Category Archives: Images

View all images on the Maine Department of Education’s Flickr webpage.

Maine FFA Association hosts 83rd state convention

Posted on May 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Maine FFA State President Isaac Wortman (left) presents honorary state FFA degrees to Commissioners Bowen and Whitcomb.

Maine FFA State President Isaac Wortman (left) presents honorary state FFA degrees to Commissioners Bowen and Whitcomb.

The Maine FFA Association (formerly known as “Future Farmers of America”) held its 83rd annual state convention May 9-10 at the University of Maine.

Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen and Agriculture Commissioner Walter Whitcomb spoke at the FFA award banquet, as did visiting National FFA President Clay Sapp. Gabrielle Cyr of Ashland High School was named Outstanding Student Chapter Officer, and Kevin Marquis of Easton was named FFA Chapter Advisor of the Year. Maine FFA specially recognized Thomas Hale, Caribou Regional Technology Center agriculture teacher, who is retiring after 38 years of teaching and numerous accomplishments.

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Posted in Career & Technical, Featured, High School, Images, Middle School, Science & Technology, Students

Former Maine teacher releases book on senior capstone

Posted on April 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Image of book cover - Unleashed to Learn: Empowering Students to Learn at Full Capacity

Linda C. Aronson developed the senior capstone at Hall-Dale High School and recently published this book out of her experience.

Linda Aronson, who taught for six years at Hall-Dale High School initiating and developing the senior capstone, has crafted the book Unleashed to Learn: Empowering Students to Learn at Full Capacity out of her experience. Part case study and part advocacy, Aronson describes her work at Hall-Dale and argues passionately for more learner-led education and performance assessment in schools.

Performance assessment–in which students pursue genuine interests, in real world settings, and in ways that suit their learning styles–is one of the keystones of Maine’s vision of proficiency-based/learner-centered education.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Dispatches, High School, Images, Kennebec County, Teachers

Maine FFA officers celebrate Maine Agriculture Day at the Legislature

Posted on April 3, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Maine FFA State Officers at their display in the State House Hall of Flags.

Maine FFA State Officers at their display in the State House Hall of Flags.

Student state officers from the Maine FFA Association (formerly known as “Future Farmers of America”) celebrated Maine Agriculture Day at the Legislature March 27. State officers were presented to both chambers of the Maine State Legislature, staffed a display in the Hall of Flags, and attended the culminating luncheon at the State Grange, with food served courtesy of the Grange and the Maine Aquaculture Association.

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Posted in Featured, High School, Images, Science & Technology, Students

Governor’s Conference on Education leads to positive discussions about student-focused reform

Posted on March 22, 2013 by | 1 Comment
Headshot of Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennet.

Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett gave the keynote address at the first Governor’s Conference on Education.

The following is a news release from the Governor’s Office.

Everyone agrees putting students first is most important

AUGUSTA – Invited to Maine by Gov. Paul R. LePage, education policy leaders from around the country shared practices, models and innovative reforms with more than 200 legislators, business leaders, educators and others at Cony High School Friday at the Governor’s Conference on Education: Putting Students First.

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Posted in Governor LePage, Images, Kennebec County, Press Releases, Professional Development

Weatherbee School gets community involved in Maine Day

Posted on March 20, 2013 by | 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.

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

Boothbay-Tasmania water project on tap

Posted on March 12, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Boothbay Region High School science and environmental science teacher Lauren Graham, second from right, prepares with other teachers from around the country for the water quality pilot project with Tasmania, Australia this month.

Boothbay Region High School science and environmental science teacher Lauren Graham, second from right, prepares with other teachers from around the country for the water quality pilot project with Tasmania, Australia this month.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Simon Costanzo

Thanks to the Boothbay Register for sharing this article, by staff writer Lisa Kristoff, with the Maine DOE for publication.

“I am so beyond excited,” Lauren Graham said last week.

What’s she so jazzed about? How about the fact that Boothbay Region High School juniors and seniors in her ecology and oceanography classes will be participating in an international pilot water quality project: the USAUS-H20 (U.S.-Australia Virtual Environmental Partnership).

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Posted in Featured, High School, Images, Lincoln County, Science & Technology, Students

Waynflete School wins first Maine LifeSmarts state championship

Posted on March 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Waynflete School students accept trophy for winning the state competition for LifeSmarts, the ultimate consumer challenge.

Waynflete School students won the state competition for LifeSmarts, the ultimate consumer challenge.

Thanks to Mary Dyer of the Maine Jump$tart Coalition for sharing this press release with the Maine DOE for publication.

Portland – Four Maine high schools came together to compete in LifeSmarts, the ultimate consumer challenge, at the Unum Corporate Campus in Portland on Friday, March 1. Hosted by the Maine Jump$tart Coalition, this competition-based educational program develops the consumer and marketplace skills of teens. Sanford High School in Sanford, Waynflete School in Portland, Woodland High School in Woodland, and United Technologies Center in Bangor all competed in the state competition.

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Posted in Cumberland County, Featured, High School, Images, Mathematics, Students

Best practices, spirits improve at Deer Isle-Stonington HS

Posted on February 27, 2013 by | 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.”

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

Madison Elem. earns nutrition award

Posted on February 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Madison Elementary School staff and students receive the HealthierUS School Challenge Bronze Award.

Madison Elementary School earns the HealthierUS School Challenge Bronze Award.

RSU 59 received a HealthierUS School Challenge Bronze Award at Madison Elementary School, with students and parents in attendance. HUSSC is a voluntary certification initiative established in 2004 to recognize those schools participating in the National School Lunch Program that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. Fewer than 4 percent of schools nationally have achieved the award.

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Posted in Dispatches, Elementary School, Images, Nutrition, Somerset County, Students

Maine State Museum combines history, tech and theater for students

Posted on January 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment
Joanna Torow, Maine State Museum's chief educator, provides information to students from Rangeley Lakes Middle School.

Joanna Torow, Maine State Museum’s chief educator, provides information to students from Rangeley Lakes Middle School, who attended the performance by the Marti Stevens actors in the Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives exhibit gallery.

Thanks to Sheila McDonald, deputy director of Maine State Museum, for sharing this article with the Maine Department of Education for publication.

History, theater and technology recently converged in a lively program simultaneously involving eighth graders visiting the Maine State Museum’s Malaga Island, Fragmented Lives exhibit gallery and fourth graders at a remote site at Rockland’s South School.

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Posted in Elementary School, Featured, Franklin County, Images, Knox County, Middle School, Social Studies, Students