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(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Cliff-Carmondy-300x225.jpg)Cliff Carmody, Executive Director at South West / West Central Service Cooperative and serving as the Past-President of AESA Council, joins us from his office in Marshall, MN. This is one episode you don’t want to skip! Cliff shares some of the innovative services provided by South West / West Central Service Cooperative and offers his help in extending such services to other interested ESA’s.  Additionally, we discuss trends in education as seen by Cliff, the opportunities these bring to ESA’s, the value our national organization, AESA, brings to the member ESA’s, how to get more involved to create an even stronger AESA family. Particular leadership programs mentioned in this episode include The Mentor Project, the Executive in Residence program, and the summer CEO Conference to be held in New Mexico.  To learn more, listen to episode #6! To contact Cliff Carmody go to www.swsc.org (http://www.swsc.org)  or email Cliff at cliff.carmody@swsc.org (mailto:cliff.carmody@swsc.org) For more information on The Mentor Project, contact Cliff (above) or go to http://www.aesa.us/MentorProject.pdf (http://www.aesa.us/MentorProject.pdf) For more information on the Executive in Residence program, contact Joe Crozier at jcrozier@gwaea.org (mailto:jcrozier@gwaea.org) or go to http://www.aesa.us/about/executives-in-residence-program.cfm (http://www.aesa.us/about/executives-in-residence-program.cfm) To contact Dr. Mike Cook go to www.essdack.org (http://www.essdack.org) or e-mail him at mcook@essdack.org (mailto:mcook@essdack.org) Be sure to subscribe to receive an email of future podcasts.

Dr. Steve Aguirre, President of AESA and Executive Director of High Plains Regional Education Cooperative, New Mexico, joins us for episode #5.(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/5-Steve-Aguirre.jpg-300x224.png) Dr. Aguirre leads the smallest ESA in New Mexico consisting of eight rural districts ranging from 35 students to 1100 students K-12 made up of primarily ranching communities. In this episode, Dr. Aguirre shares a large picture of the trends he sees in education, ESA’s and AESA and how these trends will impact our smaller rural communities. From helping to build technology infrastructure in New Mexico to leading legislative efforts through AESA in Washington, D. C., Dr. Aguirre shares some of the local work his ESA has done and his work at the national council level. Enjoy this episode and learn the value in building consortiums, collaborations and what individual member ESA’s can do to help move AESA forward as a strong voice for education. To contact Dr. Steve Aguirre, email him at saguirre@hprec.com (mailto:saguirre@hprec.com) For more information about AESA, go to www.AESA.us (http://www.AESA.us) To contact Dr. Mike Cook go to www.essdack.org (http://www.essdack.org) or e-mail him at mcook@essdack.org (mailto:mcook@essdack.org) Be sure to subscribe to receive an email of future podcasts.

(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Rich2009-236x300.jpg) Our guest for episode #4 is Dr. Rich McBride, CEO of North Central ESD #171, located in Wenatchee, WA. Rich also serves on the AESA Council as the President-Elect and will assume the duties of Council President in April, 2014. Rich is a dynamic leader who shares what’s going on in his service area, the state of WA, and the trends in education he sees throughout the country. The opportunities, barriers to overcome, and the continued need to collaborate and accelerate are all part of episode #4. Enjoy your visit with Dr. Rich McBride, AESA President-Elect & CEO of North Central ESD #171! To contact Dr. Rich McBride go to www.ncesd.org (http://www.ncesd.org) or e-mail him at richm@ncesd.org (mailto:richm@ncesd.org) Check out the AEAS conference schedule and information mentioned in the interview at www.AESA.us (http://www.AESA.us) To contact Dr. Mike Cook go to www.essdack.org (http://www.essdack.org) or e-mail him at mcook@essdack.org (mailto:mcook@essdack.org) Be sure to subscribe to receive an email of future podcasts.      

(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Peter-Young-2-300x258.jpg) Dr. Young has been with AESA and service centers since 1970… That’s 44 years of service to the youth of America. Enjoy listening to Peter’s journey from 1970 through today! His interview includes his ‘most memorable’ story over the years of his service in ESA’s. Around the country, Peter sees businesses ‘waking-up’ to ESA’s as the great connection point for delivery, service, and on-going training for their products and/or services. Through the business partners of AESA, Peter helps connect the services and products of such with the member ESA’s. His insights and description of how AESA serves as the liaison between these businesses and ESA’s will help local agencies understand how to best utilize this resource. To investigate further, go to www.AESA.us (http://www.AESA.us) and explore the business partnership page. In addition to the business partners, Peter shares his thoughts around how cooperation and collaboration continues to be one of the greatest opportunity for today’s ESA’s. Back Office services provided by ESA’s provide additional avenues for cost savings and quality products for schools they serve. Keeping contacts, connections, and relationships alive and active is identified as one of the primary barriers that local ESA’s experience. Laws, regulations, and policy from federal and state departments of education, in some cases, tends to be another hurdle when ESA’s aren’t strong with relationships with the governing bodies. AESA offers the membership a strong voice in federal legislative issues, strong business partnership connections, and communications within the membership. To better serve the local ESA’s, he encourages increasing communication via enrollment of your key ESA personnel on the AESA mailing lists. To enroll, contact Peter at pyoung@AESA.us (mailto:pyoung@AESA.us) For more information you can connect Peter at www.AESA.us (http://www.AESA.us) or pyoung@AESA.us (mailto:pyoung@AESA.us) You can contact Dr. Mike Cook at  www.ESSDACK.org (https://essdack.org/mike-cook) or mcook@essdack.org (mailto:mcook@essdack.org) Be sure to subscribe to receive an email of future podcasts.          

  Today’s guest is Dr. Lee Warne, Executive Director of the Association of Educational Service Agencies. www.AESA.us (http://www.AESA.us).(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Lee-Warne-240x300.jpg)Our visit with Lee focuses on the opportunities and barriers faced by the nearly 600 Educational Service Agencies (ESA) in the USA. What is the most exciting thing going on at the national ESA level? Most exciting is the leadership training now being offered through AESA for the existing, new, and potential CEO’s of ESA’s.  Three levels of professional learning for ESA leaders exist in the Executives in Residence, New CEO Networking, and the CEO Mentorship programs.  For more information and the contact information on these programs, see www.AESA.us (http://www.AESA.us). What primary opportunities exist for ESA’s? Dr. Warne shares one of the primary opportunities for ESA’s across the country is the networking that is occurring between agencies via social media, marketing of services, and actual visits between different agencies.  All of which are leading to expanding the spiraling of knowledge that leads to better service from the ESA to the schools. Networks between ESA’s are growing not only within states, but also as multiple states. Specialties and expertise in services and products are being paired between agencies to better provide for the schools and learners. As with all opportunities, what are the barriers to overcome? Protecting the ‘revenue stream’ and/or ‘geographic area of operation’ of and by each ESA seems to be a top priority. These barriers lead to a mentality of abundance vs scarcity, which must be overcome if ESA’s are to continue to advance. In order to do such, Dr. Warne discusses and provides examples of how ESA’s are now looking for opportunities for partnerships, collaboration, and business-to-business development. Perhaps the most beneficial ways to connect with other ESA’s can be found by attending the AESA Annual Conference and Summer CEO Conference.(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-05-at-3.34.19-PM-copy-300x121.png) To connect with Dr. Lee Warne go to: www.AESA.us (http://www.aesa.us/about/executive-council.cfm)  You can contact Dr. Mike Cook at: www.ESSDACK.org (https://essdack.org/mike-cook)   Be sure to subscribe to receive an email of future podcasts.  

  ESA Talk with host Dr. Mike Cook, Executive Director of ESSDACK, is intended to be a platform to collect the leaders of ESA’s across the country and abroad in-order to discuss issues, solutions, opportunities, and innovations in education and learning. Future episodes of ESA Talk will connect the thoughts and opinions of ESA leaders, federal and state policy makers, and other major voices that impact learning opportunities. AESA – Association of Educational Service Agencies The Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA)(http://remarkablechatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-05-at-3.34.19-PM-copy-300x121.png) is a professional organization serving educational service agencies (ESAs) in 45 states; there are 553 agencies nationwide with hundreds of thousands of staff members. AESA is in the position to reach well over 80% of the public school districts, over 83% of the private schools, over 80% certified teachers, and more than 80% non-certified school employees, and well over 80% public and private school students. Annual budgets for ESAs come to $14.7 billion. AESA’s membership is agency wide and includes all ESA employees and board members. You can contact Dr. Mike Cook at: mikecook@essdack.org (mailto:mikecook@essdack.org) Be sure to subscribe to receive an email of future podcasts.