the Foundation for the recipients of these awards. Applications were also reviewed and recommendations made to the state for the Milken Foundation Educator Awards.

This year, CAE is teaming with the service cooperative members of the Minnesota Regional Service Agency (MRSA) to aid in promoting the educator award program on a regional basis. After the six state award honorees have been determined, regional honorees will also be recognized by the eight service cooperatives in all categories based on the results of the Blue Ribbon Panel. The six statewide honorees will each be awarded an unrestricted $10,000 cash prize and crystal apple, courtesy of the WEM Foundation.

Panel award recommendations are currently being reviewed by the award donors and honoree announcements will be made in the near future. Please visit the CAE website, www.mncae.org, for more information on the Educator Awards Program and to view the 2005 recipients once released.


From the Executive Director / From the Editor / About SCSC / Calendar of Events *Programs and Services* Insurance / Carl Perkins / Center for Academic Excellence / Cooperative Purchasing / Finance / Health and Safety / HHH Institute-Marketing Strategies Workshop / Paraprofessional / Special Education *Student Enrichment Programs* Fine Arts Conference / Knowledge Bowl / MN Academic Decathlon / MN Student Inventors Congress / Real World 101 / Water is Life Art Contest / Young Writer's Conference Spring Issue Home Page Previous Issues of Cooperative Link Return to SCSC Home Page	Center for Academic Excellence *The “Gathering of Champions”—August 5th—Camp Snoopy Ballroom, Mall of America* Plans for the “2005 Gathering of Champions” are underway —schools are recognizing students as “Academic All-Stars” and sending in their nominations for students to attend the event. The Gathering of Champions will take place on Friday, August 5, 2005, at the Camp Snoopy Ballroom at the Mall of America. The Gathering of Champions is a statewide event created in 1990 to celebrate the accomplishments of K–12 students selected as “Academic All-Stars” by their schools or academic challenge providers. The Gathering is a day-long celebration honoring Minnesota’s Academic All-Star students! A series of recognition ceremonies, each of which lasts about 40 minutes, that will be repeated several times during the day, with the first program beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the final program beginning at 6:00 p.m. Participating students will be recognized on the Camp Snoopy Ballroom stage as she/he receives a Certificate of Achievement and other items, including discount certificates for rides at Camp Snoopy and discount purchases from participating mall merchants. For more information on the Gathering of Champions, to pre-register for a show or order a tee-shirt, please visit the CAE website, www.mncae.org. What Works? Ask the Students! Survey—10th Year Anniversary: An Additional Opportunity for “Academic All-Stars” In conjunction with this year’s Gathering of Champions (GOC), the Center for Academic Excellence is inviting Academic All-Star students to take part in a ten-year anniversary of the original What Works? Ask the Students! Survey —please encourage your all-star student to participate. (Details for survey participation were provided on your informational sheet for the Gathering.) In 1995, the What Works? Ask the Students! Symposia and Survey asked a representative group of 8th and 10th graders to describe what did and did not help them learn: what was important to them in terms of teaching, motivation, school culture, instruction, learning outcomes, receiving encouragement or insistence, feedback, the school environment and curriculum. Now, ten years later, the Center for Academic Excellence is asking students in Minnesota what works for them as learners. We invite your student Academic All-Stars, with the help of their parents or teachers, to participate in an online version of the 1995 survey. After the GOC recognition event, CAE will publish the aggregated results of the survey and a comparison to the 1995 results. The 1995 report is currently available as a PDF file on the CAE website: www.mncae.org/resources/what_works_programs.html. Blue Ribbon Panel Convenes to Review Educator Applications 2005 marks the seventh year of the WEM Foundation Outstanding Educator Awards, honoring unsung heroes of the education profession in three categories: Academic Challenge Coach of the Year, Teacher Achievement, and Ethics in Education. A special Blue Ribbon Panel convened on May 13th at the Minnesota Department of Education to review teacher applications and make recommendations to the Foundation for the recipients of these awards. Applications were also reviewed and recommendations made to the state for the Milken Foundation Educator Awards. This year, CAE is teaming with the service cooperative members of the Minnesota Regional Service Agency (MRSA) to aid in promoting the educator award program on a regional basis. After the six state award honorees have been determined, regional honorees will also be recognized by the eight service cooperatives in all categories based on the results of the Blue Ribbon Panel. The six statewide honorees will each be awarded an unrestricted $10,000 cash prize and crystal apple, courtesy of the WEM Foundation. Panel award recommendations are currently being reviewed by the award donors and honoree announcements will be made in the near future. Please visit the CAE website, www.mncae.org, for more information on the Educator Awards Program and to view the 2005 recipients once released.	This newsletter is also available as an Acrobat PDF (1.3 MB) Free Acrobat Reader required for viewing.