Terese Hodgdon, Secretary at Noble Middle School in MSAD 60.

In an effort to accommodate students who might be in need of more individualized attention, Noble Middle School (NMS) is one of the only institutes that has school-wide implementation of a program called BARR – Building Assets, Reducing Risks – with our staff. The Teams meet twice a month to discuss (among other things) students who would benefit from said attention. Part of the discussion is to find ways to form a connection between the student and school and to give them favorable interactions with adults so that they want to come to school. Realizing that some students may be in need of positive role models, we try to fill that void.

Kristen Hobbs, Intervention Coordinator for MSAD 60, says, “School isn’t just about academics. It is about social and emotional learning.” Mrs. Hobbs has played an integral part in organizing solutions to this issue.

As such, NMS has partnered with Big Brothers/Big Sisters to bring in matches for students. Currently, there are four pairs at Noble Middle School and 2 more at the High School in the 8th Grade. The Big Brothers and Big Sisters come to the school during the school day to meet with their Littles to do community service and play games. There have been multi-year matches that see the students through the middle school grades.

In addition, several years ago, Noble Middle School also implemented a Mentor Program. It pairs students up with an adult in the building – they could be teachers or support staff, even some retired teachers and admin have joined in. There are currently 28 Mentor/Mentee matches in the building.

The Mentor Program focuses on positive interactions with students and adults. Getting together at Squire Time or during lunch or recess, the pairs can eat lunch together, play games, work on projects or discuss interesting topics. During the warmer months, there are picnics and walk-abouts.

It might be hard to decide who enjoys themselves more – the Mentors or the Mentees – but one thing is certain. There are plenty of smiles being shared.

Submitted by Julie Purdy, Librarian/Media Specialist at RSU 16.

It began as a discussion at one of our district library meetings. The elementary schools in RSU16 often highlight Read Across America Day on or around March 2nd; however, because it has traditionally been associated with Dr. Seuss’s birthday, the middle school and high school have never really participated. This year, we decided that it would be fun to bring together kids and books and celebrate reading district-wide in honor of Read Across America Day!

We decided to embrace the Dr. Seuss theme for our inaugural “Read Across RSU16 Week”! Our goals for this event were to promote Read Across America, promote reading in general by showing our students that it is important and fun for everyone to read, and to generate school spirit! We planned a week of activities and fun to promote our culminating event: On Friday, March 8th, EVERYONE in RSU16, from our superintendent to our preschoolers, dropped everything and just read a book from 10:00-10:20!

To celebrate and promote the week and to get our students fired up for our district-wide reading time, each school had spirit dress up days.

Spirit Dress Up Days at the elementary schools:

Monday: Horton Hears A Who – Wear Blue
Tuesday: Green Eggs and Ham – Wear Green
Wednesday: Thing 1 and Thing 2 – Twin Day
Thursday: Fox in Socks – Wear Red
Friday: The Lorax – Wear Orange

Spirit Dress Up Days at the Middle School and High School:

Monday: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – Wear Red or Blue
Tuesday: Cat in the Hat Day – Wear Stripes and/or a Hat
Wednesday: Thing 1 and Thing 2 – Twin Day
Thursday: Fox in Socks – Wear Crazy or Mismatched Socks
Friday: Oh, the Places You’ll Go – Wear a College T-shirt or Sweatshirt

Throughout the week, all schools promoted Read Across RSU16 Week in fun ways. Teachers and librarians at the elementary level read Dr. Seuss books all week. At the high school, we read a page of a Dr. Seuss book over the intercom, and the first five students to post the correct answer on the library Instagram page won a prize! Younger students decorated cakes and Truffula trees! At Minot Consolidated School, everyone was given a mustache to wear on The Lorax day! The libraries at Minot Consolidated School and Bruce Whittier Middle School/Poland Regional High School also hosted a bulletin board “Seuss Shadow Silhouettes” contest where students could match up the Dr. Seuss character silhouettes with the character names, and the winners received cool prizes! We also had a Cat in the Hat photo booth cut-out so that students could take their pictures as the Cat in the Hat reading a book.

All of the fun during the week led up to the culminating event where everyone district-wide dropped everything to read! It was a lot of fun for everyone, and we hope to make this an annual event!

Check out Poland Regional High School Library’s Instagram page (@prhslibrary) for lots of pictures of Read Across RSU16 Week!

Submitted by Shane Gower, Social Studies Teacher at Maranacook Community High School in Readfield, RSU 38.

Maranacook Community High School teacher Shane Gower was among 50 educators from across the country selected to travel to Washington, D.C. this summer to participate in the Fourth Annual Friends of the National World War II Memorial Teachers Network and Conference.

The conference will feature presentations by fellow educators and other experts in the area of World War II history, discussions with World War II veterans, tours of sites of World War II significance, and a remembrance ceremony at the World War II Memorial.

“At the heart of Friends’ Teachers Network and Conference program is the concept of community service,” said Holly Rotondi, executive director of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial. “Through a thoroughly prepared and well-devised community engagement program, our educators share what they learned during their time in Washington, D.C. with their students, fellow teachers, and the community at-large. The result is countless service-learning initiatives popping up across the nation that promote critical thinking and personal reflection while encouraging a heightened sense of community, civic engagement, and personal responsibility.”

“Working with students to learn about the Fallen Heroes of the Second World War from Maine has been a great passion for me,” said Gower. “I am very excited to learn more about the War and ways to expand remembering their sacrifice in our community.”

The 2019 conference will have the theme of “Industry and Innovation During World War II.” Friends of the national World War II Memorial covers all the costs of the conference for the teachers, including a travel stipend. Mr. Gower will receive a certificate for 30 continuing education hours.

Learn more about Friends of the National World War II Memorial here: (www.wwiimemorialfriends.org).

Educators from 13 districts throughout the western Maine region gathered at the University of Maine at Farmington last week to attend a series of professional development opportunities designed specifically for them. This is the second year that the Western Maine Education Collaborative (WMEC) has planned a remarkably successful Rendezvous for teachers in the region, this year doubling the number of attendees over last year’s event. 

The focus was on sharing the successes and solutions of delivering high quality instruction, assessment, and curriculum to a broad spectrum of students. More than 40 sessions were offered throughout the day on everything from 3D printing, to Google forms and other tools for the classroom, as well as curriculum and assessment sessions on project based learning, NWEA math, & SAT prep, and strategies to improve vocabulary instruction, to name a few. Educators were also offered sessions on the dangers of vaping, adverse childhood experiences, mandatory reporting, and suicide prevention, in addition to sessions about self-care, evidenced based classroom management practices, and sessions where they could work on specific projects.  

The Rendezvous was planned and hosted by WMEC, a long-time partnership of districts in the western Maine region. The collaborative is led by President, and RSU 4 Superintendent, Andy Carlton and WMEC Executive Director, Kristie Littlefield. By using feedback and ideas generated from last year’s event, the two designed an event that was meaningful and responsive to the interests and needs of the participants. 

Educators in attendance came from the following districts: Fayette School Department, Lisbon School Department, MSAD 59, Mt. Blue Regional School District/RSU 9, RSU 4, RSU 56, RSU 58, RSU 74, RSU 78, Spruce Mountain School District/RSU 73, Western Foothills Regional School Unit No. 10. 

WMEC President Andy Carlton hopes this collaboration continues to offer quality professional development opportunities across the region, with events like this for years to come. He notes that a collaborative like WMEC is not always about sharing resources to save money, it’s about working together to pool resources so that improved programs and services can be provided to the students in the region. 

For more information about WMEC visit their website.  

Below are more pictures from the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Cindy Nilsen, Math Instructional Coach at Harrison Lyseth Elementary School in Portland Public Schools.

An exciting project has been launched in Margaret Reimann’s 5th grade classroom at Harrison Lyseth Elementary School, in Portland Public Schools. It was featured in the current issue of Maine Audubon’s Habitat Magazine.

Science Is in Full Bloom! “American Spring LIVE” & Maine Audubon
by Jeremy Cluchey, Maine Audubon
March, 2019