IN THIS ISSUE

A QUARTERLY UPDATE FROMMONTGOMERY COUNTY IU23

SUMMER 2016

DIVERSITY FAIR &BILL BAINBRIDGE

AWARD

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RETIREMENT CEREMONY &

EARTH DAY

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EARLY INTERVENTION

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ANDERSON SCHOOL SENIORS RECEIVE DIPLOMAS

Six Anderson School students celebrated graduation on June 8, 2016. Students were greeted and welcomed by MCIU Executive Director, Dr. John George, and MCIU Board President, Mr. Louis Polaneczky. MCIU’s Director of Student Services, Dr. Lois Robinson, presented Terrin Porter from Norristown Area School District with the Annual Dr. R. Thomas Marrone Resiliency Award. Anderson School Principal, Georgine Fronczak, welcomed Lori Schreiber, Community Liaison for the Power Program at Montgomery County Community College, who presented senior Erica McCarty, Souderton Area School District, with a full-tuition scholarship award to Montgomery County Community College. This year’s graduates were from the school districts of Cheltenham Township, Lower Moreland Township, Norristown Area, Perkiomen Valley, Souderton Area, and Spring-Ford Area. Dr. Brad Landis, MCIU Assistant Executive Director, congratulated the graduating class and made the closing remarks.

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2016 MONTCO DIVERSITY RECRUITMENT FAIR A HUGE SUCCESS

The Office of Human Resources of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) hosted another very successful Montgomery County Annual Diversity Recruitment Fair on April 13, 2016 at their main office at 2 West Lafayette Street in Norristown. There were more than 300 job seekers who attended the two hour event. Over 50 representatives from 18 Montgomery County school districts participated in this year’s Diversity Recruitment Fair. “The Diversity Recruitment Fair provides a great opportunity for prospective teachers and administrators to speak with our county’s district leadership about professional opportunities within the 22 school districts of Montgomery County,” said Jack Hurd, Director of Human Resources at the MCIU. “The MCIU is proud to host this event each year and the success of the Fair is directly attributed to the outstanding schools we have here in Montgomery County.”

Thank you to Kades Margolis, Kelly Services, Staffing Plus, Substitute Teacher Services (STS) and US Medical Staffing for attending the Fair, as well as our other corporate sponsors, Aflac and Independence Blue Cross, for their sponsorship. Finally, a special thank you to the staff of the MCIU Human Resources Office for their outstanding work coordinating and staffing this event.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JOHN HAMPTON - BILL BAINBRIDGE AWARD During the 2015-16 school year, John Hampton has accepted new responsibilities as he moved into the Lead Technology Support Coordinator position. As he continues to support Souderton and Lower Merion School Districts, he has taken on a larger role providing internal support to our IU staff and programs. He was an integral part of setting up technology solutions for the new HeadStart and Pre-K Counts programs. He is leading an outstanding technical support team, focusing on the details necessary to provide excellent customer service to our staff and conference center attendees. In addition, John has demonstrated additional leadership responsibility by participating on several IU committees. I know that I can count on John for an honest opinion and a complete commitment to quality work and outstanding customer service. He willingly comes in on scheduled days off when our workload is full. Many of you know that John is very mechanically inclined. Recently, we needed a tabletop mic stand and John said he would build one in his home woodshop. And he did!

The Bill Bainbridge Award is given each year to a Support Staff member who exemplifies the following qualities:

• Goes above and beyond• Makes a cross-divisional impact on the organization• Exemplifies the mission of the organization• Projects a positive attitude and acts as an example for co-workers

Congratulations John!

MONTGOMERY COUNTYANNUAL DIVERSITYRECRUITMENT FAIRAPRIL 13, 2016 6PM - 8PM

MONTGOMERY COUNTY INTERMEDIATE UNIT, 2 WEST LAFAYETTE STREET, NORRISTOWN, PA 19401

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MCIU RETIREMENT CELEBRATION

The Montgomery County Intermediate Unit recognized and celebrated the careers of 14 staff members who have retired over the past year. At a special retirement appreciation evening on May 25th, the MCIU Board of Directors and Administration welcomed and thanked the retirees for their service and years of dedication to the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. MCIU Executive Director, Dr. John George, expressed his deep appreciation and gratitude to the group who have a combined total of nearly 300 years of service! This year’s retirees were:

Perry Baer Program Administrator, Business Services Sally Bishop Transition Services Teacher, Student Services Wendy Block Speech Language Pathologist, Student Services Jane Brown Educational Consultant, PaTTAN Ann Fogarty Speech Language Pathologist, Student Services Mike Gerhart Emotional Support Services Teacher, Student Services Jennifer Goldbloom Educational Consultant, PaTTAN Margaret Lutz Multiple Disability Services Teacher, Student Services Ernest Melcher Educational Consultant, PaTTAN Carol Platt Multiple Disability Services Teacher, Student Services Melanie Stefanatos Hearing Support Teacher, Student Services Deborah Wehrung Vision Support Teacher, Student Services Roseann Westerfer Secretary, Student Services Florence Williamson Early Intervention Case Manager, Student Services

MCIU CELEBRATES EARTH DAY!

Despite a number of rain delays, approximately 80 staff members from the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit joined together on May 4th to participate in the celebration of Earth Day 2016. Teams canvased the MCIU’s building grounds, parking lot, and surrounding neighborhood to collect trash and prepare flower beds for planting. In keeping with this year’s Earth Day theme of “Trees for the Earth,” a beautiful new dogwood tree was planted at the MCIU.

MCIU Board of Directors

Louis A. PolaneczkyPresident

Thomas J. DiBelloVice President

Maura BuriSecretary

Dr. David HakesTreasurer

Joseph ChmielewskiPast President

Dr. Sherri Becker

Lynn K. Bigelow

Stephen Bochneak

Diane Cherico

Dr. Kerry A. Drake

William England

Leslie Finegold

Brenda G. Hackett

Yuri Khalif

Holly Kisailus

Kenneth L. Mullen

Carolyn Murphy

Janice Pearce

Virginia O. Pollard

Donna M. Scheuren

Joshua Stein, Esq.

W. Ronald Williams

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MCIU ALL STAFF Opening DayWednesday,

August 24, 2016

Next MCIU Board MeetingWednesday,

August 24, 2016

SAVETHE

DATE

ADVOCATING FOR EARLY INTERVENTION

Families with children served by Pennsylvania’s Preschool Early Intervention Program will discuss the need for state funding in the 2016-17 state budget to ensure continued access to high quality services for 3-5 year old children with disabilities or developmental delays. Families served by Intermediate Units in Westmoreland, McKean, Elk, Lancaster, Berks, Cumberland, Chester and Montgomery Counties will be in attendance.

Pittsburgh-area resident Adam P. Blank, a young motivational speaker, will headline the press conference spotlighting his story and the power of early intervention services. Mr. Blank is legally blind and has albinism and autism.

Mr. Blank and the families will be joined by Senate Education Chairman Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster).

Families will be available for individual interviews immediately following the press conference.

Each year approximately 50,000 Pennsylvania children ages 3-5 with disabilities or developmental delays are enrolled in the Preschool Early Intervention (EI) program. Services to preschool children are required by federal law through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and by the PA Act 212 of 1990. These laws require EI providers to find and evaluate all children who might need services and serve all children who qualify. Similar to K-12 public education, children and families receive services at no cost.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016 |10:00 AMCapitol Media CenterState CapitolRoom 01 East WingHarrisburg, PA 17126