Maine DOE Update March 24, 2023

From the Maine Department of Education

Reporting Items

News & Updates

Are You Ready for the Week of the Young Child?

The Week of the Young Child, a national event sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to celebrate the importance of high-quality early learning, takes place April 1st -7th. The Maine Department of Education (DOE) and Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) are excited to celebrate the event with early childhood educators across the state. | More

Making Math Meaningful For All: Math4ME is Accepting Applications for Newest Cohort

Math4ME is a free, three-year, whole-school project designed to support all educators (classroom teachers, special educators, ed techs, and interventionists) to strengthen math proficiency for all learners with a specific focus on increased math proficiency for students with math IEP goals. The project will focus around building positive math school communities and classrooms, mathematical content and pedagogical skills, supporting inclusionary practices through MTSS, and formative assessment including the Early Mathematics Diagnostic Interview (EMDI). | More

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Kicks off 2023 Farm-to-School Cook-off on March 27

The Maine Department of Education, Child Nutrition team is kicking off their annual Farm to School Cook-off this month! The cook-off is a statewide culinary competition for teams of school nutrition professionals and students to promote local foods in school meals. This voluntary competition is made available to all school districts in Maine. | More

Exciting MLTI Student Conference Updates!

Registration is NOW Open for Virtual and in Person MLTI Conferences We’re excited to announce that registration for the 20th annual student conference is now open! To ensure that you and your students will receive an MLTI t-shirt, please complete the registration form no later than April 4th. We are asking for one lead teacher to complete the registration for the student conference. We’ve streamlined the registration process to ease the task of registering your entire group. Click here to access the registration form. | More

Family Engagement Grant Opportunity Information Sessions

Through the Centers for Engaging Families across Maine (CEFAM), ParentPowered will be offering an informational session about their evidence-based family engagement messaging curriculum titled Ready4K. In partnership with the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) Climate, Culture, and Resilience Team, this five-year grant is slated to provide a limited number of schools the opportunity to implement Ready4K. | More

Paid Professional Learning Opportunity Provided by Maine DOE

The Maine Department of Education is accepting applications from individuals interested in learning more about the competitive grant process. Selected applicants will be trained to serve as peer reviewers who assist the Department in reviewing, assessing, and scoring competitive grant proposals for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) Program. | More

Get to Know the Maine DOE Team: Meet Selena Brown

Maine DOE team member Selena Brown is being highlighted as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Selena.. | More

Maine Schools Sharing Success Stories

Sacopee Valley High School ELO Coordinator Making a Big Impact on Students’ Career Paths

“The best part of my day is working directly with my students,” said Elizabeth Sanborn, Sacopee Valley High School’s Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Coordinator. “It is a lot of fun helping them discover their interests and then create opportunities for them to explore careers.” | More

| Submit your Maine School Success Story |

Professional Development & Training Opportunities

Webinar: How to Utilize Local Historical Societies for Your Project or Place-based Learning Units

Are you planning a project or place-based unit and looking for primary sources? Historical societies throughout the state are available to help you find and utilize these primary sources. To learn more about this, join Kathleen Flynn Neumann from the Maine Historical Society for a webinar that focuses on finding primary sources and how you can partner with historical societies to create authentic learning experiences for students. | More

Supporting All Students: How the PBIS Framework is Inclusive for All

During this presentation hosted by the Maine Department of Education’s Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education (OSSIE), Heather George, PhD will focus on how to support all students with a PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) framework in schools: | More

| Visit the Professional Development Calendar |

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities:

Seeking Five Distinguished Educators for MLTI Ambassador Positions

Are you passionate about professional growth and technology? Do you want to make a difference in Maine schools? Do you want to join a team of likeminded educators? Are you currently teaching in a Maine public school? This might be the opportunity you’ve been looking for! | More

View current Maine Department of Education employment opportunities here

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Kicks off 2023 Farm-to-School Cook-off on March 27

(Pictured: Caleb Pratt & Gina Bailey from Team Son-Day- competing in last year’s Westbrook Regional Cook-off)

This year, two regional competitions will be held:

March 27th – Teams representing RSU 54 and RSU 21 will compete.
April 5th – Teams representing Lewiston Public Schools and RSU 17 will compete.

Both competitions will take place in the Child Nutrition Culinary Classroom in Augusta. The top team from each regional competition will face off at the final’s competition, also in Augusta, to determine the 2023 Farm to School Cook-off State Champion.

2022 Cook-off Champions- McMahon Tigers: Alain Lemesse & Alicia Smith

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 https://www.maine.gov/doe/farmtoschool.

Exciting MLTI Student Conference Updates!

Registration is NOW Open for Virtual and in Person MLTI Conferences

We’re excited to announce that registration for the 20^th annual student conference is now open! To ensure that you and your students will receive an MLTI t-shirt, please complete the registration form no later than April 4^th. We are asking for one lead teacher to complete the registration for the student conference. We’ve streamlined the registration process to ease the task of registering your entire group. Click here to access the registration form.

Conference Proposals Deadline for Submission – March 28th

We’re still looking for conference proposal submissions for the MLTI student conference! If you are interested but would like to know more, all information for both the virtual and in-person student conferences can be found on our website. Click here to access the submission link.

USM Location Cancelled

We are not having an MLTI Conference at the University of Southern Maine due to limitations of parking and conference space. Unfortunately, the campus doesn’t have space for the agenda we have planned for this exciting conference. Our conference schedule is now: Virtual Conference on May 18^th and In-person Conference on May 25^th at the University of Maine in Orono.

Family Engagement Grant Opportunity Information Sessions

ParentPowered delivers an evidence-based family engagement curriculum that is delivered directly to families via text message, serving families from birth through middle school (8th grade) with trauma-sensitive tips and activities that are leveled for the child’s age and stage of development.

The curriculum is aligned with the Maine Learning Results and leverages the unique parent-child relationship – making sure that the skills are always oriented around parents’ strengths – to help children thrive in all areas of life- academically, socially, emotionally (and so much more!).

There is also an additional support stream that links families with critical local resources and supports to help ensure they have housing, food assistance, healthcare care and other essentials.

Links to the webinars can be found below. School administrative units (SAUs) only need to attend one session in order to apply for the opportunity for selection. After the webinar, Family Engagement/Cultural Responsibility Specialist, Melanie Junkins, will provide a link for the application.

March 30, 2023 10:30am

March 30, 2023 3pm

Contact for information: Melanie Junkins (melanie.junkins@maine.gov)

Sacopee Valley High School ELO Coordinator Making a Big Impact on Students’ Career Paths

Sanborn is invigorated by the students’ excitement and commitment to their experiences with extended learning opportunities. The new initiative also helps reinvigorate schooling and reconnect the students, the school, and the community, especially following the health restrictions that felt like they separated schools and communities during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of Sanborn’s recent successes include helping a student make a connection with a local tattoo artist to learn more about the career, including how to run a successful business. Another one of her students got the opportunity to interview several registered Maine guides and is currently studying for his own test in the spring. “He attended a three-day training class back in January and sent in for his Maine guide license just last week,” said Sanborn.

Here are some more student success stories, directly from students:

“I decided to do an ELO to make connections in the law field before going to college for law next year,” explains Abigail Sanborn, a Sacopee Valley senior. “This past semester I was partnered with a local civil law firm, where I went twice a week for an hour. I got to participate in simple drafting of documents, acting as a witness for estate planning, and got to interview several clerks, judges, and lawyers. During this second part of the year I am doing day trips to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s where I’m job shadowing different prosecutors. I am also exploring other avenues of law by doing ride-alongs; I wasn’t expecting to like police work, but that is what ELO’s are for. It’s an experimental opportunity for students to determine what they like and don’t like. Mrs. Sanborn has been a huge part in helping me find these opportunities and is always willing to find you experiences that you may not think of!”

“My ELO journey has been sort of complicated, but Mrs. Sanborn has been the best at getting me where I want to be,” said Elise Hermance, an 11th grader at Sacopee Valley High School. “I started off knowing I wanted to be a dog trainer and breeder. I sat in on a few classes up in Conway, NH. I came back to Mrs. Sanborn after going around three times and told her that this wasn’t for me. I know I want to do something with animals, but I am not sure that dog training is for me. I then did a job shadow at the Sacopee Valley Veterinary Clinic with a vet tech and it was so fun. They were all so nice to me. Now I am applying for a volunteer position at the Animal Rescue League of Greater Portland. I am so excited to have this opportunity in my life. Not just the job shadowing and knowing what I want and don’t want to do but the fact that I have learned so many different skills. I know how to reach out to people that I don’t know. None of this could be possible without Mrs. Sanborn!”

“It is amazing to be able to help a student fulfill a lifelong dream that they weren’t sure how to navigate before Sacopee Valley High School had this program at our school,” said Sanborn.

Sanborn has started to make some great connections with area businesses and hopes to continue that work throughout the year. “We have a lot of industry professionals who are excited to work with our students, and it really will be a win-win situation for all involved,” she added.

Sanborn would like to extend a huge thank you to Dr. Chris Parent at Sacopee Valley Family Dentistry, Bonnie Gould of Heritage Law, Tasha Berouty at Hallow Point Tattoo, and Wendy McGary and Ashley Blanchard at Sacopee Valley Elementary School, just to name a few!

Are You Ready for the Week of the Young Child?

The Week of the Young Child, a national event sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to celebrate the importance of high-quality early learning, takes place April 1^st -7^th. The Maine Department of Education (DOE) and Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) are excited to celebrate the event with early childhood educators across the state.

The Week of the Young Child kicks off on Saturday, April 1^st, and is followed by opportunities to celebrate using interdisciplinary daily themes throughout the week. How will you celebrate?

4/3/2023 - Music Monday — 4/3/2023 – Music Monday

4/4/2023 - Tasty Tuesday — 4/4/2023 – Tasty Tuesday

4/5/2023 - Work Together Wednesday — 4/5/2023 – Work Together Wednesday

4/6/2023 - Artsy Thursday — 4/6/2023 – Artsy Thursday

4/7/2023 - Family Friday — 4/7/2023 – Family Friday

Visit the Week of the Young Child resource page on the DOE website for information on the daily themes, scheduled events, and resources for celebrating. The page includes links to the NAEYC and MAEYC sites, MAEYC’s planning guidebook, and videos that the DOE developed to support early childhood educators in celebrating the daily themes and integrating them into their day-to-day practice.

Let’s work together to spread the word about the importance and value of high-quality early care and learning! Share photos of your celebrations on social media using the hashtags #WOYCMaine and #WOYC2023 to connect with MDOE, OCFS, MAEYC and NAECY.

Email photos along with the name of your program (use WYOC and the daily theme in the subject line) to Nicole Madore at nicole.madore@maine.gov for an opportunity to win a free registration to the Maine Statewide Early Childhood Education Conference which will be held October 27^th & 28^th at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.

Check out the Maine Department of Education’s Week of the Young Child YouTube Playlist from April 3^rd -7^th to watch videos highlighting Maine early childhood educators in roles related to the WOYC daily themes. See the amazing work going on in early childhood settings across the state and learn about the variety of roles there are in the field. Have your ever thought about working with young children? You might find a role that is just right for you from these inspiring stories.

Join us in Augusta on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, for Early Childhood Education State House Day. Early childhood educators from across the state will work together to celebrate and call attention to the vital work they do. For more information see the events section of the MAEYC website.

If you would like more information on the Week of the Young Child or careers in the field of early childhood education, please reach out to one of the Early Learning Team members from Maine DOE or to an Early Care and Education team member from OCFS listed below.

Maine DOE Early Learning Team

Nicole Madore, Early Childhood Specialist: nicole.madore@maine.gov
Marcy Whitcomb, Public Pre-K Consultant: marcy.r.whitcomb@maine.gov
Stacie McCoy, Head Start Collaboration Director: Stacie.mccoy@maine.gov
Sue Gallant, Pre-K Expansion Consultant: sue.gallant@maine.gov

Maine OCFS Team

Crystal Arbour, Child Care Services Program Manager: Crystal.Arbour@maine.gov
Meg Swanson, Family & Community Engagement Program Manager: Megan.Swanson@maine.gov

Making Math Meaningful For All: Math4ME is Accepting Applications for Newest Cohort

For more details about the Math4ME project check out the informational video.

We are accepting applications for the newest cohort until April 15, 2023. Math4ME Application

We will hold a virtual informational meeting on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 4:00 PM. Register here in advance for this meeting.

For questions or more information contact Susan Hogan, susan.hogan@maine.gov or Jen Robitaille, jennifer.r.robitaille@maine.gov.

Webinar: How to Utilize Local Historical Societies for Your Project or Place-based Learning Units

Who: Appropriate for PK-12 grade educators

When: April 5th 3:30-4:30pm

Where: Zoom Registration Link

For more information, please contact Jaime Beal at jaime.beal@maine.gov

Supporting All Students: How the PBIS Framework is Inclusive for All

PBIS has been shown through research to be effective for a wide range of student outcomes
The whole school intervention approach used by PBIS has been shown to establish a safe and predictable environment that increases success for all students including those with disabilities.
During the webinar, free resources will be shared to help schools build systems that are inclusive, robust, and supportive of all students.

Date/Time: April 26, 2023 – 3:30-4:30 pm

Audience: General & Special Educators, Administrators, Parents, Caregivers and Community Members Interested in Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and inclusive classrooms

Cost: FREE Register for Zoom Link Here

Contact Hours: Each attendee will be awarded a certificate for 1 contact hour

About the Presenter: Heather Peshak George, Ph.D. is a Research Professor in the Department of Child & Family Studies at the University of South Florida. She co-directs the National Technical Assistance Center on PBIS, the state-wide Florida PBIS Project, the federally-funded Florida Connect model demonstration grant, and is Past-President of the international Association for Positive Behavioral Support (APBS). ). Over the past two decades, she has secured over $42 million in external funding, published over 30 peer reviewed articles and chapters, including over 100 practice briefs and evaluation reports, and has delivered over 400 invited presentations on PBISShe has extensive experience in providing training and technical assistance in PBIS at the national and international levels and thanks her two teenagers for the daily reminders on the need to bridge the research-to-practice gap. You can learn more about Dr. George at https://www.usf.edu/cbcs/cfs/faculty-staff/peshak-george-h.aspx and follow her on Twitter at @HeatherPGeorge. Shared resources may be available at www.pbis.org and www.flpbis.org.

Get to Know the Maine DOE Team: Meet Selena Brown

(Pictured: Selena Brown and Azura, one of her 3 horses)

Maine DOE team member Selena Brown is being highlighted as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Selena in the question and answer below.

What are your roles with the Maine DOE?

Office Specialist I for the Certification team. I am responsible for helping educators with Chapter 115, answering calls from educators, and responding to educator and staff questions regarding initial applications, fees, and renewal application requirements. I assist and provide customer service to Maine’s education field, and direct them to additional information.

What do you like best about your job?

The best thing I like about my job is helping educators and staff by providing them with the knowledge they are looking for and providing a positive experience with the Maine Department of Education.

How or why did you decide on this career?

I had not planned on this as a career. When the opportunity arose, I knew it was a wonderful fit for me to be able to work with an amazing group of people and continue to grow. Working in the education field prior, I felt this was a perfect way to support education in a positive way.

What do you like to do outside of work for fun?

I absolutely love being with my grandchildren/family and my animals. I love cooking, being in nature, hiking, camping, gardening or just doing any kind of an adventure. If it is outside, then I want to be involved.