What is the Western Region Education Service Alliance (WRESA)?
The concept of a collaborative began in the 1970s and has evolved from the Western Regional Education Center (WREC) to what it is today, the Western Region Education Service Alliance (WRESA). WRESA is a collaborative that was created by WNC school systems in 1996-1997 under the direction of Dr. Roger Metcalf. Since 1998, all of the 18 school systems in Western North Carolina have been members of WRESA. In 2007, Dr. Jan Webster joined WRESA as the secondary coordinator and in 2008 was hired as the director.
Our Mission
Working together for the children of Western North Carolina
Our Purpose
Provide a collaborative to increase school systems’ effectiveness through sharing instructional strategies and best practices while also pooling resources to provide high-level professional development for educators in Western North Carolina. This collaborative approach has served our western systems well over the last 18 years through providing support, sharing best practices, sharing resources, offering high-quality professional development and saving financial resources. Many sessions are taught by regional faculty who have expertise in particular areas. The WRESA staff teaches many sessions on-site and they also travel to schools or regional locations to conduct sessions. Through our collaborative efforts, WRESA has been able to bring numerous national and international educational presenters to Western North Carolina. This practice allows regional educators opportunities to receive high quality instruction while saving our school systems expenses related to travel. WRESA provides coordination of job-alike groups such as curriculum staff and human resource officers along with others. Meeting space and presenters are coordinated through WRESA staff.
Grant History
Grant writing is another service provided by WRESA. Our staff has a part-time grant writer to pursue grants for funding programs for our regional school systems. Since 2000, WRESA and Western North Carolina Regional Education Foundation (WNCREF), a 501(c) 3 foundation, has assisted with coordinating and acquiring over $10 million in grants for our regional school systems.
| Project | Fiscal Agent/Coordinator | Source | Timeframe | Amount Funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Strategies Program | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Local School Systems | 2000-2003 | $2,180,000 |
| WNC EdNET Broadband* Fiber Deployment | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | CPFdn - $1.7 million Golden LEAF - $2.2 million NC Rural Center - $40,000 Appalachian Regional Commission - $700,500 BETA - $1.2 million Local School Districts - $205,500 | 2005-2008 | $6,000,000 |
| Instructional Technology Awareness Conference (iTAC) at WCU | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | CPFdn - $5000 Golden LEAF $40,000 | 2007 | $45,000 |
| Technology Application Local School Based Training | WNCREF/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2008-2009 | $100,000 |
| CSI MSP Grant | WRESA | NCDPI | 2008-2010 | $600,000 |
| Student Engagement in Technology Programs | Southwestern Commission / WRESA/WNCREF | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2009 | $30,000 |
| Exxon Mobil | WRESA | Exxon Mobil | 2009 | $15,000 |
| Instructional Technology Awareness Conference (iTAC) at WCU at Cherokee Middle School | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2010 | $50,000 |
| WAN Engineering Services | Southwestern Commission / WRESA/WNCREF | CPFdn - $80,000 Local School Districts - $200,000 | 2010 | $280,000 |
| Technology Application Regional Training Sessions and the Institute at Cherokee Middle School | WNCREF/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2010 | $220,000 |
| Brain Friendly Instruction | WNCREF / WRESA | CPFdn - $20,000 ASCD - $2,000 | 2011 | $22,000 |
| Abstinence Grant NCDPI | WRESA | NCDPI | 2011-2014 | $40,500 |
| Student Entrepreneurial STEM Project | Swain County Schools/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2012 | $20,000 |
| WNC EdNet STEM-E Project | WNCREF/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPFdn) | 2013 - 2014 | $398,000 |
| LASER | WNCREF | Golden LEAF - $600,000, NCSMT - $100,000 | 2014 | $700,000 |
| Appalachian Waves | WNCREF/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2014-2015 | $100,000 |
| STEM-E Next Steps | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2014-2015 | $324,500 |
| Abstinence Education | Swain County Schools/WRESA | Federal Grant - NCDPI | 2015-2016 | $82,000 |
| Focus on the Future with STEM-E | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2015-2016 | $288,530 |
| Abstinence Education | Swain County Schools/WRESA | Federal Grant - NCDPI | 2016-2017 | $65,000 |
| STEM-E and CTE Coordinator Position for Cherokee Central Schools | WNCREF / WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2016-2017 | $63,800 |
| FarWest North Carolina Science Olympiad (NCSO) Competition | NCSO /WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2016-2017 | $19,998 |
| STEM-E Groups Unite | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2016-2017 | $341,620 |
| Digital Learning Grant | WRESA | NCDPI | 2016-2017 | $26,656 |
| Growing Up with STEM-E | Southwestern Commission / WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2017-2018 | $240,296 |
| Abstinence Education | Swain County Schools/WRESA | Federal Grant - NCDPI | 2017-2018 | $76,000 |
| Digital Learning Grant | WRESA | NCDPI | 2017-2018 | $13,328 |
| Makerspace Planning Grant | WNCREF/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2018-2019 | $16,346 |
| Reaching Out with STEM-E | Southwestern Commission/WRESA | Cherokee Preservation Foundation | 2018-2019 | $374,627 |
| NCDPI Safety Grant | WRESA/HCPS | NCDPI | 2018-2019 | $62,880 |
| Total $12,796,081 |
Session Highlights:
- Summer Leadership Conference
- Junior Great Books
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (2 certified trainers on staff)
- Poverty Training (1 certified trainer on staff)
- Thinking Maps
- Legal Updates
- Leadership Institutes
- Literacy Institutes
- Fall Leadership Conference
- Technology Conference
- Project GLAD
- Aspiring Principals Institute
- Mountain Teacher Job Fairs
- BioTech Awareness Conference
- STEM Leadership Academy
- Math Trainings K-12
- Beginning Teachers’ Orientation
- Early Childhood Institute
- Mentor Training and Support
- NC Wildlife Commission (Project Catch, Project Wild, Advanced Wild Bears & Aquatic Wild)
- Differentiation Institute
- Administrators’ Institute
- Coordinated and arranged presentations by NCDPI staff
- NCSELP Masters in Education Leadership and PMC degree program with WCU
- STEM Technology Conference
- SMART Tank
- Breakout EDU Sessions
National/International Presenters:
- Rick Wormeli
- Dr. Joe Sanfelipo
- Dr. Mark Benno
- Becky DuFour
- Lynn Canady
- Harry Wong
- Amie Dean
- Eric Jensen
- Christopher Canyon
- Barry Lane
- Marcia Tate
- Susan Zimmerman
- Kathy Nunley
- Lucy Calkins
- Debbie Miller
- Stephanie Harvey
- Cris Tovani
- Kathy Bumgardner
- Ralph Fletcher
- Carl Anderson
- Katie Wood Ray
- Laura Candler
- Richard Allington
- Sue Nelle DeHart
- Marcy Cook
- Lester Laminack
- Todd Whitaker
- Ron Clark
- Milton Chen
- Michael Fullan
- Yong Zhao
- Carol Ann Tomlinson
- Kristina Doubet
- Eric Carbaugh
- Sean Covey
