Faith McLaughlin, Office Associate from the Career and Technical Education team, is being highlighted this week as the Maine DOE’s Employee of the Week! Learn a little more about Faith | More
For Visual and Performing Arts teachers, or those looking to more robustly intertwine the arts into their curriculum: The Maine Department of Education invites you to be part of its upcoming professional development opportunity, Creative Assessment: Teacher as Curator. This session will explore the use of the arts as creative assessment strategies where participants explore artistic approaches to demonstrate academic learning and devise ways of gathering and presenting evidence of learning through documentation. | More
For Visual and Performing Arts teachers, or those looking to more robustly intertwine the arts into their curriculum: The Maine Department of Education invites you to be part of its upcoming professional development opportunity, Creative Assessment: Teacher as Curator. This session will explore the use of the arts as creative assessment strategies where participants explore artistic approaches to demonstrate academic learning and devise ways of gathering and presenting evidence of learning through documentation. Renowned facilitator and arts specialist, Dr. Lisa Donovan will provide an in-depth view of how the processes and products of the creative process can fuel a feedback loop for teaching and learning. We will wrestle with the question of “How do you tell the story of learning?” Participants will leave with a wide range of strategies for authentic, performance-based formative and summative processes for assessing learning in arts integrated work.
Participants will:
Explore their role as a curator, intentionally selecting, organizing and presenting information, strategies for teaching and learning as well as presenting evidence of student understanding.
Demonstrate how documentation and creative assessment strategies and processes utilizing the visual and performing arts to provide a holistic view of teaching and learning.
Explore a variety of models that can be adapted and used by educators across content areas and grade levels.
Engage in an experiential exploration of an arts integrated progression
Learn and apply several creative assessment strategies to their own work
Design documentation of their learning as models that can be used in their classrooms.
Participant Responsibilities:
Attend two day-long professional development training, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Senator Inn, 284 Western Ave., Augusta, ME 04330.
Dates for training are: Thursday, July 18th and Friday, July 19th.
Arrive at the first workshop with an arts lesson, in writing, in order to apply the concepts addressed throughout the sessions practically.
Compensation:
Each participant will receive a stipend of $150.00 (maximum: 20 participants).
To Register:
Interested parties should register HERE by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10th. Please forward all questions to Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Nate Menifield, at: nathaniel.j.menifield@maine.gov.
Remember that educators who have an ed tech or teaching certificate will not have an additional CHRC clearance line listed, as the CHRC clearance is a prerequisite for the certificate, and therefor is embedded with, and expires at the same time as, the certificate.
Please refrain from sending cash in the mail with certification applications, as this does slow down the process significantly.
A team of chemistry students from Waterville Senior High School collected 85 water samples from different locations in Waterville, which were sent to the Dartmouth Lab for analysis. Fifteen of the samples tested positive for arsenic—so the class researched inexpensive filters called Zero Water to keep water arsenic-free and make their community safer.
The project was covered by a team of Mass Media Communications students at Mid-Maine Technical Center (MMTC) as part of the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs. MMTC is the only school in Maine that hosts this program. It was presented on Maine Public Television and nationally on PBS Nature’s American Spring LIVE, and won third place in a national STEM Film Festival hosted by PBS.
Maine Spring Live – Clean Water from Mid-Maine Technical Center on Vimeo.
This story was written by Maine DOE Intern Emmeline Willey.If you have a story idea or would like to submit a written story for the Maine DOE Newsroom, email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.
As the computer-savvy become a more and more heavily sought-after breed of employee, young women across the nation are getting a head start in this growing field. GirlsGoCyberStart, a competitive, multi-leveled program, is teaching them the ins and outs of cybersecurity before they even graduate. Through various games, teens are honing skills in cryptography, web vulnerabilities, Python, Linux and forensics—and learning teamwork and determination along the way.
“Cybersecurity is a growing and critical field. It is more important than ever before to train skilled experts in Maine and across the nation to defend our national and financial security,” said Governor Janet Mills at the launch of the program’s second yearin February. Last year, almost 200 students from the State participated. “This program will help young women pursue the education and training they need for lifelong careers and leadership positions in cybersecurity.”
Several Clubs from Maine entered the CyberStart competition. Each group of skilled teens would code their way through three levels of increasingly tough competition. 9,500 girls from across the nation entered the ring at the first stage back in February. Two participation challenges were also run, to encourage more girls to get involved. For every five girls registered to a Club who completed at least two challenges, their school would be entered once in the running for a $1,000 prize. At the end of the ‘Assess’ stage, in which girls are evaluated for their aptitude with code and security through a series of challenges, the three Clubs in each State with the most girls registered (having completed at least one challenge) will receive prize money by place in totals of $1,000, $750, and $500. Those winners from Maine this year were, in order:
Hancock County Technical Center (1st)
Deering High School (2nd)
Sanford High School (3rd)
The top schools in each state are decided by the second round, and those then proceed onto the Championship ‘Capture the Flag’ round. The CyberGEMS of Freeport High School were among the 120 schools to make it to the Championship, placing 87th in this final round. The team was comprised of four precocious teens who were nominated by their Club: Dena Arrison, Leah Rusecki, Taylor Harris, and Rachel Packard.
Rusecki, a sophomore, commented in a press release prior to the Championship, “My class schedule is quite full, but having the chance to explore computer technology outside of regular classes is a great opportunity for us. Solving the cybersecurity puzzles and challenges has been really interesting! I hope to take a computer programming class next year.”
Each member of the CyberGEMS took home $100, as well as an additional $100 for their school. More than that, every girl who participated in some level of the competition developed skills vital to the rapidly growing cybersecurity field—and with results from last year showing that number of students interested in cybersecurity doubled after playing, these students show promise at filling more of these high-paying, challenging jobs in the future.
This story was written by Maine DOE Intern Emmeline Willey.If you have a story idea or would like to submit a written story for the Maine DOE Newsroom, email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.
Heather White started teaching at the Vinalhaven School in 2002. For the first nine years, she was the third-grade teacher, bringing art into the curriculum as much as possible. In 2011, she made the big leap to teaching k-12 visual arts and hasn’t looked back. It was exciting for her to go back to school to finish up her remaining classes to become a certified art teacher, she absolutely loves what she does, and it shows.
Art Teacher Heather White at May, 7 K-12 Art Show, Vinalhaven School
Maine Department of Education’s Katherine Warren visited the May, 7th K-12 art show and spoke to Heather about her successful teaching strategies. Heather focuses on process over product and mistakes just come with the territory. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly where she believes the learning is. A sign in the art room reads, “Fail a lot! Failing is really just practice.”
This is the message that Heather works to convey to her students each day. She told Katherine, “I know the message is getting through when a project comes out of the kiln broken, which happens once in a while, and a student simply says something like, ‘that’s OK . . .I bet I know what happened, I bet there was still some moisture in the clay, I’ll just make another one.”
K-12 Art Show Poster
Another one of Heather’s recipes for success in the art room is “do the work.” She conveys to students, on a daily basis, the importance of showing up and doing the work. It’s the only way to move forward no matter what the task. Students from kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade know that when they come to the art room, they’re there to work. No matter what the outcome, they always feel knowing they did their best; this philosophy results in more learning opportunities, and more artistic growth.
These teaching strategies really work for Heather and the proof is in the painting. This past winter Heather displayed second and third grade artwork on the Story Trail at Vinalhaven Land Trust’s Granite Island Preserve. It was an art show in the woods and families were encouraged to plan a winter hike to take in the scenery and the stunning artwork. These art pieces were juxtaposed against Vinalhaven’s real winter forest. It is difficult to say which trees were more beautiful, those imagined by Heather’s students, or the real things. Either way, she has done an exceptional job connecting her students and their artistic work to the environment from which it was inspired.
Student Artwork, at Vinalhaven School’s “Winter Branches” 2nd-3rd Grade Art Show.
As with the “Winter Birches,” Heather is always looking for opportunities to try something new or unexpected. Another successful collaboration she worked on this year was with the k-12 music teacher Bill Trevaskis. Together they worked with students to produce stop. Motion short films. Heather said, “I was already doing stop motion films, and Bill was already doing a sound design unit. It was the perfect integrated unit, so why not just go for it!”
The results were thoughtful, beautiful, and downright funny ranging from a peeling out sports car to the sinking of The Titanic. Students were certainly proud of their work, as was their teacher.
K-12 students at Vinalhaven are fortunate to have such dedicated teachers. These alternative and collaborative methods for art and music instruction are exciting examples of the many amazing things Maine teachers and students do on a daily basis to improve education across the State.
This story was written by Maine DOE Intern Simon Handleman in collaboration with Vinalhaven Art Teacher Heather White and Maine DOE Staff Katherine Warren. If you have a story idea or would like to submit a written story for the Maine DOE Newsroom, email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.
Faith McLaughlin, Office Associate from the Career and Technical Education team, is being highlighted this week as the Maine DOE’s Employee of the Week! Learn a little more about Faith in this brief question and answer:
What are your roles with DOE?
I am part of the Career & Technical Education Team. I work in Advantage ME & Purchasing ME, a software for processing grants & contracts. I also work with the State FFA Advisor to plan the annual FFA Maine State Convention. I have many other duties such as booking travel arrangements for Consolidated School Reviews and processing expense vouchers.
What do you like best about your job?
Spreading awareness of the importance of the FFA (Future Farmers of America) program and I really enjoy working with the FFA Students.
How or why did you decide on this career?
I became a part of the DOE Team about 6 years ago and am still working on my career endeavors.
We are grateful to our school districts who are addressing the need for public preschool programming in their communities, and we are committed to fostering partnerships and increasing early intervention and educational opportunities for our youngest learners. As you are likely aware, all public preschool programs are required to complete the Public Preschool Annual Report. | More
If you have hired or will be hiring a new nurse for your school over the summer, be sure to include THIS workshop in their new hire work plan. The New School Nurse Orientation is a specialized program, designed to help nurses transition into the educational setting which is very different than hospital, urgent care, or other medical settings. | More
Scott Brown, Maine DOE Director of School Construction, School Security, and Student Transportation is being highlighted this week as the Maine DOE’s Employee of the Week! Learn a little more about Scott | More
Regretfully, due to low registration, the 2019 Maine School Wellness Summit planned for June 25 & 26 has been postponed. The Maine Schoolsite Health Promotion Program (MSHPP) Planning Committee is committed to hosting the planned two-day agenda in the 2019-20 school year. | More
Registration is now open for the 51th Custodial and Maintenance Conference for Maine school custodians and facilities directors.
Location: Waterville Senior High School, Waterville, Maine
Dates: Wednesday, June 26, 2019 – Thursday June 27, 2019
2019 Highlights:
The Wednesday keynote is motivational speaker Andrew Raycroft, former National Hockey League Goalie and Assistant College Coach
The Thursday motivational speaker will be Roseann Sdoia, Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor
Discussions and meeting topics include: school indoor air quality, oil storage tanks and spills, hands on strategies for fields and landscaping, school security and safety, inspections and preventative maintenance for roofs, all-hazards emergency preparedness, floor covering systems, facilities manager certification roundtable, and much more.
This year’s conference will include Maine School Integrated Pest Management certification sessions where conference attendees can complete required IPM training delivered by Dr. Kathy Murray from Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
The Annual A. Burleigh Oxton Award for Excellence that recognizes the vital role of custodians in facilities and education
To register and find additional resources including pricing, lodging options, further details about registration, including guest registration, by contacting Jim Reny of Educational Plant Maintenance Association (EPMA) by phone 861-2351 or email jreny8@roadrunner.com .
We are grateful to our school districts who are addressing the need for public preschool programming in their communities, and we are committed to fostering partnerships and increasing early intervention and educational opportunities for our youngest learners. As you are likely aware, all public preschool programs are required to complete the Public Preschool Annual Report. We have shortened the report for ease of use, and the Department of Education will refer to the data collected throughout the year to help inform policy, determine professional development needs, and provide follow up information or support.
Maine DOE Newsroom 