What a week!

First Team Education was everywhere last week. Monday you might have seen Joe working the NCA conference at the Hyatt downtown Indianapolis, or Brenda at the IMLEA at Franklin Middle School. On Tuesday Joe again went to NCA while Brenda drove to Valpo to set up for the Lester Laminack workshop on Wednesday. Brenda had more fun than Joe because she, Lester, and Connie Farrell went out to dinner on Tuesday evening. Always a fun time with those two! Brenda sold books at the workshop on Wednesday and then drove home while Joe attended the state department meeting on the adoption process for Science and then set up for IASCD at the Sheraton at Keystone. Joe worked that meeting on Thursday while Brenda stayed in the office and prepared for the set up on Thursday evening for ITW. After setting up, they had dinner with Dr. Kevin Sue Bailey from the Southern Indiana Writing Project. They always like to add some fun to their work day. Friday was the Indiana Teacher's of Writing conference, which both Brenda and Joe attended. Guess what happened Friday night? A big glass of wine and early to bed!

Barry Lane!

What a great weekend we just had! We were invited to attend the Northwest Indiana Writing Project 15th Anniversary Bash featuring the author Barry Lane. The event took place at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. Friday night included cocktails, dinner and a cabaret featuring, who else?, Barry! Afterwards many of us went into the casino and danced and some of us gambled, not very successfully I might add. Then on Saturday Barry held a day long workshop on writing. We sold his books and we always enjoy listening to him speak. This is what makes our career so rewarding! Hanging out with educators that really step up to the plate and constantly are improving themselves with professional development. If you want to know more about Barry Lane go to his website discoverwriting.com or contact us if you would be interested in having him visit your district.

Heinemann Raintree - Red Brick Learning update

I wanted to give you an update on two of our companies; Heinemann Raintree and Red Brick Learning. The owner of RBL, Capstone, recently purchased HeinemannRaintree and although the company word always is that they would remain two separate companies, they have now gone together. Surprise! (ha) The new company name is Heinemann Raintree Classroom including Red Brick Learning. What this means for customers is that you can now purchase materials from both companies under one Purchase Order. Also if you belong to either rewards program, you now belong to both and can earn points faster. There will be new catalogs arriving in your buildings soon. You will receive one for science and social studies and another for reading/language arts. If you have any questions please give us a call.

It's that time of the year when reps for publishing companies attend sales meetings, so we are off to Charlotte, North Carolina for an ETA meeting and next week we go to Chicago for Heinemann/Raintree-Red Brick Learning. We already had a meeting for Science Companion and luckily the other companies we represent are not holding meetings!
We have been trying to stop by as many of the science pilot trainings as we can. We want the pilot teachers to be aware that we are the local reps for Science Companion and will be here for them as they run their pilots. We are really excited about this opportunity and think that Science Companion is a great program!

Penny Kittle and Brenda at the Indiana University Southeast Writing Project conference.

I just fininshed listening to Penny Kittle speak at the IUSE Writing Project conference. She is so inspiring! If you are looking for a speaker for writing for any grade level, she is your gal! I also heard J. Patrick Lewis this week. He is a children's author and writes poetry. He is a very interesting man. He originally taught economics at a university and later in life turned to writing poetry. You may recognize him as the author of Bury Me in the Library. Earlier in the week we were in Shipshewana and saw the authors Lester Laminack, Katie Wood Ray, Sharon Taberski, Franki Sibberson, and Smokey Daniels. We are so fortunate to be able to attend professional conferences and meet these people that do so much for the educators in our state.

New Representation for Science Companion

We are so pleased to announce that First Team Education has been hired to represent Science Companion. As you may be aware, the state of Indiana is running some pilots next year for inquiry based science curriculum and Science Companion is on the list of programs to be piloted. So, if you are involved in those pilots, we will be your contact for Science Companion and will be working closely with you to make sure all goes well. You can find out more about the company by going to sciencecompanion.com.

It's May so we are in the last inning of the school year. We can't believe how fast it has gone. We will be at several summer workshops this summer so look for us at Mishawaka, Shipshawana, New Albany, and Purdue Calumet. If you find yourself with last minute orders to place, give us a call and we will do our best to push them through for you or if you need an invoice we can do that right away. We appreciate all you do for us and are ready and willing to return the favors.

Vacation Time

Well, the Indiana State Reading conference is over. It was really a disappointment this year. Very few attendees and very little time for the ones that were there to visit the exhibit area. Hopefully next year the economy will be better and more people will attend and the committee will build in some time for attendees to visit the exhibits.
Joe and I are leaving on vacation next Friday and will have limited access to email or voicemail. We are going to Italy for a week and then on a Mediterranian Cruise for a week. Hopefully anything any of you have going on, can wait until we get back! While you are all on spring break have a great time and come back recharged and ready to finish the school year!

Discount and free book!

If you are attending ISRA and attend the Sunday session titled "Choosing and Using Mentor Texts", you will receive a coupon for an additional 10% off your purchase at the First Team Education booth! In adddition, during that session you will receive a free children's book! So check your schedule and see what you had planned for 12:45 on Sunday of ISRA. See you there!

ISRA and IRA conferences

It is time for Indiana State Reading Association's yearly conference! It starts on Sunday, March 21 and runs through Tuesday, March 23. We will be there with all of our curriculum lines, our professional books, and children's books. Come by and see us in booths 46-51. You can purchase books from most of the presenters that will be speaking; Cris Tovani, Lester Laminack, Jan Brett, Will Hobbs and of course, we will be offering discounts!

In April, IRA is in Chicago!! We will be there working in the ETA Cuisenaire booth. If you are attending IRA, please let us know. There are several companies that are looking for educators to be on panels and of course there is always some free food and drinks being offered by the various companies.

Everyday Math Users!

If you are an Everyday Math user, you should contact First Team Education about purchasing manipulatives at a discount. You can get those through ETA Cuisenaire and save quite a bit of money. Also, First Team Education has two options for purchasing the trade books that go along with Everyday Math. They can be purchased through BMI at a 25% discount and free shipping or through ETA with additional books added as a value added. Call us with your needs and see how we can help.

Poor Colts!

It's a sad day for all the Colts fans out there! But work must go on. Brenda is headed to East Noble today for a workshop with Jeff Anderson tomorrow and Joe is headed to the southern part of the state for the last week of the math caravan. We have been very pleased with all the interest in ISTEP+ Finish Line Math and the ETA Cuisenaire math materials. Please contact First Team Education if you have not seen these great products.

Math Caravan

If you are attending any of the math caravan sites, please stop by the First Team Education booth and pick up your free sample of ISTEP+ Finish Line Math! This program is based on the spring ISTEP+ and the newest math standards for Indiana. Many schools are already using these materials and you don't want to be left out! Just stop by the table, tell us what grade level you are interested in, and we will give you a free sample.

While you're there, take a look at the ETA Cuisenaire materials we will have on hand. The ETA Cuisenaire manipulatives can be used with any core math program. We will also have an Algebra Readiness and Algebra 1 programs available.

Caravan stops:
Indianapolis, Mariott East
West Lafayette, University Hotel
Hammond, Purdue Calumet
Plymouth, Swan Lake
Fort Wayne, IU campus
Muncie, Horizon Center
Clarksville, Holiday Inn
Jasper, Jasper Conference Center
Terre Haute, Holiday Inn

New 2010 Representation for First Team Education!

And we're off!!!! The new year of 2010 is here and First Team Education is proud to announce two new companies that they will be representing: ETA Cuisinaire and BMI.

ETA is the leader in manipulatives, both math and reading. (Think Versatiles and Reading Rods.) We just returned from our first sales meeting and were very impressed with the product this company has. You can see First Team Education on the caravan exhibiting some ETA materials.

BMI is a company that sells trade books. You can contact us with a list of trade books and BMI will give you a quote that offers a 25% discount and free shipping. BMI is a family owned business and has been in business for around 40 years. They are known for their great customer service. If you have used other companies in the past for trade books, I would suggest you give BMI a chance. Diana Hall will be working with First Team Education on promoting BMI.