Noble Middle School Teacher Nominated for National Patricia Behring History Teacher of the Year

Teachers from 47 National History Day (NHD) Affiliate programs across the nation have been nominated for the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year award. The award is sponsored by Patricia Behring in recognition of the pivotal role teachers play in the lives of students. Maine teacher, Christa Boeykens-Bui has been nominated for the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year award. Ms. Bui is a gifted and talented teacher for Noble Middle School in Berwick.

Each National History Day affiliate may nominate one high school and one middle school teacher for this award. Every nominee for the $10,000 award is a teacher who demonstrates a commitment to engaging students in historical learning through the innovative use of primary sources, implementation of active learning strategies to foster historical thinking skills, and participation in the National History Day Contest. All nominees will receive $500.

“This award recognizes the very best educators from across the nation and beyond,” said National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “These educators are leaders and innovators in the teaching of history. They engage their students with hands-on, inquiry-based learning with primary sources. I congratulate them on their well-deserved nominations.”

The national winner will be selected by a committee of experienced teachers and historians and announced on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at the National History Day National Contest Awards Ceremony in College Park, Maryland. Nominees’ work must clearly illustrate the development and use of creative teaching methods that engage students in history and help them make exciting discoveries about the past.

The Maine Department of Education congratulates Christa Boeykens-Bui and Noble Middle School for this outstanding recognition. Thank you for all you do to support Maine students!

The Early Learning Team Releases New Public Pre-K Self-Assessment and Continuous Quality Improvement Tool

The Maine Department of Education’s Early Learning Team is excited to offer a new resource to help facilitate the continuous quality improvement of high-quality and inclusive public Pre-K in Maine.

The Public Pre-K Self-Assessment Tool will assist public schools in reviewing their current progress in implementing high-quality pre-k programming while also highlighting areas for future growth. The tool also includes a variety of elements that offer guidance for developing and implementing inclusive public pre-k programs that align with state requirements. This resource will support not only school administrative units planning new programs but also existing programs, with continuous improvement efforts.

An informational session will be offered and recorded on Tuesday April 25^th from 11:30-12:30. Please register to attend here. A link to the recording will be provided to those who register but cannot attend. Time will be provided during the session for questions and answers. Following the informational session, the tool will be accessible digitally on the Public Preschool homepage and downloadable as a PDF document for use.

In the self-assessment tool, you’ll find detailed information related to the following topics:

Student Recruitment and Enrollment
Student Instruction
Student Assessment and Ongoing Progress Monitoring
Staff Development and Certifications
Program Environments and Operational Elements
Family and Community Engagement

Any questions can be directed to the following team members:

Early Childhood Specialist Nicole.Madore@maine.gov,
Public Pre-K Consultant Marcy.R.Whitcomb@maine.gov,
Public Pre-K Technical Assistance Specialist Sue.Gallant@maine.gov

Maine DOE Update – April 14, 2023

From the Maine Department of Education

Reporting Items

Webinar Series: End of Year Data Reporting

This year the data team will be hosting a series of webinars to cover end of year reports. All webinars will be on Tuesdays at 10am, no registration is required to join. The Join Live event links below will be active on the date and time indicated for each webinar. | More

Reports Due 4/15: April 1 Enrollment & Quarter 3 Reports

April 1 Enrollment – Reporting is due on April 15, 2023. This report collects April student enrollment to calculate tuition rates pursuant to Title 20-A, §5805, Subsection 1.B.| More

| Visit the DC&R Reporting Calendar |

News & Updates

Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin Recognizes Southern Aroostook Community School Employee as State’s RISE Award Honoree

Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin joined Southern Aroostook Community School leaders and staff to honor Administrative Assistant Elaine Small with the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award for the extraordinary contributions she has made to students, educators, and the community. Whether it’s spearheading fundraisers to support students’ post-secondary aspirations, participating in community events, providing support to a variety of staff, or working alongside colleagues to coordinate bus routes, Small makes a huge impact each day on the students and staff around her. | More

RSU 54 and Lewiston Face off in Farm to School Cook-off Finals!

The finalists from the regional cook-off’s held on March 27 and April 5 will face off at the final’s competition on April 25th at the Child Nutrition Culinary Classroom in Augusta. RSU 54 and Lewiston Public Schools were the top teams from the regional competitions.| More

MLTI Announces the Student Winner of the 2023 T-Shirt Design Competition

Introducing Hope Handley, a 9th grader at Grey-New Gloucester High School, whose design was selected as the winner of this year’s MLTI Student Conference T-Shirt Competition. | More

Four Maine Educators Named State Finalists in 2023 Presidential Awards for Mathematics and Science Teachers (PAEMST)

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is pleased to announce four Maine educators who have been recommended to national selection committees for the 2023 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program for grades 7-12. | More

Maine Department of Education Seeks Educators for Science and Social Studies Standards Revision Writing Teams

As a part of the regular review cycle schedule, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) is performing a review of the Maine Learning Results for Social Studies and Science and Engineering and is looking for educators to serve as the writing teams for each content area. The purpose of each writing team is to revise the current standards based on guidance from a steering committee. For more information about the standards review process, check the new Maine DOE standards revision website. | More

Maine Schools Sharing Success Stories

Laura Wittmann Named 2023 ESOL Teacher of the Year

Educators for a Multilingual Maine (EMME) has announced that Laura Wittmann has been named the 2023 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Teacher of the Year. The honor was bestowed upon Ms. Wittmann by Stephanie Carbonneau, EMME President, at the organization’s annual conference. This year’s conference was co-hosted by the Department of Linguistics at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. | More

Maine State Science Fair Celebrates Bright Young Scientists and Engineers

On Saturday, April 1, STEM professionals and educators from around the state came together at The University of Maine to present, discuss, and recognize the work of 200 high school student researchers at the Maine State Science Fair (MSSF). Coordinators of the MSSF, the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA) and The Jackson Laboratory announced awards for 92 students representing 20 high schools, including $750,000 in Maine college scholarships. | More

| Submit your Maine School Success Story |

Professional Development & Training Opportunities

Teacher Leader Fellows April Professional Development Opportunities

Arts Integration, A Trip to Town Hall, STEAM Powered Makers Learning from Success, and Dig into MOOSE are the professional development topics that our Teacher Leader Fellows will be offering during the week of April 24-27, 2023. These sessions will be delivered live over Zoom and then archived on our website. Please click on the registration links below to join! | More

2-Day Workshop: Health Ed. and Physical Ed. Inclusive Teaching Practices and Learning – May 5 & 11MTSS Office Hours – Wednesday’s at 1:00 PM

This event is open to all school personnel as it does not just apply to HE & PE. This is the second offering of the Heath Education (HE) & Physical Education (PE) Inclusive Teaching Practices Professional Learning Opportunity. | More

MTSS Office Hours – Wednesday’s at 1:00 PM

The Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) team at the Maine Department of Education (DOE) is pleased to offer Open Office Hours focusing on technical assistance for all educators currently implementing, exploring implementing or looking to make changes to their MTSS implementation. | More

| Visit the Professional Development Calendar |

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities:

View current Maine Department of Education employment opportunities here

MEDIA RELEASE: Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin Recognizes Southern Aroostook Community School Employee as State’s RISE Award Honoree

Created by Congress in 2019 and overseen by the U.S. Department of Education, the prestigious RISE Award honors non-teaching school employees who provide exemplary service. Small is one of 10 state-level finalists chosen by the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and Governor’s Office out of nearly 90 exceptional nominations submitted to the DOE by school colleagues and community members. She has been selected to represent Maine for consideration as the national RISE Award recipient. The U.S. Department of Education will announce one national honoree this spring.

“The RISE Awards are a moment when we can hold up the unsung heroes who are doing the most intense, personal work of our schools and who are very rarely recognized,” said Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin while presenting the award. “We are here to celebrate and honor Elaine for her years and years of service to this school community. As I read Elaine’s accolades in her nomination, you could hear the people who she has helped, who she has inspired, and who she has supported with love, care, and dedication. I am in awe of what Elaine has achieved for this school community.”

“Elaine values kids and everything she does is about kids. The number of lives she has touched through her work is inspiring,” said RSU 50 Superintendent Jon Porter while honoring Small. “Elaine really is the glue that keeps everything together, the frontline for what happens here, and the first face people see. She has also been the president of our scholarship program for the last 35 years and has organized support and community events to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for graduates going on to higher education. Thank you for everything you do.”

“I am deeply honored and completely surprised to be nominated for a RISE Award by my school colleagues. My position here in RSU 50 evolves every single day and that is one of the things I love about it – I am about growth and change in my life and the lives of our students,” said RISE State Honoree Elaine Small. “My hope is to continue the work we do here in our school and our community and to always keep a positive place in our minds and in our hearts, for every student to be successful, while they are with us and as they go forward in their lives.”

RISE nominees demonstrate excellence in the following areas: (A) Work performance; (B) School and community involvement; (C) Leadership and commitment; (D) Local support (from co-workers, school administrators, community members, etc., who speak to the nominee’s exemplary work); (E) Enhancement of classified school employees’ image in the community and schools.

You can read more about Small and all of Maine’s state finalists here and below. Photos available on request.

Maine’s RISE State Honoree

Elaine Small
Administrative Assistant
RSU 50Elaine Small has been serving generations of young people in rural Maine, where she maintains the perfect balance of professionalism and love in her work. She can often be found pitching in to lend a helping hand in all areas within the district and school, all while managing the school administrative unit’s (SAU’s) bussing staff, which is a huge feat. Elaine ensures kids can get to school and have access to extracurricular programming, and often times she juggles all of this without a full fleet.

Elaine leads by example, forging a strong relationship between the school and the community and she is a constant presence at community events. She can be found in the auditorium during drama productions, in the stands showing her support to student-athletes, serving as a senior class advisor, and volunteering hundreds of hours to ensure students have access to post-secondary career opportunities. Through her modeling, students are encouraged to get involved in senior citizen luncheons, spaghetti suppers, and local craft fairs. She organizes fundraisers and works tirelessly to get the community involved in the continuing education of Maine students. The success of the So. Aroostook Scholarship Fund and ultimately the workforce in Aroostook County is largely due to her continued efforts for many years.

Maine’s RISE Finalists

Larry Alley
Head Bus Driver/Custodial Staff
Pemetic Elementary School, Southwest Harbor School Department

Kevin Bailey
Facilities-Custodial/Maintenance,
Mid-Coast School of Technology, Region 8

Nichole Bryant
Pre-K Educational Technician
Elm Street School, RSU 16

James Fahey
Outside Security Officer
Bangor High School, Bangor School Department

Ann Heald
Title 1 Education Technician
Madison Elementary School, MSAD 59

Anne Lee
Assistant Cook/Custodial Staff
Tremont Consolidated School, Mount Desert Island Regional School System – at the time of nomination

James Mendoza
Migrant Education Regional Coordinator (Eastern Washington County), Mano En Mano – at the time of nomination

Linda Oster
Transportation/Bus Driver
MSAD 17

Shawn Russell
IT/Communications Director
Rangeley, RSU 78

RSU 54 and Lewiston Face off in Farm to School Cook-off Finals!

RSU 54 cooked up an impressive oatmeal crepe served with berry compote and a strawberry carrot smoothie to wash it down for the breakfast meal.

Gina Bailey & Caleb Pratt from RSU 54- Team Son-Day

oatmeal crepe from RSU 54

Lewiston Public Schools wowed the judges with their chicken and carrot enchilada entrée for lunch, served with a side of spicy carrot and jicama slaw. Oats and carrots were the challenge ingredients for the breakfast and lunch meals, respectively, and teams were tasked to incorporate these ingredients creatively in their meals.

Jesse Smith & Alicia Smith from the Lewiston High School Blue Devils

Lewiston chicken enchilada

Best of luck to these teams as they compete for the “2023 Farm to School Cook-off State Champion” award!

The competition is set up so that each team, consisting of one student and one school nutrition employee, is tasked to prepare a breakfast and lunch meal using specific recipe guidelines and time restrictions, and will present to a panel of judges. At least three local ingredients and one USDA food must be used in each meal. Local rolled oats donated by Maine Grains and local carrots donated by Emery Farm will be used as “challenge” ingredients in the competition. All recipes will later be shared in a Maine farm to school cookbook to be used in future school meals programs.

For questions about the Farm-to-School Cook-off, contact Maine DOE Child Nutrition Supervisor, Stephanie Stambach at stephanie.stambach@maine.gov. For more information on Maine’s Farm and Sea to School program, visit the Maine Department of Education’s Website.

Webinar Series: End of Year Data Reporting

This year the data team will be hosting a series of webinars to cover end of year reports. All webinars will be on Tuesdays at 10am, no registration is required to join. The Join Live event links below will be active on the date and time indicated for each webinar.

After each webinar, the recordings will be posted to the Webinars and Presentations page on the Helpdesk Website. It may take a few days to get the recordings posted, however they will be available as soon as possible.

If a webinar is cancelled, there will be a notice posted on the Helpdesk Website at the top of the page.

Homeless Data Entry Webinar:

April 25 @ 11am <-Please note the time of this webinar is 11am.
Join the Live event here on April 25^th
Presenting: Amelia Lyons Rukema – MDoE McKinney-Vento Specialist

ESEA Demographics Webinar:

May 2 @ 10am
Join the Live event here on May 2^nd

Maine Schools Application Webinar:

May 9 @ 10am
Join the Live event here on May 9^th

Home Instruction Webinar:

May 16 @ 10am
Join the Live event here on May 16^th
Presenting: Pamela Ford-Taylor – MDoE Home Instruction Consultant

End of Year Enrollment Exits Webinar:

May 23 @ 10am
Join the Live event here on May 23^rd

End of Year Report Certifications Webinar:

May 30 @ 10am
Join the Live event here on May 30^th

Special Education Exit Report Webinar:

June 6 @ 10am
Join the Live event here on June 6th
Presenting: Brandi Giguere & Shawn Collier

For questions about data reporting webinars please contact Alexandra.Cookson@maine.gov

MLTI Announces the Student Winner of the 2023 T-Shirt Design Competition

Introducing Hope Handley, a 9th grader at Grey-New Gloucester High School, whose design was selected as the winner of this year’s MLTI Student Conference T-Shirt Competition.

Hope’s colorized version of this year’s MLTI Student Conference logo

This year’s design focused on the water-focused theme of #DiveRightIn (Dive Right In), so Hope’s lighthouse and sea serpent were particularly eye-catching. This competition was open to all K-12 students in Maine. Hope’s design will be printed on turquoise blue t-shirts for thousands of Maine students and educators participating in the MLTI Student Conference, which will be both virtual (May 18th) and in-person (May 25th).

“Hope viewed photos of people laying out to catch a frisbee and transformed it into our mascot, Pat the Patriot and included ‘Spirit of the Game,’ which is a set of guidelines for Ultimate players.”

Hope and other MLTI students from RSU15 will be among the hundreds of students from more than thirty Maine schools to attend this year’s Student Conference at UMaine. Instructional Technology Integrator Michael Lamoureux had previously had Hope design a logo for the school’s Ultimate Frisbee team. These experiences with art are valuable ones for students as Hope and Mr. Lamoureux worked with the MLTI Team to adjust the design to meet printing requirements.

The MLTI Team will continue to seek out and utilize student artwork. If you are interested in this opportunity in the future, please look at this year’s call for student submissions for more information on eligibility and guidelines. Information about past winners from South Aroostook Community School, Auburn Middle School and Waterville Junior High School is also available.

Teacher Leader Fellows April Professional Development Opportunities

Dig into MOOSE: What Impact Do Invasive Species Have on Our Environment?: This session will be an exploration into the MOOSE module while bringing in other resources and materials with connections to the theme of invasive species. As we explore the additional resources, we will be paying specific attention to how this topic can be explored through different lenses of STEAM. Offered April 24, 2023,at 5pm. REGISTER HERE.

A Trip to Town Hall: This session will provide guidance in how to plan a meaningful visit to your local town or city hall for any grade level. Local government sites are an often-overlooked opportunity to get students thinking about themselves as decision-makers. We’ll discuss how to work with students and local officials to plan a fun and educational experience. Offered April 25, 2023 at 6pm. REGISTER HERE.

Arts Integration: In this session we’ll discuss strategies, opportunities, and resources to support arts integration across contents. Offered April 26, 2023. REGISTER HERE.

STEAM Powered Makers Learning from Success: This session will begin our ongoing effort to expand our definition of STEAM. On this trip we will start Learning from Success, understanding how Teamwork (collaboration) and video tools are used to establish roles to use on all STEAM courses. Offered April 27, 2023. REGISTER HERE.

Laura Wittmann Named 2023 ESOL Teacher of the Year

Ms. Wittmann was nominated for this recognition based on her demonstration of best practices in teaching English, her participation in professional growth, and her service to students and the school district. In her role as the ELL District coordinator for Bangor Schools, she advocates for students and their families, by connecting them to social and cultural activities in the community as well as connecting them to social workers and local volunteer groups who facilitate social and medical services.

Ms. Wittmann is also a teacher at William S. Cohen School and Mary Snow School. In the classroom, she works to relate her students’ background knowledge to the curriculum content, in order to ensure that the students can access the material at the same level as their peers, regardless of their level of English proficiency. She feels that “as a Maine ESOL teacher, (she) love(s) to help students find their voices and tell their stories (in English), and create bridges between their respective home languages and cultures, and their new identities as Mainers.”

Educators for a Multilingual Maine (EMME) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote and improve the teaching and study of languages and cultures of the world. EMME also strives to further the common interests of teachers, students and others in the state of Maine, for whom languages play an important role. EMME was formerly known as FLAME, the Foreign Language Association of Maine. Learn more about EMME at http://www.emmaine.org.

Four Maine Educators Named State Finalists in 2023 Presidential Awards for Mathematics and Science Teachers (PAEMST)

PAEMST is the nation’s highest honor for teachers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM, including computer science). Nominees complete a rigorous application process that allows them to demonstrate deep content knowledge and their ability to adapt to a broad range of learners and teaching environments. Maine applicants were reviewed by mathematics and science selection committees comprised of previous Maine PAEMST awardees and content area experts. Our state-level finalists will be honored at the Educator Summit this summer.

Up to three state-level finalists for each content area are forwarded to a panel of distinguished mathematicians, scientists, and educators at the national level who will assess the applications before recommending nominees to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Teachers are selected based on their distinction in the classroom and dedication to improving STEM education. The teachers chosen to be Presidential Awardees will be notified by the White House, honored at various ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.

Join us in congratulating the 2023 PAEMST State Finalists and wishing them luck in the national selection process.

In the mathematics category, one applicant was selected as state finalists:

Elizabeth Hayden, Bonny Eagle High School

In the science category, three applicants were selected as state finalists:

Jennifer Hatch, Medomak Valley High School

Nominations will open in the fall of 2023 for the 2024 PAEMST Awards. This round of awards will honor mathematics, science, and engineering (STEM, including computer science) teachers working in grades K-6. Consider a great teacher you know for nomination this fall or nominate yourself! Learn more about the award and how to nominate a teacher here.