Organizations Needed to Feed Hungry Children this Summer

AUGUSTA — With the assistance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maine public schools have long offered a nutritious breakfast and lunch meal program to thousands of income eligible children in Maine during the school year. To extend this program, Maine Department of Education Child Nutrition (Maine DOE) is seeking organizations who would like to participate in the federally funded Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides children healthy meals when school is not in session.

“Schools do not just offer a safe place for learning, for too many Maine families, they are also the only consistent and reliable source for food. The Summer Food Service Program is an invaluable resource to our students and their families during the summer months, when they might otherwise find themselves food insecure,” said Maine Commissioner of Education, Pender Makin.

“The needs of the whole child must be addressed, and the school and community partnerships that ensure our children are fed are vital to helping combat the stress and hunger that can negatively impact student health and learning.”

In 2019, 122 sponsors participated in the program, serving meals at 467 sites throughout the state. Although there are sponsors operating in every county in Maine, there is still a long way to go towards feeding all eligible children during the summer. Community partners are working to maximize the number of sponsors utilizing the availability of funds under the SFSP.

SFSP may be offered statewide in areas or at sites where more than 50 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced meal benefits under the National School Lunch Program or census track data supports the need. Organizations that provide services in rural communities or near migrant farm workers and tribal populations are urged to participate. Eligible sponsoring organizations include schools, nonprofit residential summer camps, government agencies, and tax-exempt organizations including faith-based organizations.

Maine DOE encourages any eligible organization to consider providing this much-needed service to Maine children. The agency will begin accepting applications to participate in February. Approved sponsors will be reimbursed for eligible meals served to children during the long summer break.

Interested organizations should begin planning now for a successful summer. Potential sponsors are required to attend training sessions. For a complete schedule of trainings, please visit https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/nutrition/resources/calendar. Maine DOE is available to attend meetings or consult by phone and email to answer questions regarding summer meals.

For more information about the Maine DOE’s Summer Food Service Program, contact adriane.ackroyd@maine.gov, call 624-6726 or visit https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/nutrition/programs/sfsp.

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Federal

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or

(3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

State

The Maine Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, religion, ancestry or national origin.

Complaints of discrimination must be filed at the office of the Maine Human Rights Commission, 51 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0051.

If you wish to file a discrimination complaint electronically, visit the Human Rights Commission website at https://www.maine.gov/mhrc/file/instructions and complete an intake questionnaire. Maine is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Windham High School Robotics Club has a Successful First Year

Submitted by Lanet Hane, Director of Community Connections, RSU14.

Michelle Lane has brought her love of robotics with her to Windham High School. Ms. Lane is in her second year teaching computer science with the district, coming to us from Biddeford. While there, she led the robotics club to a number of successful years.

Ms. Lane was eager to continue her work with students and robotics, and it is out of that desire that the WHS Robotics Club was born.

Michelle Lane, Julian Howard, and Dillon Foley discuss improvements to their robot’s design.

Dillon Foley and Victoria Lin working on the two team robots. The robot that is currently operational is designed to collect the blocks and carry them to a new location.

The club consists of a small number of students, grades 9-12, who have a passion for robotics, programming, and computers. Students meet after school twice a week to construct and adapt their robots in the pursuit of victory at their robotics meets.

“We started with building 1 bot and attended a competition at York High School. During that competition the team competed in the individual skills competition and earned enough points to qualify for states. The team received a grant to purchase a second robot kit with a stipulation that we needed to have another robot to compete with by the end of the season.”

The students are currently working on making their second robot operational and hope to utilize it in future meets.

Victoria Lin, a freshman at WHS, says of the club, “At first, it was intimidating. I was very unfamiliar with the tools and how the competitions work. But over time I watched and learned. Before I knew it, I was designing and building a robot! The thing I love about robotics is the logic problems. You don’t need to be a math wiz or some kind of master mechanic, all you need is the motivation to get involved.”

As funding becomes available for additional robots and supplies, Ms. Lane hopes to expand the club to meet the growing need for increased IT and computer science opportunities.

The team has three meets remaining before the state championship in March. The state championship will be held at The Point Community Center in South Portland on March 14th, beginning at 9:30am.

Maine FFA State Officers Attend Maine Agricultural Trades Show

Pictured: Maine FFA State Officers Ava Cameron (Secretary-Treasurer), Graham Berry (President) and Camryn Curtis (Vice President) stand above the many agricultural organization displays for the 2020 Maine Agricultural Trades Show.

Student State Officers of the Maine FFA Association—formerly known as “Future Farmers of America,” with name changed simply to “FFA” to reflect increased diversity in agriculture including horticulture, natural resource management and other areas—participated in the 2020 Maine Agricultural Trades Show at the Augusta Civic Center on January 14^th & 15^th.

Maine FFA State President, Graham Berry, State Vice President, Camryn Curtis, and State Secretary-Treasurer, Ava Cameron, toured the many displays showcasing organizations and growers involved in Maine agriculture. Accompanied by their State FFA Advisor, Doug Robertson, from the Maine Department of Education, student Officers were impressed by the extent of agricultural entities and opportunities. They also attended the Commissioner of Agriculture’s Luncheon, with guest speaker Governor Mills, as well as a legislative reception hosted by the Maine Potato Board, and held a meeting for interested students from prospective Maine FFA chapter Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, Hinckley.

Maine’s State FFA Officer team was pleased to see in attendance at the Trades Show representatives from so many of their active sponsors including the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Agriculture in the Classroom, Farm Credit East, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Maine State Grange, Hammond Tractor, Maine Beef Producer’s Association, and many others.

Maine FFA provides leadership trainings, competitions and awards to students grades 7 to 12 enrolled in courses related to agriculture and natural resources, including science courses with practical applications through school gardens and greenhouses. Maine FFA is affiliated with the National FFA Organization, the largest youth leadership organization in the United States.

For more information on establishing a local FFA chapter, please contact: Doug Robertson, Maine Department of Education, doug.robertson@maine.gov (207) 624-6744.

Maine FFA State Officers visit grant supporting organization, Maine Agriculture in the Classroom (Program Assistant Kelsey Fortin in center)

Maine FFA State Officers visit with Jameson Little, Credit Analyst at Farm Credit East, a major Maine FFA sponsor

Governor Mills speaks on importance of Maine agriculture at the luncheon hosted by Maine Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, Amanda Beal

Maine FFA State Officers meet Craig Flood, Research Technician and Amy LeClair, Charitable Giving / Outreach Coordinator, at display for Johnny’s Selected Seeds

Maine DOE Launches Culinary Video Series to Support School Nutrition Programs

The Maine Department of Education (DOE), in collaboration with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, recently launched two sets of videos to help support Maine school nutrition programs around the state. Links to the two sets of videos are available below:

Farm to School Videos – showcase the partnerships between farms and schools in an effort to grow the Farm to School movement.
Culinary Videos – assist school nutrition professionals in scratch cooking and utilizing local products. The videos can help build culinary skills in a variety of areas such as fruit and vegetable preparation, food safety, time management, and using local ingredients in school recipes.

The Team plans to continue building the video series by incorporating Maine dairy and seafood, among other proteins, in school recipes as well as other educational videos in the near future.

The Department would like to extend a special thank you to the people who made these videos a success:

Chef Samantha Gasbarro (Consultant)
Mike Flynn (School Nutrition Director for RSU 12)
Alisa Roman (School Nutrition Director for Lewiston Public Schools)
Chef Heidi Parent (Culinary Arts Instructor from Capital Area Technical Center)
Josh Girard (Girard Farm)
Kelby Young (Olde Haven Farm)
Trent Emery (Emery Farm)
Ryan Roderick (Chef and Wellness Coordinator for RSU 14)
Justin Deri (School Garden and Greenhouse Manager from Falmouth Schools)
Martha Poliquin (School Nutrition Director, Falmouth Schools)

In addition to the videos, the Child Nutrition Team also offers in-person and webinar trainings. The next culinary training will be on February 21^st and will be geared towards new and trending school breakfast ideas. Check out all their training opportunities in the Child Nutrition calendar, you can also stay up-to-date on child Nutrition news by joining the Child Nutrition email list.

All of the the videos are available on the Maine DOE’s website here: www.maine.gov/farmtoschool. For more information about the Farm-to-School Program, please visit this website.

50+ School and District Leaders Come Together to Enhance Student Support and Instructional Practice

Collaboration and support was the primary focus of three recent technical assistance session held in Ellsworth, Brewer, and Augusta between 50+ school and district leadership teams and the Maine DOE ESEA Federal Program team members.

During the half day sessions, the 100+ participants worked alongside DOE staff, including school leadership coaches, to explore innovative approaches to leveraging federal funds through blending and braiding of ESEA Federal Program allocations, school-wide authority, and additional Title I school improvement funds to supplement and enhance current student support and instructional practice.

“We had great turnout, great conversation, and enthusiasm at these meetings and we are encouraged as we move forward,” said Janette Kirk, Maine DOE Chief of Learning Systems.

Maine Youth Action Network Offering Free Trainings Focused on Youth Engagement, Social Emotional Learning, and more!

For the 2019-2020 academic year, Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN) is hosting 26 free Continuing Education Trainings that are focused on Youth Engagement, Social Emotional Learning, and more. Each of these trainings are free to attend, offer CEUS, and provide lunch.

Transforming Knowledge into Action

Participate in a learning cohort with other emerging leaders in the youth engagement field. This three-part series provides participants with train-the-trainer content on youth mentoring best practices, engagement & retention strategies, and youth facilitation strategies. You’ll leave with training materials, strengthened skills, and deeper connections to other youth workers in your community.

This series follows a cohort model. Over the course of the three trainings, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with a consistent community of professionals in your field to share strategies and challenges, build connections, and develop new skills to take back to your work.

For those unable to commit to a cohort, each training will be offered individually in the Augusta area:

Emerging Best Practices of Youth Prevention

Join the MYAN team for a three-part series focused on leveraging prevention best practices to effectively engage youth within our communities. Learn the neuroscience behind why scare tactics miss the mark in adolescent brains, strategies for directly involving youth in prevention-focused research, and how to grow and sustain lasting, supportive relationships with any young person.

For those unable to commit to a cohort, each training will be offered individually in the Augusta area:

Two-Day Intensive Workshops

Join us for four certificate based training programs designed to offer in-depth and youth-focused learning opportunities for Maine adults. Learn advanced facilitation skills, how to help adolescents through mental health challenges, incorporate restorative based practices into everyday work with youth, and learn how to navigate differences in culture and identity along with their impact on youth engagement.

Youth Mental Health First Aid
Bangor Feb 25-26 – Bangor Registration
Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.

Advanced Youth Facilitation Skills
Portland Jan 28-29 – Portland Registration
Bangor Feb 11-12 – Bangor Registration

Fill your toolbox with activities, skills and facilitation strategies intended to grow your practice working with youth groups. Learn the skills to help groups solve complex problems, leverage diverse points of view, practice social-emotional skills and build engaging sessions for your team.

Practicing with a Restorative Lens
Bangor Mar 3-4 – Portland Registration
Portland Mar 24-25 – Bangor Registration

Are you incorporating social emotional learning into your teaching practice? Working with colleagues to build a trauma- or healing-informed approach? Join fellow educators and youth facilitators in layering a restorative lens onto youth engagement practices. Workshop participants will explore restorative frameworks, build foundational skills, and strategize opportunities to promote restorative approaches in relationships and communities.

For further information visit the MYAN Continuing Education web pages or contact MYAN.

Get to know the DOE Team: Meet Roy Fowler

Maine DOE team member Roy Fowler is being highlighted this week as the part of a Get to know the DOE Team campaign. Learn a little more about Roy in the brief question and answer below.

What are your roles with DOE?

I’m the Special Services team member that serves as the State Director of Child Development Services (special education and related services for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children).

What do you like best about your job?

It’s an incredibly challenging job, but the CDS State Office team is amazing. It feels good to see the positive impact that our work over the past few years has had on the young children and families that we serve and on the almost 400 CDS staff out at the CDS regional sites.

How or why did you decide on this career?

Early intervention/early childhood special education weren’t on my radar when I decided to pursue a career in education. However, birth through age 5 is the period where we can have the greatest impact on development and potentially change the life trajectory of these children and their families.

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

I’ve got an 1850 farmhouse, so there’s perpetual remodeling and repairs. I also have a big garden, chickens, occasionally bees, make maple syrup, and forage wild mushrooms.

Maine DOE Update – January 17, 2020

From the Maine Department of Education

Reporting Items

| Visit the DC&R Reporting Calendar |

News & Updates

Commissioner Makin Begins 2020 with a Visit to Dover-Foxcroft and Dexter

On January 3^rd Maine Department of Education’s Commissioner Pender Makin visited the Tri-County Technical Center (TCTC) in Dexter for a tour of the facility and to have a round-table discussion with students, educators, and legislators about successes and concerns from the Dover-Foxcroft/Dexter region. | More

Maine Department of Education Releases Updated Dyslexia Webpage

The Office of Special Services has updated their Special Initiatives page to further develop dyslexia awareness and to serve as a dyslexia toolkit for educators and families. | More

2019 Report on Census of Community-Based Environmental Learning in Maine Released

Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance and Maine Environmental Education Association announced the release of the Census of Community-Based Environmental Learning (CBEL) in Maine 2019 report on Monday, January 13, 2020 at a press conference at the Maine State House. | More

Get to know the DOE Team: Meet Jason Anderson

Maine DOE team member Jason Anderson is being highlighted this week as the part of a Get to know the DOE Team campaign.| More

Maine Schools Sharing Success Stories

| Submit your Maine School Success Story |

Professional Development & Training Opportunities

| Visit the Professional Development Calendar |

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities

Maine Researchers, Teacher Begin Scientific Cruise

Submitted by Barbara Powers, Superintendent of Long Island School.

A unique educational opportunity launches on January 24, when a Maine teacher sets sail for the Southern Ocean as part of a Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences team. This partnership with the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance’s “WeatherBlur” education project will bring the experience of an ocean research cruise to students in Maine and beyond.

“Research cruises are tremendously exciting, and sharing that excitement is a great way to interest students in science,” said Senior Research Scientist Barney Balch. “The ocean is endlessly fascinating, and learning about its vital role is essential to understanding life on Earth.”

Marci Train, a teacher at the two-room Long Island School in Casco Bay, will join Balch and several other Bigelow Laboratory scientists in order to engage students throughout the National Science Foundation-funded cruise. The research team aims to investigate how algae in the Southern Ocean may be affecting the future of sea life as far away as the Northern Hemisphere.

Throughout the cruise, Train will connect frequently with students in Maine and beyond. She will conduct video tours of the ship to show what a day at sea looks like, post learning materials on the WeatherBlur website, and share photos on social media. She will also assist with scientific operations and help conduct experiments.

“I can’t wait to have a first-hand experience with a scientific research project, and I think it is important for teachers to show their students that you are never too old to learn new information,” Train said. “It is important to get out of your comfort zone and share your own learning experiences with your students.”

Coccolithophores are a common type of algae that help form the base of ocean food webs, and they play a significant role in global chemical and carbon cycles. Balch recently found that they are remarkably scarce in the fertile waters near the equator, and his team aims to learn why during this cruise.

The Southern Ocean and equator are connected by an important ocean layer called “Sub-Antarctic mode water,” which forms at the surface of the Southern Ocean, sinks, and flows to the equator over a 40-year journey. Balch suspects that booming coccolithophore populations in the Southern Ocean are depleting its supply of essential nutrients before Sub-Antarctic mode water flows north, making the water layer sub-optimal for coccolithophore growth by the time it reaches the equator.

While at sea, the team will use satellite imagery to locate eddies rich in coccolithophores, whose chalk shells are so reflective that they can be seen from space. By measuring water properties in these eddies and collecting water to conduct onboard experiments, the researchers hope to uncover how coccolithophores in the Southern Ocean are altering this important source of nutrients before its long journey towards the equator.

“Sub-Antarctic mode water travels far north from where it forms, and it exerts a staggering level of control on much of the global ocean,” Balch said. “If coccolithophores are changing its essential properties, then they could be influencing which species grow in food webs as far away as the equator or even in the Northern Hemisphere.”

The team will use a creative approach to calculate how fast this water layer changes. The ship will follow Sub-Antarctic mode water for more than 1,000 miles on its journey to the Indian Ocean. As they measure the water’s basic properties, they will also collect samples at depth to measure freons, manufactured refrigerants that can be found throughout the environment.

Freons have constantly changed since their invention in the 1950s – a fact that today allows scientists to detect when water was last at the surface and exposed to freons in the atmosphere. Back on shore, a team from the University of Miami will determine which types of freons are present in different parcels of Sub-Antarctic mode water along the ship’s transect.

“Freons are a great timekeeper for the age of water,” Balch said. “We’ll use their time signatures to figure out how long it took a sample of Sub-Antarctic mode water to arrive where we found it, and to understand how quickly the water is changing as it’s moving north.”

The researchers will investigate these questions over 38 days aboard the RV Thomas Thompson. The team will depart from South Africa and return to the island of Mauritius in early March. The Bigelow Laboratory Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts will post updates during the cruise, as will the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

This cruise is the latest research topic to be explored by WeatherBlur, an online citizen science community funded by National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The project brings together students, teachers, community members, and scientists, who collaborate to ask questions, design scientific investigations, and bring back data and findings to discuss with each other.

Currently, WeatherBlur engages six Maine schools, as well as two schools from Mississippi and one school from Alabama. Train’s outreach from the cruise will be followed by more than 1,300 students and 26 teachers.

“I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for students to see all the different career options onboard a research vessel, including positions in research and on the crew,” Train said. “It’s important that students are exposed to STEM in action, and I can’t wait for them to be immersed in this experience and see how big scientific questions get answered.”

Saco Middle School Students Partner with their Community to Conserve Local Land

Students at Saco Middle School have teamed up with the Saco Valley Land Trust to conserve an eight-acre piece of land in Saco that runs along the Nonesuch River in what the students are calling the “Conserving Our Community” project.

The project started the first few weeks of school this year as part of a ‘community block’ at Saco Middle School where students are challenged to work on projects that will improve their local community. Community block projects range from creating and pitching a dog park to the city, aiming to increase protected bike lanes, doing compost for the school, or in this case, conserving a local piece of land.

The project started with just seven students who were interested in embarking on an endeavor that somehow protected the land around them. The group, along with their teacher Andrew Fersch, contacted the Saco Valley Land Trust who was eager to collaborate and had their eye on this specific property. Since then the project has evolved and grown as the original group of students have convinced the rest of the 7^th grade class to get involved. More recently they have been joined by some of the 8th grade students, growing their group to over 100 students at this point. They are now conducting full school assemblies at every school in the Saco School Department with hopes of getting everyone on board.

Gianna, a student working on the Conserving Our Community Project explains more about it in a written post on the Saco Valley Land Trust Website:

As a team we believe that learning about our community and world is important knowledge to have. It is important to know what is happening in the natural world around us, because it affects us. Every impact to Saco’s ecosystem is an impact on us as well.

One of the perks of owning this land is that it will help make a longer wildlife corridor and trail where (hopefully, eventually) we can connect from Saco all the way to Gorham, though there are still some gaps where roads flow through. If we conserved this land it would make it possible for all the majestic animals of Maine to travel through the woods with no fear of getting hit by a car (and for humans to enjoy open spaces too!).

The students make frequent trips to study the land, capturing their adventures in trail documentaries and they have even written a book, The Secret Wisdom of Saco (PDF), a collection of place-based stories. The project also provides them with a community service learning project where they can advocacy for something they feel passionate about and deeply connected to.

“Children learn what is possible through example. If the community shows them that conservation matters, and that working hard pays off, they’ll carry that message their whole life,” said Andrew Fersch, project adviser and Saco Middle School Teacher.

For more information about Conserving Our Community, including how to donate or get involved, please visit the Saco Valley Land Trust Website.

This story was written by Maine DOE Staff Rachel Paling in collaboration with Saco Middle School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. If you have an idea or a story for the campaign, email Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.