Smoky Hill Education Service Center

Goal: $750.00

Specific Need

Smoky Hill Education Service Center and the Smoky Hill Education Foundation has set a goal of $750 for this year's Match Madness!

When this year's goal is met, that will cover a portion of the cost of bringing storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin to area schools in cooperation with the annual Kansas Storytelling Festival in April!

Irwin - from Covington, Georgia - will bring his blend of comedy, storytelling, and silly songs. Self-described as “equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer,” he has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival 10 times. He's a favorite at the International Storytelling Center's Teller-in-Residence Series, has performed at the Library of Congress and Walt Disney World, and was Artist-in-Residence at Emory University's Oxford College from 1991 to 2007.

Known for having a "Silly Putty voice" and "astonishing mouth noises," he was also a top-25 finalist in the 2020 Global Whistling Championship (you can watch his entry of Gershwin's "Prelude No. 2" below, as well as more videos of his songs and storytelling).

Learn more about Irwin's work from his website at andyirwin.com.

Join us for special online events via the SHESC Facebook Live Page for Match Madness on Thursday, March 24!

12 - 12:45 p.m.: Special conversation with Andy Offutt Irwin (interviewed by Adam Pracht, SHESC Marketing Coordinator) about practical joke etiquette, Bic vs. fountain pens, office background decor, being a "phantom janitor," and telling engaging stories between silly songs to audiences of children.
3:30 p.m.: SHESC Executive Director Chris Moddelmog competes in the free-throw and half court contest!
Updates throughout the day on donations progress! (Like and follow the SHESC Facebook page for notifications when we go live!)

Mission

"In partnership with school districts, we promote success for learners by providing superior services."

Profile

The Organization:

The Smoky Hill Education Service Center was organized July 1, 1990. It is a consortium of more than 50 school districts in a 25-county area, formed to cooperatively provide an array of educational services to its participating members in a more cost-efficient and beneficial manner.

The Clientele:

Smoky Hill Education Service Center provides staff development and services to more than 2,700 teachers and administrators. Increased teacher knowledge benefits more than 31,000 students.

The Benefits:

Providing ongoing, quality, outcome directed staff development in a wide variety of areas.
Saving organizations money through a cooperative volume purchasing program.
Offering consultation and services in the areas of curriculum development, assessment, and school improvement.
Offering cooperative, cost-efficient methods for obtaining services that are too difficult or expensive to support individually.