Schoole Awards Update!

We have decided to open up the nominations for the Schoole Awards ahead of schedule!

Due to such great feedback over the past week, we wanted to have nominations open long enough so that every school district gets as many nominations as possible! So nominate away and e-mail me if you have any questions or problems - kbrosious@allofe.com.

Voting will still open on April 2, 2010.

Go to http://schoole.allofe.com and click on the red button, "Nominate your district," and fill out the form to make you nominations!

Schoole Awards Contest for Best District Web site

Recently, we launched a Splash page to promote a contest for the best school district Web sites, aka, The Schoole Awards. You can view all of the details about the contest at http://schoole.allofe.com. Here's a quick run-down of the contest:

What is it?

• The Schoole Awards will give us a chance to recognize school districts that deserve to be recognized for the best Web site practices.
• We want to show how technology can be used to enhance information sharing and communication.
  
• We want to show how design plays in the role of building an effective Web site.
  
• We want to provide a place where districts can show off their Web sites, and get rewarded for them.
  
• We want to showcase school districts that are using technology to the best of their abilities to the benefit of those who need it most: students.

How will it work?
The contest is comprised of three phases, beginning in mid-March.

• Phase 1 will be the nomination phase, where anyone can nominate a district for the best district Web site. Districts may be public, private or charter. Only one nomination per valid e-mail address will be allowed.
• Phase 2 is the selection phase, where our panel of industry experts will select the top 15 school district Web sites. Using a rubric, the district sites will be ranked, so that the top 15 go to the next phase.
• Phase 3 is the voting phase. Only one vote per valid e-mail address. The school district site with the most votes is the winner!
  

Why should I nominate or vote for my district?

• The top two winning districts will receive donations for the department responsible for managing the district site, along with plaques commemorating the achievement for the top three districts.
• The top three winning districts will also receive exposure through key media outlets, including social networking sites, feature stories and press releases on AllofE.com, and more.
  

Have questions?

• Follow us for updates on Twitter @allofek12
• View the contest site at http://schoole.allofe.com
• Or send any questions to Katie at kbrosious@allofe.com

My Year in Review / Happy New Year 20-10 from Katie!

Yes, the correct pronunciation is "Twenty-Ten," not "Two-Thousand-Ten." Don't believe me? I'll prove it--HERE!

It's been quite a year for me!

• The year began last January with my last Winter Training session with the University of Kansas women's rowing team in Austin, TX.
• From there, I went back to school at KU to finish out my senior year of college.
  
• In February, the rowing team moved into its brand-spankin'-new boathouse that my graduating class worked so hard to get. As a captain, I had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the grand opening, and also dug in during the groundbreaking.
  
• In March, I spent Spring Break as I have for the past 4 years, on the river, rowing in snow. What a Spring Break, right?
• April and May were spent at regattas, getting ready for graduation, and really just a whirlwind of different things! My graduation was spent in Tennessee at a regatta, however my teammates and I held our own little graduation ceremony by the Campanile and walked down the Hill after we got back. I graduated with honors with a BSJ in Journalism: Strategic Communications, with a Minor in English, in May.
• In June, I received the best birthday present ever, a Golden Retriever puppy named Murphy, who is now 8 months old.
• I did a lot of traveling this summer to Texas, San Diego, Las Vegas, Twentynine Palms, CA, which included a road-trip back to Kansas from California, so I suppose you could say I traveled to all the states in-between as well, along with a short stay in Colorado.
• In-between my traveling adventures, I also waited tables...
• ...Until August, when I started my job here, at AllofE Solutions.
• In August, I began the MBA program at KU with an emphasis in Marketing. It has been quite an experience so far with so many different types of people from so many different places, and has opened my eyes to so many new things.
• Since then, it's been a lot of schooling and working for me!
• For Thanksgiving, I visited family in Houston, Minnesota.
  
• Last week, I went to Keller, TX to spend some time with my family for the holidays.
• And here I am today, on the last day of 2009.
  

Celebrating the New Year is a time for reflection, renewal, and resolutions.

My resolution every year is to make this year better than the last. What are your resolutions?

New Year's is also about traditions. What are my traditions? Well, being a native Texan, I can't go without a little Texas caviar. However, I'm not sure where I'll be able to find it in Kansas...Here are some New Year's Eve traditions from all over the world on Wikipedia.

Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to this year being even better than the last.