Author: President

Dear Reader,

We are excited to host our Collaboration, Innovation, and Beyond PNWAER Spring Conference at Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Washington, in March 2023. Please use this form to submit conference presentation proposals.

Full-Day Conference Presentation Proposal – March 16, 2023

     – These presenters will be leading an intensive. Multiple professionals can lead this full-day immersive experience with 2-3 sessions.

General Session(s) – March 17 & 18, 2023

     – 70-minute general sessions

     – 30-minute mini-general sessions (limited number available)

     – Poster Presentation (Exhibitor Hall only)

New* We have an interactive Session Room that will be a fishbowl style of chairs with room for interactive education for Friday, March 17, General Sessions. We want our attendees to move and experience teaching. Please consider this setup while proposing presentations.

The deadline for proposal submission is January 11, 2022

Selection(s) for the conference will be announced on January 18, 2023

Here is the link to our proposal form: https://forms.gle/Ppym2X9oTaDr6JJJ9

We look forward to receiving proposals and putting together an innovative and engaging conference for our state, marking the first time in 3 years we will be back in person.Our board has a lot of new and exciting things to offer at this conference. Mark your calendars!

Sincerely,

Stacey Gibbins, Past-President

Good Morning,

PNWAER Board of Directors is excited to announce our spring conference officially. March 16-18, 2023, professionals from around the state will gather for our Collaboration, Innovation, and Beyond PNWAER Spring Conference at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Washington.

We look forward to connecting in person for the first time since 2019. We have a lot of ideas to make this conference special but also need your input. Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey with your thoughts and wants for conference presenters and sessions. We will use this information to provide the best possible conference for our state. https://forms.gle/fNcWVjXa4K1JFRcp9

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to seeing you in March. If you have not joined AER yet, you may want to consider it, as there is a discount for conference attendees and many professional opportunities as a member. AER Membership

We will send out a call for conference proposals, vendors, and sponsors shortly. Please contact us directly if you or anyone you know would be interested in presenting, becoming a sponsor, or vendor.

Sincerely,

PNWAER Board of Directors

Hello Eve,

PNW AER would like to create a job board hosted on our website for anyone to access throughout the year at their convenience. We know that postings in our field happen regularly, and to keep them all in one place, we created a form to keep track of submissions.
If you have an opening that you would like featured on PNW AER’s website, please fill out this form at any time throughout the year.

Here is the form: https://forms.gle/bsyxKVMaAb9ub9BR6

If you have posted on Eve in the last few weeks, please submit the form so we can keep track of positions in an organized system.

Thank you,

PNWAER Board

Hello PNW AER Membership,

We hope this email finds you well. We have many exciting updates for our chapter and would like to take this opportunity to share them with you.

We have updated our PNW AER bylaws, which were voted on and approved at our September board meeting. You can view the updated bylaws here or on our website.

We have updated our Mini-Grant Application and Guidelines to better reflect our commitment to serving vision professionals in their career development. The guidelines and application can be found on our website here.

Our website has had a mini makeover; feel free to check our drop-down menu in our About section! It now has the updated Board Members with bios, our bylaws, a job board posting, a submission page, and a vision resource page.

–        If you would like to add to our vision resource page, please email us with the information you would like us to add.

–        The job board page is updated automatically with each submission. We are excited to add this to our page to help connect professionals with open positions in our state.

–        Our social media accounts are also linked in the top-right-hand corner; like us on Facebook & Twitter!

Annual Meeting Notes

–        Here are the annual meeting notes from our March 18, 2022 meeting.

–        Here are the latest notes from our board meeting on September 12, 2022.

2023 PNW AER Conference

–        We are excited to host an in-person conference on March 16-18 in Tri-Cities. You are the first to know that we will be hosting it at Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Washington.

–        We will send out a survey shortly to gather information on what members want to see at the conference. Be on the lookout!

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to PNW AER. We are looking forward to another fantastic fiscal year!

Sincerely,

PNW AER Board of Directors

Dear Conference Attendees,

Thank you for attending last week’s conference, we hope you enjoyed the sessions as much as we did.

Post-Conference Survey(s): Here is our post-conference survey; please take a moment to fill it out when you are able. https://forms.gle/DmJT5tQUwh5YrRWv6

ACVERP Credits Information: 

To submit ACVERP credits, please email a signed copy of your form (attached) to this email with all of the opening and closing codes for the sessions attended. The keynote has an opening and closing code as well. Some of the sessions may have missed the code initially, but it is repeated many times in the end. The form is attached to this email. Only registered attendees will be able to receive credit. The maximum number of credits you can receive is 18.

WA Clock Hours Information: 

The code is J35-ELQ  – Email Pam Parker if you have questions. There are 18 WA Clock Hours and 4.5 of them are STEM for the conference. Only registered attendees will be able to receive clock hours.

Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pnwaer 

Please reach out to us if you have any questions.

Colleagues and friends,

Please take a few minutes to help me in an ongoing process of review of training TVIs received and training needed. This is an extension of some research I have been conducting over an extended period of time; I have found the most useful information comes directly from teachers in the field. Your experiences and feedback are very much appreciated.

Results will be tabulated, analyzed, and reported back to you. Many of you are asked to complete surveys, and you do not often hear any of the results- I know this because you tell me! For those of you who have worked with me in the past, you know that results shared are actually used as basis for assisting in decision making, and those results are shared back with everyone. Type your responses directly on this form (it is WORD) and email back to me. There is no harmful effect to respondents anticipated in completing this survey. Thank you in advance for your help.

William Koehler, M.Ed.; TVI, COMS (ret)

Responses to: Koehler.william@outlook.com

(512) 963-0693  (Arizona)

We are excited for our Spring Conference on March 17 & 18, 2022. Below you will find key details for the conference to support you in attending. To register,

• The conference is virtual.
  • LIVE sessions will be 8:00a-5:00p Thursday, March 17 & 8:00a-12:00p on Friday, March 18
  • All sessions will be recorded and available until May 1.
  • Recorded sessions will only be available for conference attendees who register and pay.
• 18 ACVREP Credits & Clock Hours are available for this conference.
• Click the link to register — Spring Conference Registration

Our keynote speakers will be a panel of 3 young adults speaking on their experiences with project-based learning and how it has impacted their lives. We are still receiving nominations, to nominate someone you know, click the link to nominate: https://forms.gle/1PhDXdXC9QoMs3UL9

We have two wonderful presentations for Pre-Conference!
Christopher Russell, Supporting Availability for Learning for Students with Multiple Disabilities including Deaf-Blindness Student-Centered Assessment and Intervention
Saaron Putnam-Almaguer, Kristin Gault, Deborah Lesher, Katie Teirney – Designing an Effective AAC System for Students with CVI

We have provided a link and an attachment for ourconference agenda. We are still working out a few presentations, and confirming times with presenters. The presentation selections will not change, however, the order may be different closer to the conference. View Full Agenda

We encourage you to become a member of AER – conference discounts will be available for AER members. We hope you will join us.

Happy February! Our Spring Conference Registration is now open for our virtual conference on March 17 & 18. We encourage you to become a member of AER!
Conference discounts will be available for AER members. All conference sessions will be recorded and available for viewing post-conference. ACVERP & Clock Hours will be available for attendees.
*Don’t forget to screenshot your registration, you will not get a confirmation email from the system we use*

Tentative Schedule (All times PDT)
Thursday, March 17Pre-Conference, 8a – 11:30a
Keynote, Awards Luncheon,11:45 – 12:45pConference Sessions, 1p – 4:30p
Friday, March 18
Conference Sessions, 8a – 12p
Here is the link to register one more time!  https://tinyurl.com/PNWAER2022

PNWAER Board of Directors is excited to announce we will be hosting our annual conference, virtually, March 17 & 18 in 2022! Mark your calendars to join us for another engaging, dynamic, and stellar conference! 

Click here for the request for Presentation Proposals! Please submit your abstract and presentation proposals by January 31, 2022. We look forward to bringing you the best conference in 2022. Please reach out to PNWAER directly if you have any questions (pnwaerbvi@gmail.com)

 – Conference Overview –Pre-Conference will be held March 17, from 8:00am – 10:00am. Keynote & Award Ceremony will be held at 11:30am.General Sessions – March 17, 1:00pm – 4:00pm & March 18, 8:00am – 12:00pm Virtual Conference FormatPre-Conference Sessions will be 120 minutes long.General Sessions will be 70 minutes long.Mini Sessions will be 30 minutes long.

 Happy Holidays,Stacey Gibbins, PNWAER President

Hello Eve,

On behalf of our PNWAER board, we hope this email finds you well and settling into this new season. We are looking forward to another exciting year with all of you. Be on the lookout for an email with a survey to discuss the 2022 conference and the return of our mixers!

We would like to take this time to introduce our board and the significance of AER & PNWAER as professional organizations.

Please welcome our 2020-2021 Board Members.

• Stacey Gibbins, President
• Sean McCormick, President-Elect
• Brittany Valicoff, Past-President
• Julie McEnderfer, Treasurer
• Kina Blackburn, Secretary
• Board Members’ at Large – Janet Carlson, Sara Zachariah, Scott McCallum

What is AER and PNWAER?
Pacific Northwest AER (PNWAER) is a chapter of The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER).  This chapter provides a unique opportunity to connect with local professionals who provide services and resources that enable individuals who are blind or visually impaired to achieve their educational, employment and personal independence goals. Example, our spring conference held every year or our newest virtual mixers! 

Our chapter covers professionals living in the state of Washington.

PNWAER is active all year round. It is led by a group of board members that are voted into position by PNWAER members!

Why Join: When you join AER and our chapter, you join a community of excellence. This membership brings professionals together toensure success of one another and success of the people we serve. Added bonus, members have access to AER’s learning series and discounts on AER conference registrations.

How: To join PNWAER officially you need to be a member of AER. An AER membership provides an automatic membership to our chapter if you reside in Washington State. There are several membership types, click the link to find the best fit for you! https://aerbvi.org/membership/

Not ready to commit but want to follow along? Join us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pnwaer/We hope you will consider joining this wonderful professional organization. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Sportingly,

Stacey Gibbins, PNWAER President