Do you want to engage students in learning about Maine’s Natural Resources? Do you want to promote outdoor education? Do you want access to environmental science equipment? Do you want to provide students with more opportunities to master the Maine Science and Technology Learning Results Standards? The Envirothon KickStarter Program may be for you.
Through a collaboration between the Maine Association of Conservations Districts and the Spruce Mountain High School Envirothon Team, an Envirothon KickStarter Program is available to organizations that have not had teams compete in the last 2 years.
Available through a Diversity Grant from the U.S. Forest Service, the National Conservation Foundation, and the NCF Envirothon, the KickStarter Kits are intended to provide resources to help new advisors teach students content and skills related to preparing for an Envirothon Competition.
The Kits will include materials such as a Biltmore Log Scale Stick, Trees of Maine book, soil testing materials, water data sampling materials, and other supplies for environmental science. It is expected that organizations receiving Envirothon Starter kits will organize a team to compete in the 2024 or 2025 Envirothon and the kits will be available this spring through 2025 or until the funds are depleted.
Additionally, as part of the Envirothon KickStarter program, there will be online training for any advisors and students to help them learn about Envirothon, including newly formed and veteran teams. Teachers may receive contact hours towards recertification for participation.
For more information about Envirothon or the Envirothon KickStarter Program, you may email Spruce Mountain High School Envirothon Advisor Rob Taylor at rtaylor@rsu73.com.
More information on the Envirothon and how to register:
To register for a 2024 Maine Regional Envirothon, please visit: Maine’s Envirothon Registration Webpage. Registration is $125 per team and includes T-shirts for team members. Registration must be completed by April 5th.
Last month, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Child Nutrition team hosted ten School Food Service staff members in their Culinary Classroom in Augusta for vegan/vegetarian culinary training.
Five teams of two prepared eleven dishes from lentil sloppy joes, Asian salad, sweet potato & bean burrito, and tortilla soup to cookie dough hummus. After preparing the dishes, they enjoyed the fruits of their labor and discussed each dish.
Comments included the ease of preparation, how ingredients could be used in other dishes, how appealing the look and flavor of several dishes were, and how some were a good way to use commodity products.
The Maine DOE Child Nutrition team operates the Culinary Classroom to provide culinary and food safety training to School Nutrition Professionals across the entire state of Maine. Along with in-person training, the team also records training videos and recipes that are accessible as needed via their website.
(Seventh grader Chase, above, told us he liked his teachers because they were kind and cared about him.)
Noble Middle School has created a community of students who genuinely respect and trust their teachers and each other through the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) model. “The teachers, the students, and everyone just support you. There’s really no negativity,” Chase, a Noble seventh grader, says of his school.
“It’s a really great school,” says James, a sixth grader at Noble who has attended five different schools, traveling from Texas for his father’s job in the Navy. “There are amazing teachers and students, and the classes are really fun,” continued James, sharing that Noble was his favorite school he has attended yet.
Walking down the hall, it is easy to see why Chase and James love their school. One is struck by the way students brighten up when they speak to educators, calling out to them in the halls and even asking how their days are going. Noble’s method to success is its dedication to building positive relationships across the school community through BARR. BARR is an education model that combines relationship building (staff to staff, staff to student, and student to student) and real-time data to strengthen student engagement and well-being. In 2016, BARR and Intervention Coordinator Kristen Hobbs implemented the program at Noble.
“We were one of the first middle schools in the country to use BARR,” remembers Hobbs. “there was a double-blind study with BARR at Noble High School, then we fully implemented the program here the year after.”
Students going-away messages to an educator who recently left Noble.
In BARR’s block meetings, educators discuss students’ strengths and needs, analyze data, and deepen relationships within the school. At Noble Middle, these meetings alternate between sixth and seventh-grade teams.
Principal Michael Archambault details how BARR works at Noble as such: “Every kid is on a team, and they have four regular education or core subject teachers that make up the team. Every other week, the team, plus a school counselor, administrator, BARR coordinator, and potentially some interventionists, attend [a block meeting]. At the meetings, students are leveled zero, one, two, or three based on several indicators. It could be grades, at-risk behavior, or attendance. And then we go through and we talk about some of the kids that have come up that we need to sort of share information on and make sure we’re on the same page.”
As he continues, Principal Archambault shares how the team stays constructive during the meetings: “We start with a spark, like a positive about a kid, like they’re on the basketball team or they really like skateboarding. So, we try to start off with a strength and then talk about the student.”
Sitting in on Noble’s block meeting, one can’t help but note the affection these educators have for their students.
“Before BARR, teams would meet, but it was more about the nuts and bolts of how their team ran” said Hobbs. “BARR makes it so that you have to come up with intervention plans.”
The Acadia BARR team at Noble at their block meeting.
During Monday morning’s block meeting, seventh-grade social studies teacher Mark Lafond brought up a student struggling to complete work and come to class. He noted that the student has trouble seeing and that the parents might be unable to afford glasses. As a solution, he offered to bring in frames he had at home and have the lenses replaced with the student’s prescription. “My wife used to work for Warby Parker,” Lafond explained, “so we have a ton of [glasses] at home.” The way these educators will go the extra mile to help a child promotes trust and, in turn, creates positive teacher-student relationships, which is precisely what BARR is working to accomplish.
As the year progresses, each student is discussed in a block meeting at least once by their team, with the purpose of acknowledging and seeing every student. When block meeting interventions, such as Lafond’s plan to find his student glasses, are insufficient, they are moved up the risk scale. Students with continuously high-risk ratings are escalated to community connect meetings, which they refer to as “risk reviews” at Noble.
“We have risk reviews Monday and Friday mornings,” said Principal Archambault. “In that meeting, there would be a special education case manager, a social worker, counselors, administrators, and a school psychologist. The idea is to find community intervention.”
Principal Archambault also shared one of the most powerful parts of Noble’s BARR strategy, their mentorship program.
Hobbs created the mentorship early into Noble’s BARR journey to support students with high-risk ratings.
“It is definitely one of the stronger interventions that you can implement,” says Assistant Principal Melinda Luders. Since Noble started the program, Hobbs has personally created more than 200 mentor matches, with some mentors, including Hobbs, working with their mentees well into high school.
“It just continues to support the idea of kids knowing that they have an adult that is going to check in on them,” said Principal Archambault. “It doesn’t have to be like an agenda driven situation or anything like that. It’s about ‘we have a one-on-one relationship where you’re accountable to say hello to me, and I will make time for you.’”
Noble’s success with BARR is well known, which is why Loranger Memorial School Principal Matthew Foster drove from Old Orchard Beach to observe how the school implements the program.
“The goal for teachers is to get to know the kids in different ways,” said Foster, “That’s what we are looking at BARR for right now.”
Old Orchard Beach Loranger Memorial School Principal Matthew Foster observes Melanie Stevens’ sixth grade I-Time.
While at Noble, Foster observed a sixth-grade I-Time. I-Time is an activity taught by block teachers to their assigned group of students. It is a structured time for BARR educators to build those student-to-student and student-to-teacher relationships. This particular I-Time was a true masterclass taught by English Language Arts teacher Melanie Stevens. The respect and adoration Stevens evokes in her students shows how truly she has honed her craft.
As a teacher, Stephens is a big fan of BARR, especially the opportunity to build stronger relationships with her students: “I-Time is used to help these kids identify that they’re not alone in the things that they struggle with. It’s not like your typical SEL-type activities. It’s a little bit different in that some of them do get a little bit deeper because students don’t always have the outlets for the kind of conversation at home.”
Stevens used I-Time to discuss grief and how even the smallest everyday loss can change a person.
“There are so many things that happen in the day to day. [Grief] doesn’t have to be this huge, huge thing. It can be these little things as well,” said Stevens. She illustrated this by reading students a story about a young girl’s attempt to join a prestigious dancing school and having the students rip off a piece of their colored paper sheet whenever they heard something that made them feel bad. In the end, she gave the students tape and had them attempt to put the piece of paper back together again.
“What’s the point? Is it back to normal? Were you able to get it back to the way it was? What are we trying to get you to think about?” Stevens asked her class.
“Even if something happened a while ago, you could still remember it,” responded a student named Jackson. Another student, Sumner, from across the room, answered, “Mean things people say can change you.”
To round out the lesson, Stevens explained to her students the Japanese Art of Kintsugi, a method of repairing broken pottery with gold. Foster showed them an image of a blue bowl, cracks filled with gold, and asked, “It’s broken, but doesn’t it look better this way?”
Students torn paper from the I-Time activity on grief.
If you are inspired by Noble’s story and think BARR would be the right fit for your school, the DOE is offering additional BARR funding for the 2024-2025 school year.
Applications are now open to all willing and qualified public schools that want to become BARR schools. Click here to apply. Applications are due by March 22, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. EST.
The Maine DOE will cover all costs of implementing the program for schools new to BARR for the 2024-2025 school year. (Note: if you are already a BARR school with an existing contract, your costs will also be covered for the 2024-2025 school year, and you do not need to reapply.)
The Maine DOE used American Rescue Plan funding to create a competitive BARR grant to help schools invest in the model.
(Pictured: United Technology Center students [L to R] Dominic, John, and Joe attend SkillsUSA with homemade t-shirts rooting for their friend, Zach who is competing in the construction competition this year.)
UTC student Dominic shows off the back of a t-shirt he made to root for his friend competing in SkillsUSA this year.
The hallways of United Technologies Center (UTC) were packed with students dressed in different uniforms adorned with the SkillsUSA emblem on March 15 as they came together from across Maine to test their talents at Maine’s annual SkillsUSA event.
Competitions started on March 14th, the day before, and were happening in locations all over Bangor, as they do each year in the spring.
“I’m so nervous,” one student said to another as they climbed the steps to the second floor in search of their instructor and to find the site where their competition would soon start. Students come from Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools all over Maine, some even come the day before due to the distance they have to travel to participate. Many have been preparing for months and even years to take part in the event.
“You’ve got this!” an instructor said to another nervous student as they rushed by to get to another competition.
“I love it!” said Laura Manzo an instructor from Northern Penobscot Tech Region III in Lincoln. Manzo was sitting on a high stool in front of students working in teams of two in the TV/Video Production competition, something she had coordinated for the second year in a row this year. She said being the coordinator of a competition entails locating all of the judges, creating the prompt for the students to use for the event, and being there to run the competition. This year the prompt was to create a promotional video on Solar Eclipse Safety.
Northern Penobscot Tech Region III Instructor Laura Manzo sitting on a stool helping students who are competing in the TV/Video Production competition.
During the competition, Manzo was on hand answering questions and directing students as the 11 teams worked with cameras and other video equipment, in addition to computers with editing software, on planning, filming, narrating, editing, and putting together a video for the judges to view later that day. Their competition started at 6:45 am that morning and would last until 11:30 am. Manzo, in her 5th year of teaching at Northern Penobscot Tech, was excited about the lineup of judges this year but also nervous for the students who would need to film in the rain, an unexpected challenge the day brought.
“We will see what they come up with,” she said hopefully as she flashed a smile and continued answering questions from students and checking her clipboard.
Down the hall students, instructors, judges, and family members lined the halls looking through big picture windows as competitions started for everything from cake decorating to cosmetology, auto collision repair, and more.
To one end of a UTC hallway sat Rylee, a student at Hancock County Technical Center (HCTC), and Ally a student at Somerset County Technical Center (SCTC) waiting outside a competition room for their turn at the Basic Health Care Skills competition.
Rylee said she likes coming to SkillsUSA because it’s something different. “It’s definitely out of my comfort zone,” she said. She was smiling as she recalled how she was talked into coming last year and again this year.
For Ally, coming to Skills is about, “showing off my talent, showing off my skills, and making friends.” The two sat close together among other students clutching their posters and presentation materials, waiting to do a presentation in front of judges where they would also need to do an interview and showcase basic healthcare skills. They had no idea who among them would get called to go in next.
(L to R) Ally from Somerset County Technical Center and Rylee from Hancock County Technical Center.Lydia from Sanford Regional Technical Center shows off her Courtesy Corp Vest.
In addition to students in the traditional competition rooms were students wearing reflective vests that said “Courtesy Corp.” Lydia from Sanford Regional Technical Center, who was wearing one of these vests, explained that she was currently competing and had been since SkillsUSA started the day before. Courtesy Corp is a community service competition where students are tasked with helping patrons who come to watch the event. They are available throughout the event to help direct people and answer questions. Their competition ends after they help get audience members seated at the main ceremony which was set for later that night at the Cross Insurance Arena in Bangor.
At the top of the stairs was HCTC Law Enforcement student Mercedes with her team of 6 students (5 competitors and one alternative). They and the other teams were all wearing red coats and waiting outside of a conference room for their turn at the criminal justice quiz bowl. This was Mercedes’s team’s second year competing in this competition, and her team won gold last year.
“We studied, so it’s just a matter of rising to the challenge,” she said. Before Mercedes and her team got called into the competition room she shared that after she graduates, she plans to go to Thomas College and pursue their 4-year Criminal Justice Program with a concentration in Law Enforcement and hopes to one day work for the Maine State Police.
Students compete in the Criminal Justice Quiz Bowl competition.
While UTC continued to bustle well past noon, other locations in the area were also hosting students at various competitions across the two-day event, like Fire Fighting, Diesel Equipment Technology, Entrepreneurship, Medical Math, and Early Childhood Education (and more) taking place at Eastern Maine Community College right next door. There were also many competitions at Cross Insurance Area where eventually everyone would end up later that evening.
Student Pin Design
Students’ T-Shirt Designs
Student Welding Sculpture
Starting the day before were a few special competitions for middle school students which also took place at Cross. Traditionally CTE programs, courses, and pathways are more widely available for high school-aged students and most of the students competing each year are in high school and college, but a growing number of middle schools are starting to offer career and technical education options as well.
Lamoine Consolidated School brought 50 students to compete at SkillsUSA this year, which is a record high for them. There were also students from Hancock Grammar School and Caribou Community School.
Middle school students had the opportunity to compete in State T-Shirt, State Pin Design, Team Engineering Challenge, Job Skill Demonstration, Woodworking Display, Community Service, Job Interview, Promotional Bulletin Board, Co2 Dragster, and 3D Printing.
A picture of the Middle School level Team Engineering Challenge in action
Middle School students from Lamoine Consolidated School take a group picture before they leave for SkillsUSA (image courtesy of Amanda Frost, LCS teacher and parent)
Lamoine Consolidated School teacher and 2023 Hancock County Teacher of the Year Miranda Engstrom, who helped coordinate one of the competitions this year, says that all the middle school students talked about having a great time and are already looking forward to next year’s competition.
“They all overcame challenges and feel more confident in themselves and their abilities to solve problems and explain solutions,” she said. As a fierce advocate for expanding career and technical education opportunities for middle school students, Engstrom adds that any other middle schools that want to be involved in SkillsUSA can reach out to their local technical school director, or reach out directly to Maine’s SkillsUSA Chapter.
When the competitions were completed and done, the students, instructors, administrators, parents, family members, and friends gathered at the Cross Insurance Area for the awards ceremony. Once the very large crowds of audience members were seated, Lydia and the rest of the Courtesy Corp competitors finally finished their competition as well, resting their green vests to also get seated for the ceremony. The ceremony entails top competitors being called up on stage and given gold, silver, and bronze metals, Olympic style standing on cascading platforms, and celebrated but one and all.
Middle School students accepting medals at SkillsUSA
The crowd at Cross Insurance Arena
Lamoine Consolidated School ended up with seven middle school students qualifying for the National Leadership and SkillsUSA Conference in the following competitions: Team Engineering Challenge, Promotional Bulletin Board, and State Pin Design. (Congratulations to Ian Frost, Jordan Chan, Benjamin Baldridge, Elza Cahn, Piper Smith, Kaia Tulloss, and Natalia Briggs!)
Mercedes and her team from the Hancock County Technical Center rose to the challenge as well by earning themselves a gold medal again this year in the Criminal Justice Bowl. As did Rylee from Hancock County Technical Center who ended up winning the silver medal in the Basic Health Care Skills competition. You can see a full listing of all the medal winners announced by SkillsUSA Maine here.
Congratulations to all of the winners, the many student competitors, as well as all of the people behind the scenes who work very hard to make this amazing event happen every year and who help prepare the students to compete.
Top winners of Maine’s SkillsUSA event will go on to compete at the national level in the SkillsUSA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in June.
Maine public schools invited to submit applications for the new 2024-2025 rating cycle
Maine school administrative units (SAUs) may apply for the Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facilities Program through the application posted on the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Office of School Facilities website. The application deadline is June 30, 2025.
This new rating cycle provides an opportunity for SAUs to apply for state support for the regionalization of two or more high schools in combination with a Career and Technical Education school, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, and industry partnerships. The selected integrated model would be administered by a consolidated governance structure.
The Maine DOE will review completed applications and develop a priority list that will be used to designate a model project for funding. The process is governed by Chapter 61 State Board of Education Rules for Major Capital School Construction Projects.
Questions regarding the application should be directed to Scott Brown, Maine DOE’s Director of School Construction, at scott.brown@maine.gov. Questions and answers will be posted here.
The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is seeking comments from the public on its annual application for federal funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which covers services to children with disabilities, ages 3-22.
The application, which covers Maine fiscal year 2025 (starting July 1, 2024) is posted on the Maine DOE’s website at https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/specialed/fiscal. The Part B budget is estimated/projected based on Maine’s current award, pending the State’s receipt of the finalized federal award for the coming year. Both documents will be posted from March 19, 2024, through May 18, 2024.
Written comments will be accepted from Monday, April 1, 2024, until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Please send comments to Erin Frazier at erin.frazier@maine.gov or 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME. 04333.
(Pictured: Saco Middle School 7th grader, Keegan Wong, pilots a drone during a skill-building portion of the drone piloting club.)
This year, Saco Middle School (SMS) has three exciting student technology projects that highlight highly engaging, student-driven learning. These projects are a combination of projects funded through the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Maine Learning through Technology Initiative (MLTI) as well as a student project submission to the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition.
Lyla Picard, 8th grader, shows off her drawing that was then imprinted onto cardboard using the Glowforge printer.
The Maine DOE #TeachWithTech grant enhances teaching and learning through the use of innovative technology. Saco Middle School’s grant award of $19,517.50 funded two initiatives at Saco Middle School, a laser-cutting and engraving printer to be utilized in their STEM program and an afterschool drone pilot training club. Both of these projects reflect the school’s commitment to advancing education through cutting-edge tools and a focus on engaging students in learning.
The Glowforge printer purchased for the school’s STEM lab uses laser technology to cut, engrave, and shape a variety of materials, including wood, acrylic, leather, and paper. Under the direction and initiative of STEM teacher Sam Blunda, students have been able to create intricate prototypes for design projects and produce personalized and custom items on a variety of materials.
“These printers have enabled students to bring their ideas to life, including the printing of wooden staff desk placards and Saco Schools engraved beach stones,” said Saco School Department Assistant Superintendent Meg Parkhurst. “Students have been able to recycle old materials to create functional and artistic items.”
One project included the printing of cutout pieces that could then be assembled into small toys. This served as a way to repurpose materials that may have otherwise been thrown away, such as old file folders, and also provided a gift that students were able to donate to children in the area to build.
The drone pilot training extracurricular activity run by staff members Chris Hayden and Lisa Ronco used professional drones and has provided students with a dynamic and engaging learning experience after school. Through small group sessions, students have mastered the basics of drone flight, navigated obstacle courses, honed their search and locate skills, and even tackled blind multi-directional courses using only the camera image for navigation. The acquisition of two Mavic 3 Classic drones and five Mavic 3 Mini drones has facilitated hands-on learning.
Beyond the technical skills, students are now well-versed in the requirements for FAA Remote Pilot certification for search and rescue, motion picture cinematography, and working with law enforcement.
As part of their journey to the National Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, Saco Middle School (SMS) 7th-grade students crafted this compelling video to highlight their project’s impact. Knotmarkers, conceived and executed by the inventive minds of SMS’s Maine State winning students with the guidance of Ms. Lindsay Girard, revolves around creating 100% biodegradable, sustainable, and refillable markers. This innovative solution aims to combat the staggering environmental impact of the 400 million markers discarded annually in landfills throughout the United States. The team’s commitment to utilizing locally sourced materials and an efficient production process underscores their dedication to reducing the carbon footprint.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national competition that challenges students in grades 6-12 to use their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills to address real-world issues in their communities and affect positive social change. Outshining their high-school competitors from across the state, SMS secured a remarkable $12,000 Samsung prize package, a video kit to assist in the national competition, and a designated Samsung Employee Mentor. The Top 10 National Finalists will be chosen by March 26, 2024, at which time the Community Choice voting will take place for the Top 3 National Winners announced on April 29, 2024.
Students share their solve for tomorrow project with Saco’s City Council.
To enhanced Maine’s high-quality Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) is seeking your input.
As required under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (“Perkins V”), the Maine DOE is completing a non-substantive revision of our four-year Perkins state plan. Among minor updates, this revision to the state plan will also include adjusted values of Maine’s state-determined performance levels (“SDPLs” or “performance levels”) for the 2024-2025 school year through the 2027-2028 school year. These proposed adjusted values will more accurately represent available student data and will reflect more achievable thresholds at the state level.
Maine’s proposed SDPLs for the upcoming four years are now available for public comment for the next sixty (60) days, with public comment closing on May 13, 2024. Feedback should be provided through the available survey, found here. More information on the state plan and on Maine’s existing secondary and postsecondary SDPLs can be found on the Accountability page of the Maine DOE’s CTE website. Please note: the Perkins indicators (1S1, 2S1, etc) may not be changed: Maine is federally required to report on these performance indicators.
Comments will be reviewed and included in the final version of Maine’s 2024 Perkins State Plan (Revision). For additional information, please contact Dwight A. Littlefield (dwight.a.littlefield@maine.gov) .
(Pictured: WHS freshman James Arthurs, left, and Poland Regional High senior Audrey Fryda engage in a courteous conversation regarding a current legislative issue.)
For the second consecutive year, a student group from Windham High School (WHS) volunteered to participate in the Can We? Project and hosted their peers from Poland Regional High School (PRHS) in mid-February to practice skills needed for civilized conversations.
The Can We? Project is an initiative intended for high school students to rejuvenate democracy by learning the abilities necessary to engage in respectful civil dialogue. This is Poland High’s first year participating in the Can We? Project. At last month’s gathering, students from both schools had the opportunity to discuss diverse perspectives and complex issues, doing so by showing a level of maturity and respect needed in difficult discussions.
“My experience with Can We? reinforced my admiration for this generation of students,” a PRHS social studies teacher and Can We? Project liaison Elaine Fryda said. “They are mature, earnest, and articulate. I was impressed by how seriously they discussed important current events.”
Jen Dumont, a WHS JMG specialist/teacher, and Can We? Project liaison agreed, saying that any time a space is provided for students to meet and communicate with peers, in a safe and solution-oriented way, it opens students’ perspectives and encourages empathy.
“Having the opportunity to host Poland Regional High School Can We? Project students gave our Can We? participants a chance to exhibit leadership skills and showcase some of the conversation tools they have developed during our past Can We? Project retreats,” Dumont said. “It is always edifying to realize that there are other students with similar stories and concerns from around our state.”
A few students from both schools shared their experiences from participating in the project.
Audrey Fryda, a PRHS senior, admitted that in an age of internet, it is easy to be swept into a biased and stereotypical way of thinking.
“I think it is easy to be sucked into an echo chamber of sorts, where you find things on the internet that align with what you believe to be true,” she said. “By engaging in conversations, we are having today with peers who think differently, we break those stereotypes and expand our empathy for others. By being able to do this, we are taught how to deal with important and controversial issues in an intelligent and respectful manner.”
WHS freshman James Arthurs said that if you take the moment to listen to one another, even if you don’t agree on a topic, you can come to an understanding or simply agree to disagree and remain civil.
“I enjoy participating in these conversations because it helps me learn different sides of a story – so I can understand where others are coming from,” Arthurs said. “It also helps me better understand my own perspective and has sometimes changed my viewpoint a bit. I also have understood my perspective more thoroughly where I am better able to support and advocate for it.”
PRHS senior Jonathan Crump said this was the first opportunity he had to talk about laws being passed and enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say. His involvement with the Can We? Project provided a deeper understanding of real conversations.
“Most of my experiences with Can We? were positive, but I want to point out that the project isn’t a ‘utopia of open mindedness’ if you will,” Crump said. “I still felt that I was being judged by people around me, just to a lesser extent. In all, it was fun to engage in dialogue with my peers and Can We? is definitely a step taken to bridge the gap between our country’s political divide.”
The Can We? Project was founded in 2018 by Third Thought Initiatives for Civic Engagement at Waynflete School. Originally a weekend retreat serving 35 students, the project now works throughout the school year with nearly 300 students in 14 public partner schools in Maine. Can We? is a collaborative effort between Waynflete, Maine Policy Institute, a non-profit that works to expand individual liberty and economic freedom in Maine, and Narrative 4, a national storytelling exchange program that teaches the skills of compassion through active listening with others.
Dumont explained that as adults, we have a certain responsibility to students to provide the space for active listening, and it is the reason why she is a teacher and a Can We? Project liaison.
“It’s important we provide the structure and safety to share students’ personal stories and have solution-oriented conversations that build bridges between people of various backgrounds and opinions,” she said. “I feel very honored to have been able to participate. I look forward to seeing the Can We? Project evolve and take on an incarnation here that can have further impact on our student population and staff.”
Elaine Fryda agrees with Dumont.
“Can We? provides students a unique opportunity to practice empathy, communication, and reflection,” she said. “Participation in the project fosters curiosity, courage, and caring. It goes without saying that we all could use more of these traits in our lives.”
This story was submitted by Windham High School. To submit a good news story to the Maine Department of Education use our Good News Submission form.
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On February 9th, 2024 Mr. Atwood’s Wildlife Studies class and Mr. Davis’s Maine Woodsmen class ventured out to Fahi Pond in Embden, Maine for a day of ice fishing and outdoor skills practice. | More
Four school districts in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Ohio received awards for their trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for their students. This announcement was made in front of nearly 850 school nutrition professionals at the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference during National School Breakfast Week recently. | More
Nestled in the tight-knit community of Calais, Maine, is Calais Elementary, a pre-k through sixth-grade school full of enthusiastic students and dedicated teachers. Calais Elementary is one of more than 70 Maine schools using the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) education model, and this week, Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin visited to experience BARR in action. | More
Belfast Community Outreach Program in Education is RSU 71’s alternative high school program, which was funded by a grant from the Office of Substance in 1990. | More
Maine DOE Newsroom 