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The Weekly Memo

Southern Oregon Child & Family Council, Head Start, Early Head Start, LISTO & Preschool Promise

2017-2018, Issue 16 - December 11, 2017 - Editors: Valerie Blade & Linda Bettis

Meetings and Trainings

Dec. 11—Monday ○ Fiscal Team Meeting, Fiscal Office, 9:30-10:00

Dec. 12—Tuesday ○ Information Systems Committee—CANCELLED ○ Dept. Managers Meeting, Blue Bldg. Conf. Rm., 1:00-4:00 ○ Policy Council, JoCo Options, 5:30-8:30 ○ Board of Directors, Blue Bldg. Conf. Rm., 5:30-8:00 Dec. 13—Wednesday

○ Health Dept. Meeting, Blue Bldg. Conf. Rm., 1:00-2:30

○ Directors—CANCELLED

Dec. 14—Thursday ○ TLC—Shallena’s Group, TBD, 8:30-10:00

○ PFCE Dept. Meeting, PFCE Office, 9:00-12:00

○ TLC—JoaAnn & Amanda’s Group, TBD, 2:30-4:00

○ TLC—Stephanie & Crystal’s Group, TBD, 2:30-4:00

○ Board of Directors, FRC, 5:45-7:45

Dec. 15—Friday ○ ED Planning at Centers, 8:00-10:00

○ MO Winter Celebration, Blue Bldg. Conf. Rm., 11:00-1:00

○ EHS-Ed Planning/Debrief at Centers, 12:30-2:00

○ Center Winter Celebrations, at Centers, 1:00-3:00

INSIDE Pg. 2—Season’s Greetings from Nancy Nordyke Pg. 3—A Shout Out to a Teacher at Foothills; Winter Break Reminder, Charitable Checkoff Program Reminder Pg. 4—Parent Internship Program Pg. 5—Power Strip Usage and Safety Pg. 6—Give Yourself the Gift of Less—Stress this Holiday by Robin Rose Pg. 7—Welcome to SOCFC Pg. 8—Work Anniversaries Pg. 9—Happy Birthday Pgs. 10/11—Pest-Proofing Before School Break

Mission Statement Southern Oregon Head Start prepares children and their

families for success in school and throughout life.

The Weekly Memo Submission Deadline is Friday at noon.

Please send your articles, pictures (love those pictures!) and news

items to Linda Bettis/Valerie Blade.

Alternative Care Processing

Please be aware that processing times will be delayed significantly due to Winter Break!

Any receipts that come in prior to the end of the work day tomorrow, 12/12/2017, will be included in this week’s checks that are mailed from QVI. Anything re-ceived after that time, will not be processed until we return, and the checks may not make it to you until the second half of January. Please plan for this delay when making purchases be-tween now and the end of the year. Also be aware that anything purchased during the 2017 calendar year will count for this year’s alternative care, even if it is processed in 2018.

Mutual of America Update

We have finalized our annual employer contribution deposit for all employees who qualified. You will be able to see the employer contribution on your next quarterly statement from Mutual of America, or you can go to your online account to view your current balance including the employer contribution. The main qualifications for this contribution are as follows:

At least 12 months of service on 10/31/2017

At least 900 hours between 11/01/2016 and 10/31/2017

Raco Verhaaren, SHRM-CP Human Resources Manager

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SEASON’S GREETINGS! I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday season, whether you will be celebrating Christmas, Hanukah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, or, simply, a winter vacation.

It is a time of reflection for me, both because it is the end of 2017, and because it also marks the one-year anniversary in my position as the executive director. The other directors and I have been discussing what we have accomplished in the past year, and I would like to share some of our progress now, and will report on more in 2018, which is right around the corner.

One of the major intents which we talked about at the Pre-Service was to be an agency where people want to work, where they like what they do, feel respected and appreciated, have opportunities for growth, and have good compensation and benefits. Below is a list of things we’ve done to work toward this:

I have been visiting centers and talking with the individual team members. I have really enjoyed talking with

everyone and am learning a lot. Thank you to everyone who has participated. I look forward to meeting with

additional centers in the months to come. If you have something you would like me to know, you can always email

me, too.

I hope you are feeling positive about some of the changes here. We all know that working here has some challenges, but I hope you find some of those challenges rewarding and meaningful, and that your work here is enjoyable and worthwhile.

My best wishes to you and your loved ones, and may you have a Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing you next year.

Warm regards,

Nancy Executive Director

AREA PROGRESS

Pay and… Salary Schedule for Bargaining Unit: Increased wages and step increases: 2nd year-1%, 3rd year-2%, 4th year-2.5%, 5th year-3%

Benefits: Health

Lowered deductible for medical insurance from $2500 to $500 Asante providers: Lowered copay from $30 to $15 Asante providers: Payment for office surgery, consultants, and visits paid at 100% after $15 copay Asante providers: Surgery, hospitalization, etc. covered at 90% after deductible Improved vision benefits Added orthodontia to dental

Benefits: Re-tirement

Vesting improved: Fully vested in 3rd year versus 6th year More generous vesting Part-time employees qualify

Training and support: Learning op-portunities, reflective su-pervision

Beginning rollout of computer training on website Post on website what is already available (Outlook, etc.) Plans for supervisory training for promotion

Supervision training provided to all supervisors and managers in August All-staff equity and inclusion training Expanded reflective supervision: New cohorts #3 and cohort 1 and 2 continuing Tiered coaching Planning implementation of Planned Language Approach (PLA)

Positive envi-ronments and culture: Com-municate fre-quently

Biweekly center group meetings Kept centers teams together Equity and diversity training Interpreting for Pre-service and in-service Self-healing committee: Wellness committee

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Charitable Checkoff Program—Reminder

These flyers have been sent to the centers and are available at

both the Main Office and the Josephine County Office.

These flyers should be available to everyone.

Thank you

Submitted by Ashley Clayton

A “Shout Out to a Teacher” at Foothills

“Foothills would like to make a shout out to Kori Anderson. She has been exceptionally helpful to every person at our center and is always willing to help. There are no words to describe how wonderful she is!

Thank you so much Kori, we all really appreciate you!”

Lindsey Martes, Family Advocate

Foothills Head Start

Winter Break—Reminder

Winter Break is from December 18 through January 1. We re-turn to work on January 2nd. Please refer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Article 28- Winter/Spring Break Compensation. (The CBA is on our website under Staff Zone/Human Resources.) If anyone has specific questions, please ask your supervisor, Human Resources or Fiscal staff.

Kathy Stassi, PHR, SHRM-CP

Human Resources Director

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Parent Internship Program!!

The Parent Internship is up and running!! This opportunity is another great resource available to our families. The Parent Internship Program will ask parents to go through an application and inter-view process similar to that of employment, commit to spending an agreed upon num-ber of hours volunteering in our classroom, have weekly meetings with their teachers/mentors, and attend professional trainings designed to add to their job skills and re-sumes. This program will be another excellent re-source for those parents who are seeking employment (within Head Start or else-where), but are struggling because of a lack of job skills or experience. Parents will have a calendar year in the program, so all current Head Start parents who are interested will be encouraged to apply, regardless if their child continuing in our program or continuing on to Kindergar-ten.

Katherine Clayton Assistant Head Start Director

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Safety News with Chuck Ljungberg Safety Compliance Officer

Power Strip Usage and Safety

I recently had a question on power strip usage in agency facilities and decided to share the re-sponse as a refresher as it applies to all of us in all facilities. Power strips must be UL approved, have built-in surge protectors or circuit breakers for sure, and a ground pin. They can’t be an extension cord with multiple plug-ins. Stick to a standard 3-4 outlet strip. The strip must be used in accordance with its labeling and instructions.

Common Installation-Related Code Violations

Daisy-Chaining: Interconnecting power strips violates Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and the National Electrical Code (NEC) because it can cause overloads and fires. Extension cords also fall under this category.

• Improper Routing: Routing cords through walls, ceilings, floors, windows or similar openings is prohibited.

• Overloading: Power strips are designed to be used with several low-amperage loads, such as desktop computers and peripherals. Power strips must not be connected to high-amperage loads, such as refrigerators, space heaters, microwave ovens or air condition-ers that are likely to overload the strip.

• Improper Mounting: Power strips must not be mounted with Velcro®, double-sided tape, duct tape, zip ties, etc.

• Improper Plug Connection: The power strip cord and device cords most not be hanging out of receptacles. Power strips and devices

must not be suspended from the power cord.

• Signs of Thermal Distress: Power strips, plugs or cords that are hot to the touch, melted, burned, frayed, scorched or discolored are unacceptable.

• Signs of Damage or Neglect: Power strips, cords and components should not be dirty, stained, crushed, cut, broken, kinked, warped, knotted, twisted, loose, frayed or otherwise damaged.

• Improper Grounding: The power strip must not have its grounding pin/wire removed or connected to an adapter that defeats grounding.

• Tripping Hazards: The power strip must not be installed in a location where it may impede the safe movement of anyone.

Chuck Ljungberg, Safety Compliance Officer

Merry Christmahanakwanzika

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Give Yourself the Gift of Less-Stress this Holiday by Robin Rose

The holidays are here - for some this means more things to do, for others it means loneliness or overwhelm. So often during the holiday season, we can have increased stress levels. It can happen for a couple reasons. Since we only stress about what we care about, we often have more ‘caring’ occurring at this time of year. And, with shorter daylight hours, often our energy and ‘upbeat’ neuro chemicals are reduced, and our moods are affected. Here are a few suggestions to help you maintain personal and professional composure about now! Moment to moment, you determine your level of tension & stress in three ways: 1. Your breathing (holding your breath or chest breathing sends your body into fight or flight). 2. Your thoughts (are they hurried, worried, angry, or fearful?). 3. Stable blood sugar. You can control all three. Start by noticing when your body begins to tense up, or you feel irritated, hurried or worried. Immediately do two things: slow and deepen your breathing and choose thoughts that calm and empower you. Here are some thoughts to practice:

I have faith and confidence in my ability to handle this situation.

I can be more effective if I remain calm in this situation.

I can do what I can do, and that is all, and good enough!

I am grateful for all I have. Maintain stable blood sugar. Stabilize it by eating lean protein, complex carbs and good fats. Have a snack every 3 hours or so. When our blood sugar levels are erratic, we increase our master stress hormone, cortisol, and this negatively impacts our

moods, energy and sleep. Watch your sugar intake . These will help as well: Get outside. Do something physical: stack wood, rake leaves, run around the block. Connect with a supportive friend and debrief for 5 minutes, remembering to focus on positives in your life as part of the conversation. Who or what makes you laugh? Turn on your favorite comedy or go find your humorous friend. The goal: laugh

until you pee or cry . Take a 10 - 15 minute solitude break every day over the holiday season to connect to and catch up with yourself. Stay clear about what is really important- Who and what enriches your life? Give your time and attention to those people, places, and events. QTIP (Quit Taking It Personally). Others are stressed as well and when we are, we tend to ‘step on each other’s toes’ more easily (tone of voice, interrupting, not as responsive). If we personalize someone else’s stress reaction, we become defensive and this shift in the brain does two things: it makes it hard to stay calm, and it makes it hard to stay accurate. Remember, people do what they do because of who they are and how stressed they might be. Don’t ‘wear’ their stress. Keep a Capable Mental Attitude. Become aware of which ‘radio station’ you are listening to in your own mind. Choose one that is upbeat, energizing, reminds you that you are capable, notice the good in each moment. When you notice that your inner radio station has turned to the ‘everything sucks’ channel, change it! Your thoughts determine your chemistry; angry and resentful thoughts increase our stress hormones and we then react negatively and inaccurately. Give yourself a generous daily dose of sleep, exercise, fresh food, and water. When you get stressed or uncomfortable; acknowledge it. Telling ourselves our truth takes us out of defense. Pause for a moment, breathe deeply, and feel what's going on. As you breathe, guide yourself into clarity... is there anything you need to do or stop doing, or are you simply having a 'notice and release' moment? If you have experienced major loss this year, take extra time to honor how different this holiday might feel. Be gentle with yourself, and let it be okay to experience sadness and sorrow in the midst of a celebratory season. And finally, keep it all in perspective. What's really important? Treat yourself well. Greet your loved ones with affection and kindness. Wishing you and your loved ones well this holiday season. Robin Rose

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