Author Archives: Courtney Yeager

Bowen praises improvement efforts at Indian Township and Caravel Middle Schools

Posted on May 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

CARMEL – Department of Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen commended regional sharing of resources as well as professional development efforts at Indian Township School in Princeton and Caravel Middle School (RSU 87/MSAD 23) in Carmel, which he visited Thursday and Friday as part of his Promising Practices Tour.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Accountability, Administrators, Elementary School, Governor LePage, Middle School, Penobscot County, Press Releases, Professional Development, Students, Teachers, Washington County

Weatherbee School gets community involved in Maine Day

Posted on March 20, 2013 | Leave a comment
Fourth grade student Colin Trudelle uses a microscope to study fiber investigation.

Weatherbee School fourth grade student Colin Trudelle focuses on fiber investigation during a Maine Day paper making workshop (hosted by the Maine Discovery Museum).

George B. Weatherbee School in Hampden recently celebrated its second annual “Maine Day,” a tribute to Maine Statehood Day, by offering dozens of state-themed workshops to its third through fifth grade students on Monday, March 18.

This year’s event featured over 40 presenters, half of whom were outside visitors from the community. Presenters taught workshops that focused on Maine’s slogan: The Way Life Should Be.  Teachers assigned third grade students to workshops, but fourth and fifth graders could sign-up for the workshops that most appealed to them. Workshops included: “A Wicked Good Guide to Maine Language,” in which kids listened to a true Mainer speak and translated to people from afar; “Mission of the Maine Warden Services,” which explained game wardens’ role in protecting fish and wildlife; “Whoopie Pies,” in which students heard about the official state treat; and “Aroostook County,” a brief overview of the area and potato harvesting.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Elementary School, Featured, Images, Penobscot County, Social Studies, Students, Teachers

Lewiston to launch College Scholars program this fall

Posted on March 19, 2013 | Leave a comment

Lewiston High School’s school board has recently approved a plan to expand and formalize the work of College for ME by implementing a College Scholars program, set to begin this fall in collaboration with the University of Southern Maine.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Androscoggin County, Featured, Funding, Governor LePage, High School, Higher Ed, Students

Best practices, spirits improve at Deer Isle-Stonington HS

Posted on February 27, 2013 | Leave a comment
DISHS principal Todd West shows Commissioner Bowen a technical trades area of the school.

DISHS principal Todd West shows Commissioner Bowen a technical trades area of the school.
Click to view more photos from this event.

“What can we all do to help you?”

Three years ago, the state labeled Deer Isle-Stonington High School as one of 10 “persistently low-achieving” schools in Maine. Now DISHS is drawing nothing but acclaim as a result of the dedication of principal Todd West and his faculty to school-wide improvement, from the ground up.

Being labeled one of the lowest-achieving schools impacted not only the reputation of DISHS, but also the students’ opinions of their education. “The damage that that did to the psyche of the school was incredible,” said Leslie Billings, special education/math teacher. “There’s got to be a better way. For many students, their thought process was, ‘If you’re going to be at the bottom, then what’s the point?’ For some of the students, there is no pride in the school because of that.”

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Featured, Hancock County, High School, Images, Instruction, Listening Tour

Bridge Year program poised for growth

Posted on January 24, 2013 | Leave a comment
Bridge Year student Taylor Smith gives a tour of the United Technologies Center in Bangor.

Bridge Year student Taylor Smith gives a tour of the United Technologies Center in Bangor. Smith is enrolled in the business management program at UTC and hopes to become a nurse.

In the spring of 2014, fourteen Hermon High School students will graduate with a high school diploma, a year’s worth of college credits and the incentive to continue their education thanks to Hermon’s Bridge Year program, launched during the 2012-13 school year. Now the program’s steering committee is seeking funding to replicate this progressive program all over the state—and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen recently announced to committee members and area legislators Gov. Paul R. LePage’s plan to do just that by including money for Bridge Year in his proposed budget. Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Career & Technical, Featured, Governor LePage, High School, Images, Penobscot County, School Choice, Students

Finalists for U.S. Senate program present on government issues

Posted on November 1, 2012 | Leave a comment
This year's 10 finalists for the United States Senate Youth Program.

Students from across Maine applied to attend the 2013 United States Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C. Two candidates from this pool of 10 finalists will be announced the winners in early December.

What do you think is the most important issue facing the U.S. today?

This is the question a panel of five judges posed to 10 Maine high school students vying for a prestigious honor on Thursday. Each student’s four-minute response homed in on one current governmental issue, such as foreign policy, renewable energy, the erosion of civil liberties or the general state of the economy. The most popular response, however, was the lack of bipartisan effort in U.S. Congress.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Featured, High School, Images, Social Studies, Students

Students praise learner-centered instruction at RTI conference

Posted on October 30, 2012 | 2 Comments
Hall-Dale High School seniors Anais Truman, Spencer Shagoury, Harry Cheung and Kurt Thiele present at the statewide RTI Conference.

Hall-Dale High School seniors (from left) Anais Truman, Spencer Shagoury, Harry Cheung and Kurt Thiele present at the statewide RTI Conference.
Click to view more photos from this event.

Teachers, administrators and superintendents eager to incorporate response to intervention (RTI) and student-centered learning practices into their curricula flooded the Augusta Civic Center for breakout training sessions at the Experts Down the Hall conference on Monday. But it was seven RSU 2 students who stole the show during the student panel on learner-centered instruction.

This year’s Hall-Dale High School seniors will be the first graduating class to have spent all four secondary education years in a student-centered learning environment—and they raved about their experience.

Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Featured, Images, Instruction, Kennebec County, Professional Development, Students, Teachers

From garden to table at Mount Desert Elem.

Posted on October 3, 2012 | Leave a comment
Mount Desert Elementary students Ivanna Dmitrieff (left) and Faith Reece press apples for cider during Harvest Lunch Week.

Mount Desert Elementary students Ivanna Dmitrieff (left) and Faith Reece press apples for cider during Harvest Lunch Week.
(Click to view more photos)

At Mount Desert Elementary School, students and staff took Maine’s annual Harvest Lunch Week very seriously by incorporating local ingredients into their lunch menu five days in a row, with some produce from as nearby as the school’s own backyard.

For this year’s Harvest Lunch Week, held September 24 through 28, Mount Desert celebrated a harvest-related theme each day.

Students in grades K-8 worked in the kitchen with school cook Linda Mailhot to learn more about Maine-made produce and the importance of using local ingredients. “It’s like the whole school’s in and out of here all the time,” Mailhot said. “Everybody gets into the meals—even the teachers.”

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Elementary School, Featured, Hancock County, Images, Nutrition, Students

Harvest Lunch Week a trend at Brooklin School

Posted on October 3, 2012 | Leave a comment
Brooklin students in grades 4 through 8 are on a rotating schedule to help cook Lori Boyce in the kitchen. Last Thursday, Colby Schneider served broccoli to students, and Lucas Torrey dished up corn.

Brooklin students in grades 4 through 8 are on a rotating schedule to help cook Lori Boyce in the kitchen. Last Thursday, Colby Schneider (left) served broccoli to students, and Lucas Torrey dished up corn.
(Click to view more photos)

During Harvest Lunch Week, schools statewide are encouraged to incorporate Maine-made ingredients into their lunch menus. But at the Brooklin School in Hancock County, Harvest Lunch Week is nothing out of the ordinary – cook Lori Boyce serves local food every day of the year.

Instead of consuming instant mashed potatoes or from-the-box desserts, Brooklin students eat potatoes they dug up in the school’s garden and pumpkin bars baked with gourds they grew themselves.

Boyce makes nearly all her food from scratch, which is difficult yet feasible at a K-8 elementary with a 46-student enrollment for 2012-13.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Dispatches, Elementary School, Featured, Hancock County, Images, Nutrition, Students

Educators create rubrics, learn to rate teaching effectiveness

Posted on August 9, 2012 | 2 Comments
Teachers from RSU 12 learn to evaluate teacher effectiveness by watching classroom videos.

Teachers from RSU 12 learn to evaluate teacher effectiveness by using rubrics their district created.

A handful of teachers and administrators from Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), Maine Schools for Excellence (MSFE) districts around the state are undergoing training to use teaching evaluation rubrics to accurately rate instructional effectiveness. During a two-day summer institute, attendees observe videos of educators in the classroom and evaluate the teaching practices based on rubrics the districts built themselves.

The rubrics are anchored in the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Training is conducted in part by Teachscape and will continue over the course of the grant.

Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Administrators, Aroostook County, Dispatches, Featured, Images, Instruction, Lincoln County, Professional Development, Teachers