ESD 105 welcomed Ellensburg resident Mark Grassel to its Board of Directors during the seven-member group's regular meeting on January 17.  Mark is representing Director District 1, which includes the Cle Elum-Roslyn, Damman, Easton, Ellensburg, Kittitas, Royal, Thorp, and Wahluke School Districts. The new board member has worked for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources as an orchard and vineyard manager since 2007.  Mark’s duties involve overseeing 14,000 acres of state land that is farmed to benefit school construction.  He has been employed with the Dept. of Natural Resources since 1988, and served as a legislative intern for that agency during the 1992 state...

The ESD 105 wall calendar for 2012 is now available from our Publications page!  The calendar measures 8 1/2 x 11 -- suitable for easy printing from your workplace or home! Our Publications page is also the place where you can find current and archived issues of our Class newsletter, the ESD 105 Regional Directory containing contact information for our staff and for our region's schools (updated monthly), and...

During times of hazardous weather in the winter months, please check the ESD 105 homepage or call us at (509) 575-2885 to learn if an ESD 105 workshop, meeting, or other event has had to be postponed.  You can also check the following local news sources (all linked on the Flash Alert system) to learn about any of our postponements: Yakima County:
KAPP-TV (ABC)
KIMA-TV (CBS)
KNDO-TV (NBC)
KIT-AM 1280 / KIT-FM 99.3
KDBL-FM 92.9
KFFM-FM 107.3
KATS-FM 94.5
KUTI-AM 1460
KBBO-AM 980
KRSE-FM 105.7
KHHK-FM 99.7
KJOX-AM...

The Winter 2011-2012 edition of our "Class" newsletter is now posted on our Web site!  This issue provides details about the great workshops that ESD 105 will be offering during January, February, and March.  Among the news and feature stories in this issue are items about:

• the Washington National Guard's Drug Demand Reduction Program that is available to area schools • upcoming enhancements to our online Event Center • educational toolkits from our MERO program...

The CenturyLink Teachers & Technology Grant Program (formerly the Qwest Grant Program) is taking applications through February 7 for its grant awards for its annual grant awards.  Nine grant awards of $10,000 will be given for the 2012-2013 school year to help teachers promote technology integration and the development of 21st century skills. The grants are open to public school teachers and teacher-librarians who are certified to teach in the state of Washington, and who teach in a school district with at least one school or administrative building located in a CenturyLink local service area. For further information on district eligibility and to obtain a grant application form,...