The deadline for nominations for the CAS Administrative Assistant of the Year Award is this Friday. This annual award recognizes a high-performing school office assistant who demonstrates excellent leadership, ongoing commitment to staff and students, and meaningful contributions to the overall school experience. The award will be presented at the April 26th conference for school secretaries and administrative assistants. Please consider submitting a nomination!

CAS is excited to announce its spring conference for high school student council members and advisors. Adventures in Leadership will take place on May 31st at Winding Trails in Farmington. This event offers an outdoor adventure experience which engages participants in large and small group activities involving both the mind and body. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop leadership, communication, and collaboration skills and succeed within a supportive group atmosphere.

The CAS-CIAC Endowment and Flanagan Grant Program, made possible by the generosity of sponsors whose dollars have helped us build a stable endowment fund, provides grant money to member schools to support new or existing initiatives that lead to enriched educational experiences and improved learning environments. Proposals are now being accepted from member schools, individual students, or groups of students or schools (including academic/athletic leagues). The deadline for submissions is April 25th.

The CAS Middle Level Scholar Leader Banquet is scheduled for Monday, June 3, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville. Now in its 35th year, this event is designed to give recognition to two students from each Connecticut middle school who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship and leadership in their school and community. Register now!

Registration is open for KiDSMARATHON 2019, an eight- to ten-week nutritional and fitness regimen for students ages 5-12 that can be easily implemented in any school setting. Participants complete a full marathon by running incremental distances each week and finishing the last mile at a regional site along with hundreds of their peers. The training can take place before, during or after school. Using the mantra "winning is finishing and finishing is winning," KiDSMARATHON helps students develop life-long fitness skills, self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment.

CAS is currently planning the 18th Annual Arts in the Middle Conference and is looking for art teacher(s) and artistically talented students from around the state to serve as presenters. This year’s conference will be held on May 22nd at the University of Hartford Art School. We would love to hear from any teachers who are interested in sharing an exemplary art process or activity with the artistically engaged students in our state.

The Connecticut State Student Advisory Council on Education (SSACE) is inviting submissions from middle and high schools for the statewide Challenge to Educational Citizenship Awards. The recipients of these awards embody the spirit of citizenship, commitment to serving others and altruism. If you have a program or activity in your school that exemplifies civic awareness, cooperation, and boundless potential for community impact, please submit a nomination by April 19th.

Many educators struggle with the legal requirements for students with disabilities. Much in-service legal professional development related to special education is on the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which sometimes leaves Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as a misunderstood and often misapplied law. Register today for 504, the ADA, and Public School Students: The Latest Lessons for General and Special Educators on May 2nd at the Red Lion in Cromwell. Presenter Perry Zirkel, Ph.D., J.D., LL.M, University Professor Emeritus of Education and Law at Lehigh University, will address the confusion between 504 and IDEA requirements by exploring issues related to the latest 504- and ADA-related legal lessons.