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Fall 2000 Volume 7, Issue 3

Official Newsletter of the Illinois Subdivision of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children.

5 Simple Steps to Support Education Funding

1 TELL YOUR STORY.
Tell Congress how a substantial increase in funding education will directly affect you, your program, school and community. Share this information with students, parents, teachers and other education and community leaders. Generate community action by making a presentation at a local meeting, and speaking with friends and colleagues.

2 CALL, E-MAIL, FAX, OR WRITE.
Contact your Members of Congress by using the CEC Legislative Action Center web site at:

http://congress.nw.dc.us/cek/ [Editor's note: this link is no longer active.]

and click on the "Write to Congress" link. Or, you can call Congress at 202-224-3121 in Washington, DC and the President at 202-456-1414. They need to know the importance of federal education support for your local community and its students.

3 MEET WITH YOUR LOCAL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
Your members of Congress is in the district during congressional recesses, as well as Friday-Monday most weekends. Members want to meet with constituents. Simply call the district office to either make an appointment or to learn the schedule of town hall meetings.

4 INVITE YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO TOUR A SCHOOL OR COLLEGE.
Let Members see for themselves the positive contributions dollars make to your school. Simply send a short letter of invitation, and follow up with the district office scheduler.

5 CONTACT LOCAL MEDIA.
Write a letter-to-the-editor, call radio talk shows, or generate interest in the issue among local newspaper, radio, or television news reporters. To find links to your local media, go to CEC's Legislative Action Center at:

http://congress.nw.dc.us/cek/ [Editor's note: this link is no longer active.]

and click on the "Guide to the Media" link. You will be asked to enter your zip code, and you will be provided a list of media in your area.

Reprinted from an email circulated by
Jacki Bootel at CEC's Public Policy Unit
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IDEC is now on the world wide web!

Check out Illinois DEC's web site at:

http://idec.crc.uiuc.edu/

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President's Message

by Lynette Chandler

We have begun another new year for IDEC. Our organization follows the school calendar and so it is time to say good-bye and thank you to some members of the Executive Board and time to welcome new members on to the Board.

Thank you to our outgoing President, Greg Anderson; Treasurer, Micki Ostrosky; and CAN Coordinator, Karen Sullivan. We appreciate the time and effort that each of you have devoted to IDEC. Welcome to Rob Corso, Treasurer, Patti Erikson, Co-chair of the Membership Committee and Wu-Ying Hsieh and Sharon Kummerer, Student Representatives. We also have had several members shift positions and we thank them for their previous work and for the work they will do this year.

We have an exciting and busy year ahead. One of our major tasks will be planning the 2001 Sharing A Vision Conference. We already have a great group of volunteers who are beginning to plan another great conference. We look forward to seeing them and some new faces at the next meeting on October 10-12, 2001 in Springfield and we are taking recommendations for nightly entertainment to add to the Karaoke and Swing Dancing from previous years!

Other IDEC goals for the 2000-2001 year include:

(a) Launching the IDEC/Sharing a Vision web site: http://idec.crc.uiuc.edu (thanks to Amy Santos);
(b) Increasing membership in IDEC and attendance at IDEC business meeting;
(c) Hosting an IDEC poster at the annual Division for Early Childhood Conference; and
(d) Awarding the Jeanette A. McCollum Service to the Field Award.

We will update you on progress in meeting these goals in this and future newsletters and on our web site.

I am very pleased to serve as President of IDEC for the coming year and to be working with such a good group of people; those on the IDEC Executive Board and those on the Sharing A Vision Conference Planning Committee. Our state can be proud of the collaborative spirit that individuals and agencies bring to early childhood special education, early intervention, and early childhood education. Have a good year and share this newsletter and information about the web site with a friend!

Lynette may be reached at the Department of Teacher Education, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb 60115

Email: lchandler@niu.eduReturn to top

Illinois DEC Executive Board 2000-2001

President: Lynette Chandler
President elect: Bernie Laumann
Vice-President: Amy Santos
Past-President: Greg Anderson
Secretary: Therese Wayman
Treasurer: Rob Corso
Government Relations: Pam Reising-Rechner
Membership: Tweety Yates & Patti Erickson
CAN Coordinator: Debbie Bruns
CEC Liaison: Beth Delaney
Family Participation: Gloria Reilley
Publications: Amy Santos & Debbie Bruns
SAV Co-Chairs: Bernie Laumann & Amy Santos
Jeanette McCollum Award Committee: Susan Maude, Donna Nylander, Micki Ostrosky & Tweety Yates
Student Representative: Wu-ying Hsieh & Sharon Kummerer

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Sharing A Vision 2001 is off to a great running start!

Wow, it seems just like yesterday when we were in Springfield for the 1999 Sharing A Vision (SAV) conference. Remember, what a "wild" and fun ride that was? Now we're back to begin planning the 2001 conference, our seventh collaborative effort no less!

We are returning to the Crowne Plaza in Springfield for the 2001 conference. Unlike last year, this conference will be held on a Wednesday-Friday format from October 10-12, 2001. The 2001 SAV conference promises to be as exciting and fun as past conferences.

This year's conference theme is "Expanding the Possibilities" which stems from the 1999 conference theme of "Making It Happen." The conference will offer a mix of interesting and information-filled sessions on the most up-to-date and hot topics in early childhood education, early intervention, at-risk intervention, and early childhood special education.

The planning committee met in August to begin assigning committee co-chairs (and members). We're happy to report that many of our talented, creative, hardworking and committed volunteers are back. Susan Ferry, our tireless and committed conference planner is back to handle all our conference needs. We also welcomed new volunteers to the planning committee and are still looking for more!

Finally, if you have not attended past SAV conferences (or would like to reminisce on past ones) you can now get a flavor of each SAV conference, beginning with the very first conference held in 1991, by visiting the SAV Conference home page at the IDEC web site:

http://idec.crc.uiuc.edu/conference.html

If you have additional questions about the 2001 SAV Conference, contact Susan Ferry at:

Phone: 217-824-4776
Email: sharingavision@aol.com

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We are looking for a few good volunteers!

If you are interested in volunteering to help plan the 2001 conference, please contact us ASAP!

Bernie Laumann (blaumann@uiuc.edu)

Amy Santos (rsantos@uiuc.edu)

Phone: 217-333-0260 · Fax: 217-333-6555Return to top

Don't Forget DEC 2000 in Albuquerque!

Mark your calendar to attend this year's DEC Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. DEC 2000 will be held December 7-10 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. This year's keynote speaker is Carl R. Boyd, a nationally-recognized and dynamic speaker who will bring an inspirational message of hope for children, families and professionals.

This year's DEC conference features special sessions on a range of topics including a family forum, a DEC/Head Start forum, adult-child play, update from Washington/IDEA, second language acquisition, publishing student dissertation, and integrating technology in personnel development.

Each day at the conference is packed with sessions, workshops, and various activities that promise to enhance attendees' skills to make a difference in the lives of young children and their families.

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What's New *** Upcoming Events *** Opportunities

Lilian Katz Research Symposium
"Issues in Early Childhood Education: Curriculum, Teacher Education, and the Dissemination of Information"
November 5-7, 2000, Champaign, IL
For registration information, visit the web site at: http://ericeece.org/katzsymposium/ Editor's note: This url has changed:http://ecap.crc.illinois.edu/pubs/katzsympro.html
For more information, contact: Ellen Swengel at 217/244-6814 Email: eswengel@uiuc.edu

2000 Symposium on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners
"Diversity in the New Millennium"
October 12-13, 2000, Hyatt Regency
Albuquerque, NM
 For more information, contact The Council for Exceptional Children at 888-CEC-SPED

16th Annual DEC International Early Childhood Conference on Children with Special Needs
"Early Childhood in the Millennium: Partnerships and Practices for the Future"
December 7-10, 2000 , Albuquerque, NM
For on-line registration, visit the web site at:
http://www.regmaster.com/dec2k.html [IDEC Editor's note (11-12-02): this url no longer exists.]
For more information, please contact the DEC Conference Office at 410/269-6801
Email: pfaff@gomeeting.com OR birks@gomeeting.com
Register by November 8, 2000 to receive the special preregistration rate!

CEC Annual Convention and Expo
April 18-21, 2001, Kansas City, MO
For more information, contact The Council for Exceptional Children at 888-CEC-SPED