Happy School Library Month! 📚 Today, teacher librarians from across the area gathered – both in person and via Zoom – to explore Central Rivers AEA’s new online catalog, Insignia, and dive into digital tools like PebbleGo and Britannica School. 🙌

They also discovered ways ...assistive technology (AI) can help curate collections and spark student engagement. Huge thanks to our amazing librarians for inspiring a love of reading and sparking curiosity in every student! 👏

#CRAEA #EveryDayAtAEA #iaedchat #SchoolLibraryMonth

Big thanks to everyone who took part in this year’s Central Rivers AEA Media Madness Goldfinch Children's Picture Bracket fun! The goal? To promote literacy, spark excitement about reading and engage young readers in a fun, interactive way — and it worked! 👏

We kicked things ...off with 32 amazing books and let the students take it from there. After 37 classrooms voted and the dust settled… we have a winner! 🏆

𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙚 & 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖: 𝘼 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚-𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 took the crown with 70.3% of the vote. The final round was a tough call – both books were fantastic – but the students have spoken.

We’re already excited to see what next year's bracket brings! 📚💥

#CRAEA #iaedchat #MediaMadness #studentvoicesmatter

Students had a blast at the recent Hawkeye Community College Transition Fair! 🎉

They explored future opportunities and connected with peers from Cedar Falls, Denver, Dunkerton, East Buchanan, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Grundy Center, Hudson, Independence, Jesup, Nashua-Plainfield, ...Sumner-Fredericksburg, Tripoli, Union, Waterloo, Wapsie Valley and Waverly-Shell Rock CSDs.

While students were in sessions, teachers met with community partners like Iowa Total Care, Larrabee Center, North Star Community Services, UnityPoint Health and others — gathering helpful tools and ideas to support students on their next steps. 🙌

A big thank you to everyone who made the event possible! 👏

Next up: A two-day Transition Fair at @niacc_trojans at the end of this month. Stay tuned!

#CRAEA #iaedchat #studenttransitionfair #communitycollaboration

The North Central Iowa STEM Region Festival lit up the Mason City Community School District High School Fieldhouse with hands-on fun and curious minds! 💡🚀 Kids explored everything from robotics and coding to live animals and 3D design.

A special shoutout to our Central Rivers AEA ...team for bringing the StarLab portable planetarium — a crowd favorite that gave students a glimpse of the night sky indoors! 🌌✨

And big thanks to all the amazing exhibitors who helped make it possible: AgVantage FS, Bergland + Cram, Cerro Gordo Clean Energy District, Lime Creek Nature Center/Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board, Cargill and the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum. You brought learning to life! 🙌

#NorthIowaSTEM #CRAEA #FutureInnovators #iaedchat

Students had a great time at the recent Transition Fair hosted at Marshalltown Community College (Iowa Valley Community College District)! 👏

They explored future opportunities alongside peers from Marshalltown Community School District, South Tama County Community School District, BCLUW... Community Schools, Eldora-New Providence and GMG Community Schools. 🙌

While students were in sessions, teachers connected with community partners like HHS, IVRS, Proteus and more – gathering valuable resources to support their students’ journeys. 👏

Huge thanks to everyone who made the day a success!

Next up: Transition Fairs at Hawkeye Community College and NIACC later this month — stay tuned!

#CRAEA #iaedchat #studenttransitionfair #communitycollaboration

Happy Paraprofessionals Day! Thank you to all of our paraeducators that support our students, teachers and classrooms! 🙌

A reminder that the Above and Beyond the Call (ABC) of the Paraeducator Profession Award nominations are still open until April 4!

This award allows us to ...highlight paraeducators’ incredible service to our schools and students. Often working without fanfare and behind the scenes, paraeducators are the lifeline for teachers to provide the individual attention so many students need to unlock their academic potential. 👏

Let’s celebrate their impact. 🎉 Shoutout to last year’s winners! 👏

#CRAEA #iaedchat #ABCParaeducatorAward #paraprofessionalsday