(Nov. 2014) The New York School Public Relations Association recognized Madison-Oneida BOCES with three awards in its 35th annual Communications Awards, a statewide contest to honor schools and BOCES for outstanding communications work.
* The MOBOCES community newsletter, The Banner, received an Award of Honor in the Community Newsletter category. The newsletter is written and edited by Public Information Officer Sapna Kollali.
* An article in the winter 2014 issue of The Banner titled “VAP Provides 21st Century Learning For Students,” received an Award of Honor in the Excellence in Writing category. The article, about the Virtual Advanced Placement program, was written by Public Information Officer Sapna Kollali.
* The MOBOCES Facebook page received an Award of Honor in the Social Media category. The page is managed by Kollali.
In addition, the Rome City School District received an Award of Merit in the Photograph category, for a photo taken at the Camp Read-A-Lot event at Gansevoort Elementary School. The photo was taken by Jill Pekarski, public information specialist for Rome and MOBOCES.
Awards will be distributed during the annual state school boards convention later this month. For a full list of NYSPRA’s 2014 winners, visit nyspra.org.
Receives Principal Leadership Grant
Madison-Oneida BOCES has been awarded a Strengthening Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Dissemination: Principal Leadership grant from the state Education Department. The $479,070 grant will allow area principals and building administrators to share best practices, participate in professional development and build leadership capacity in the region.
As the consortium lead on the grant, MOBOCES will coordinate grant initiatives for eight area districts: Canastota, Hamilton, Madison, Morrisville-Eaton, Oneida, Rome, Stockbridge Valley and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill. MOBOCES was one of 21 grant recipients, only four of which were BOCES agencies.
MOBOCES is a previous recipient of an STLE grant that has helped seven area districts establish career ladders for outstanding teachers and principals and has provided those 81 participants with intensive high-quality professional development from nationally-known experts in teaching, leadership, poverty, math and literacy.
The newer STLE-D grant will focus primarily on principal leadership development. It will allow STLE-participating principals from the region to work closely with principals and assistant principals from Rome and MOBOCES on best practices, professional development and professional learning communities, mentoring and coaching and research and writing. Up to 20 additional principals (non-STLE participants) will benefit from the STLE-D grant during the 2014-15 school year.