Civil rights teams across Maine were invited to participate in the Civil Rights Team Project’s annual “Day of Welcome” held on November 5, 2021. The event was a chance for students to celebrate and promote the idea that their school community is for everyone.
The Day of Welcome is coordinated by the Civil Rights Team Project in the Maine Office of the Attorney General. The Project, now in its 26th year, is a school-based preventative program that aims to increase the safety of students by reducing bias-motivated behaviors and harassment in schools. There are currently 207 participating schools with student-led civil rights teams.
The Day of Welcome has been celebrated for the past three years and invites civil rights teams to create an inclusively welcoming sign, banner, or display stating: We welcome everyone. All races and skin colors, all national origins and ancestries, all religions, all disabilities, all genders (identity and expression), and all sexual orientations. Students were challenged to create the display using imagination, innovation, creativity, and teamwork.
“For 25 years, the Civil Rights Team Project has been working with school communities to foster an environment of inclusion and respect based on their or their loved ones’ identities,” said Attorney General Aaron M. Frey. “I celebrate their work and congratulate them and every Civil Rights Team in the state for making their school communities a better place, and I applaud their work on this year’s Day of Welcome.”
Participating teams also organized welcoming activities for the event, displaying and promoting their signs and inviting others to connect, participate, and celebrate their school community’s commitment to inclusivity and belonging.
Here are a few things students from the MSAD 60 Civil Rights Team had to say about the Day of Welcome and the work of school Civil Rights Teams:
“For some people, small gestures can make them feel more comfortable.” — Ella
“It’s important to show that we care, so that those who don’t usually feel welcome feel welcome.” — Griffin
“A Civil Rights Team is important to shed light on what is happening in school.” — Caelum
“People know that other people support them. We’re bringing together people who have gone through the same things.” — Ariana
Check out the creativity and passion in these Day of Welcome signs created by Maine students:
“All of us, working together, can make a powerful statement and enlist school and statewide support for our work,” said Brandon Baldwin, Director of the Civil Rights Team Project in a message to civil rights teams about the Day of Welcome.
Thank you to Maine News Media Outlets who reported on the Day of Welcome activities:
- Maine Civil Rights Team Project celebrates 25th anniversary (Portland Press Herald)
- 200 Maine schools celebrate ‘day of welcome’ (News Center Maine)
A HUGE thank you to all the Maine schools who are currently participating in the Civil Rights Team Project:
| Alton Elementary School | Madison Elementary School |
| Amanda C. Rowe Elementary School | Madison Junior High School |
| Ames Elementary School | Manchester School |
| Auburn Middle School | Maranacook Community High School |
| Bangor High School | Maranacook Middle School |
| Bath Middle School | Margaret Chase Smith School |
| Belfast Area High School | Marshwood Great Works School |
| Biddeford High School | Marshwood High School |
| Biddeford Intermediate School | Marshwood Middle School |
| Biddeford Middle School | Mast Landing School |
| Bloomfield Elementary School | Mattanawcook Academy |
| Bonny Eagle High School | Memorial Middle School |
| Bonny Eagle Middle School | Messalonskee Middle School |
| Bowdoinham Community School | Middle School of the Kennebunks |
| Brewer High School | Minot Consolidated School |
| Bristol Consolidated School | Molly Ockett Middle School |
| Brooklin School | Morse High School |
| Brooksville Elementary School | Mount Desert Island High School |
| Brownville Elementary School | Mount View Elementary School |
| Bruce M. Whittier Middle School | Mount View High School |
| Brunswick High School | Mountain Valley High School |
| Brunswick Jr. High School | Mountain Valley Middle School |
| Buckfield Jr.-Sr. High School | Mt. Ararat High School |
| Bucksport Middle School | Mt. Ararat Middle School |
| Buxton Center Elementary School | Mt. Blue High School |
| Camden Hills Regional High School | Mt. Blue Middle School |
| Cape Elizabeth Middle School | Narragansett Elementary School |
| Captain Albert W. Stevens School | Narraguagus Jr/Sr High School |
| Caravel Middle School | Noble High School |
| Central High School | Noble Middle School |
| Central School | Nokomis Regional High School |
| Cheverus High School | Oak Hill High School |
| China Middle School | Oak Hill Middle School |
| Coastal Ridge Elementary School | Oceanside High School |
| Congin Elementary School | Old Orchard Beach High School |
| Conners Emerson School | Old Town Elementary School |
| Cony Middle/High School | Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School |
| Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School | Palermo Consolidated School |
| Deer Isle-Stonington High School | Park Avenue School |
| Deering High School | Penquis Valley Middle School |
| Dirigo High School | Philip W. Sugg Middle School |
| Dora L. Small Elementary School | Piscataquis Community Secondary School |
| Durham Community School | Poland Regional High School |
| East Auburn Community School | Pond Cove Elementary |
| East End Community School | Portland High School |
| Eastport Elementary School | Pownal Elementary School |
| Eliot Elementary School | Presque Isle High School |
| Elm Street Elementary School | Presumpscot Elementary School |
| Etna Dixmont School (ES) | Raymond A. Geiger Elementary School |
| Falmouth Elementary School | Reeds Brook Middle School |
| Falmouth High School | Richmond High School |
| Falmouth Middle School | Richmond Middle School |
| Farwell Elementary School | Robert V. Connors Elementary School |
| Foxcroft Academy | Robert W. Traip Academy |
| Frank H. Harrison Middle School | Sacopee Valley High School |
| Frank I. Brown Elementary School | Sacopee Valley Middle School |
| Freeport High School | Samuel L. Wagner Middle School |
| Freeport Middle School | Sanford High School |
| Gardiner Area High School | Sanford Middle School |
| Gardiner Regional Middle School | Scarborough Middle School |
| George B. Weatherbee School | Searsport District High School |
| Gerald E. Talbot School | Searsport District Middle School |
| Glenburn School | Searsport Elementary School |
| Gorham High School | Sedgwick Elementary School |
| Gorham Middle School | SeDoMoCha Middle School |
| Gray-New Gloucester High School | Shapleigh School |
| Gray-New Gloucester Middle School | Shead High School |
| Great Falls Elementary School | Sherwood Heights Elementary School |
| Greely High School | Skowhegan Area High School |
| Greely Middle School (4-5) | Skowhegan Area Middle School |
| Greely Middle School (6-8) | South Bristol Elementary School |
| Hall-Dale High School | Spruce Mountain High School |
| Hall-Dale Middle School | St. George School |
| Hampden Academy | Stevens Brook Elementary School |
| Harpswell Coastal Academy, Division 1 | Sumner Memorial High School |
| Harrison Lyseth Elementary School | T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School |
| Helena Dyer Elementary School | Telstar High School |
| Hermon High School | Thomas J. McMahon Elementary School |
| Hodgdon Middle/High School | Thornton Academy |
| Holbrook Middle School | Thornton Academy Middle School |
| Holden Elementary School | Troy Howard Middle School |
| Hope Elementary School | Valley Rivers Middle School/FKCHS |
| Horace Mitchell Primary School | Veazie Community School |
| Houlton Middle/High School | Village Elementary School |
| Howard C. Reiche Community School | Walton School |
| James F. Doughty School | Warsaw Middle School |
| John Bapst Memorial High School | Washburn District High School |
| Jordan-Small Middle School | Washburn Elementary School |
| Kennebunk High School | Washington Academy |
| Kennebunkport Consolidated School | Wells High School |
| Kermit S. Nickerson School | Westbrook High School |
| Kingfield Elementary School | Westbrook Middle School |
| Lake Region High School | William S. Cohen School |
| Lake Region Middle School | Windham High School |
| Lawrence High School | Windham Middle School |
| Lebanon Elementary School | Winslow High School |
| Lee Academy | Winslow Junior High School |
| Leonard Middle School | Winthrop High School |
| Leroy H. Smith School | Winthrop Middle School |
| Lewiston Middle School | Wiscasset Middle School |
| Lisbon Community School | Woodland Jr.-Sr. High School |
| Loranger Memorial School | Yarmouth High School |
| Madawaska Elementary School | York High School |
| Madison Area Memorial High School |
Any school in Maine with students in grades 3-12 can start a civil rights team with free resources, structure, and support through the Maine Office of the Attorney General. For more information visit their website or contact Brandon Baldwin, Director of the
Civil Rights Team Project at Brandon.Baldwin@maine.gov.