Section List

LETRS Cohort A (Day 3 of 4)  

March 16, 2026

• ESU 9
• Kugel, LaRaesha

LETRS Training for CLSD Consortium Members in Cohort A.

Elementary (Grades 3-5) Chess Tournament  

March 23, 2026

• ESU 9
• Ochsner, Laura

Participants: 3rd- 5th grade students

Have a chess club at your school?  Do you have want to challenge your students?  This is also a great way to add to your high ability program- getting together with students from other districts. Come join us for a great and challenging day.

Format: 6 round Swiss system (meaning all players will get to play all six rounds). Each player will have 20 minutes per game. If there are sufficient entries for multiple divisions, divisions will consist of each grade level or grade level bands.

*Lunch will not be provided. Students and Coaches will need to bring a sack lunch. ESU 9 will provide cookies for students and coaches.

Art Cadre - Looking Closely  

April 8, 2026

• ESU 9
• Ochsner, Laura

The "Looking Closely" day-long professional development workshop invites art educators to explore diverse ways to construct narratives through visual art by contrasting two fundamental approaches to observation. Using the powerful works of two distinct artists as case studies, participants will learn different ways artists look closely.

Through experimenting with art materials and approaches, teachers will gain practical insight into how changing vantage points is key to developing artistic ideas, problem solving, and telling nuanced stories about human experience.

This immersive session provides teachers with practical strategies for fostering visual literacy and critical thinking in their K-12 classrooms and allows time for them to create their own art works and basic syllabus through discovery and observation.

Presenter: Wendy Bantam
Wendy Jane Bantam works regionally and internationally as a teaching artist. She uses the tools of music, theatre, sculpture, painting and writing to teach a deeper understanding of languages, reading, math and science. She lectures on creativity and critical thinking.Her lectures are found on TEDx and Ignite.

Bantam holds a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Kansas and an MFA in painting from the University of Nebraska~Lincoln and is an Artist-in-the-Schools-and-Communities with the Nebraska Arts Council. She has been a visiting professor in painting, art history and art appreciation at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Midland University and a lecturer on Arts Integration Learning for the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences.

Wendy partners with teachers, communities, schools and fellow artists to bring creative curriculum and interdisciplinary arts experience to the forefront. In combining storytelling with visual art, she engages communities of all ages, languages and identities through visual arts and verbal and written word. Wendy assists teachers and students in turning their own stories, or a story they’ve read, into a creation of performance or visual art.

The Blueprint for High-Quality Instruction: Instructional Practice Guide (IPG) Training  

April 17, 2026

• ESU 9
• Perry, Kayla

Presented by: Kayla Perry, Regional Literacy Coach

Observe & Reflect: Utilize research-based tools for focused classroom observations.

Actionable Feedback: Provide content-specific coaching to enhance the implementation of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM).

Systems-Level Insight: Identify instructional trends and calibrate expectations across grade levels.

Collaborative Growth: Shift the focus from evaluation to professional learning and coherence.

This training will also be offered on June 3, 2026 for persons unable to attend in April.

RBI Introduction & Overview Training  

April 30, 2026

• ESU 9
• Nejezchleb, Cindy

RBI Intro and Overview and Using the RBI and Quality Home Visits to Develop a Quality IFSP.
Targeted for Services Coordinators along with any Early Intervention provider who do not need to be RBI trained but need the information in order to attend the Getting Ready training. This would include any PTs, OTs, SLPs, etc in each school district within PRT Region.  The training is also highly encouraged for all EI providers to help with writing outcomes.

LETRS Cohort B (Day 4 of 4)  

May 15, 2026

• ESU 9
• Kugel, LaRaesha

LETRS Training for CLSD Consortium Members in Cohort B.

CIP/MTSS Action Planning (Day 1 of 2)  

May 29, 2026

• ESU 9
• Soto , Katie

ESU 9 in Partnership with Kris Kampovitz and Mandy McClure, NeMTSS

This two-day workshop supports district and school teams in developing focused, data-driven action plans using a structured problem-solving process aligned to CIP, MTSS, and special education improvement efforts.

Teams will engage in each step of the problem-solving model—from root cause analysis to clear action steps—through modeled examples and guided time to apply the process using your own data. The experience is designed to strengthen alignment across plans and support districts navigating multiple requirements or improvement efforts.

Participants will leave with clear priorities and a draft or refined action plan ready for implementation.

Who Should Attend?
District and school teams, including:

• District Administrators and Principals
• MTSS, CIP, and instructional leadership teams
• Special education leaders
• Schools or districts with classifications, designations, or determinations

Teams are encouraged to attend together and bring access to relevant data.

Stipend Info:
$150 stipend per day is available for teachers from Title II-A Consortium Member Schools: Adams Central, Blue Hill, Doniphan-Trumbull, Giltner, Hampton, Kenesaw, Red Cloud, Silver Lake, and Sutton.
*Stipend not available if taking this for college credit

College Credit Info:
Optional: 1 Credit Hour ($260) through Hastings College
If you are taking this for credit, you must attend both days and log additional hours of independent work for a total of 15 hours.

The Blueprint for High-Quality Instruction: Instructional Practice Guide (IPG) Training  

June 3, 2026

• ESU 9
• Perry, Kayla

Presented by: Kayla Perry, Regional Literacy Coach

Observe & Reflect: Utilize research-based tools for focused classroom observations.
Actionable Feedback: Provide content-specific coaching to enhance the implementation of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM).
Systems-Level Insight: Identify instructional trends and calibrate expectations across grade levels.
Collaborative Growth: Shift the focus from evaluation to professional learning and coherence.

UFLI Foundations  

June 8, 2026

• ESU 9
• Perry, Kayla

WHAT IS UFLI FOUNDATIONS?
UFLI Foundations is an explicit and systematic program created by the team at the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI-pronounced "you fly"). The program introduces students to the foundational reading skills necessary for proficient reading. It follows a carefully developed scope and sequence designed to ensure that students systematically acquire each skill needed and learn to apply each skill with automaticity and confidence. The program is designed to be used for core instruction in the primary grades or for intervention with struggling students in any grade.

Stipend:
$150 stipend is available for teachers from Title II-A Consortium Member Schools:
Adams Central, Blue Hill, Doniphan-Trumbull, Giltner, Hampton, Kenesaw, Lawrence Nelson, Red Cloud, Sandy Creek, Silver Lake, and Sutton.

Classroom Make - and - Take (Day 1 of 2)  

June 15, 2026

• ESU 9
• Ochsner, Laura

Make-and-Take Instructional Planning Day

Do you need time to elevate your instructional materials with resources that can enhance engagement and improve your instructional delivery? If you answered 'YES', then this day is for YOU!

Join the Professional Learning Team as they support your instructional planning and provide creative resources to MAKE-AND-TAKE back to your classroom. Educators are craving time to balance the art of teaching with the science of teaching...the intent of this day is to merge those worlds together to accelerate learning through high-quality instruction.

Resource Possibilities:
Kagan Cooperative Learning, Quantum Learning, John Hattie's Visible Learning, Marzano, and TNTP Opportunity Myth
ESU 9's Creative Print Center will be available for Poster Prints. Costs range from $2.00 – $4.00 per linear foot depending on the content of the poster.

$150 stipend is available for teachers from Title II-A Consortium Member Schools: Adams Central, Blue Hill, Doniphan-Trumbull, Giltner, Hampton, Kenesaw, Lawrence-Nelson, Red Cloud, Sandy Creek, Silver Lake, and Sutton.