Workshops -- African American Museum of Iowa

On November 4, 2008 our national history changed forever and President-elect Obama credits Iowa with giving his campaign its jump-start. How can you incorporate this into your classroom? The African American Museum of Iowa has added three new presidential workshops to their repertoire to help you.

· Our 44th President, Barack Obama * Get all the information on Mr. Obama, from what he studied in school, to his family story, to how he changed our nation's history. Students will be able to create a presidential rookie card with all of Obama's important stats.

· African American Firsts in Iowa * Barack Obama was the first African American to win the Iowa caucuses and to win a presidential nomination for a major political party in the U.S., not to mention the first African American to be elected President. Iowa boasts oodles of African American firsts, and students will create a readers' theatre production about them. If your students think they can't make a difference in their lifetimes, after learning about our Iowan innovators they'll learn to say, "Yes we can!"

· Obama Vs. Kennedy * There are many parallels between the events of 2008 and the events of 1968. There was an unpopular war overseas and social division at home, a President with a very low approval rating, a controversial election, and controversy surrounding the Olympics (just to name a few). Find out how history has repeated itself 40 years later, but also how different things are today. This workshop can be done as a math activity with Venn diagrams, or as a creative writing activity, and is best suited for middle- and high-school students.

For more details, pricing information or to schedule your own workshop (in your school or at the Cedar Rapids-based Museum), contact Education Director, Erin Thomas, at 319-551-9037. Any program can be tailored to serve you and your students. Be sure to check out the African American Museum of Iowa website: www.blackiowa.org.

New Location -- November Curriculum Network Meeting

The November Curriculum Network meeting will be held at a new location on November 7th. The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Johnston Heartland Office (6500 Corporate Drive) in Rooms 3 & 4 and the ICN Room. Click here for the agenda.

Available at the Professional Library -- NSPRA 2008 Conference Audio CDs

Heartland purchased recordings of some of the sessions from this year's National School Public Relations conference. They are available for checkout from the professional library.

A new look at school finance elections (255927)
Presenter: Gay Campbell.

How to eat an elephant, making your district budget digestible (255919)
Presenter: Jay Remy.

Public education, a brand worth marketing (255921)
Presenters: Rudolph Crew, Cathleen Healy, and Alberto Carvalho.

I'm here to H.E.L.P (255918)
Keynote speech by Riney Jordan.

Making lemonade out of lemons, turning a referendum loss into a successful two-year campaign (255917)
Presenter: Susan Brott.

The top 5 in 5, the key trends that will occupy you and your district in the next 5 years (255923)
Presenter: Brian Woodland.

Using your online resources to tip your bond election (255922)
Presenter: Jim Cummings.

Why should the boss listen to you? The seven disciplines of the trusted strategic advisor (255920)
Presenter: Jim Lukaszewski.

Free Audio Download -- Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization

A free audio download is available of Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan. This download includes an audio foreword featuring Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com talking with the author about organizational culture and core values. The book draws upon research from a 10-year study of more than 24,000 people in two dozen organizations. It argues that tribes have the greatest influence in determining the culture of an organization and how much and what quality work gets done. The authors identify the five stages of employee tribal development—Life sucks, My life sucks, I'm great and you're not, We're great and Life is great—and offer advice on how to manage these groups.

Go to http://www.zappos.com/tribal.zhtml. It requires a brief registration process. You can download the entire book or separate files for each chapter.