Category: Career & Technical

Maine FFA Association hosts 83rd state convention

Maine FFA State President Isaac Wortman (left) presents honorary state FFA degrees to Commissioners Bowen and Whitcomb.
Maine FFA State President Isaac Wortman (left) presents honorary state FFA degrees to Commissioners Bowen and Whitcomb.

The Maine FFA Association (formerly known as “Future Farmers of America”) held its 83rd annual state convention May 9-10 at the University of Maine.

Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen and Agriculture Commissioner Walter Whitcomb spoke at the FFA award banquet, as did visiting National FFA President Clay Sapp. Gabrielle Cyr of Ashland High School was named Outstanding Student Chapter Officer, and Kevin Marquis of Easton was named FFA Chapter Advisor of the Year. Maine FFA specially recognized Thomas Hale, Caribou Regional Technology Center agriculture teacher, who is retiring after 38 years of teaching and numerous accomplishments.

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Hands-on learning a success in Oxford County

Eighth grader Ken Stump shows Commissioner Bowen a solar panel they created to heat the indoor greenhouse at Roberts Farm in Norway.
Eighth grader Ken Stump shows Commissioner Bowen a solar panel Oxford Hills Middle School students created to heat the indoor greenhouse at Roberts Farm in Norway.

I had the chance visit three Oxford County schools yesterday as part of my Promising Practices Tour, just a day after releasing the new A-F school grading system designed to improve transparency. As a state, we need to move beyond the one-size-fits-all models of teaching and embrace student-centered models like the ones many Maine schools, like the ones I visited in Oxford County, are doing. Governor LePage and I made reference to that Wednesday when we unveiled the new school report cards, which showed a majority of Maine’s elementary and high schools earned an A, B or C.

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Education Commissioner’s visit promotes promising practices at Oxford County schools

Mountain Valley Middle School student Abby LaBrash explains her genetics project to Commissioner Bowen.
Mountain Valley Middle School student Abby LaBrash explains her genetics project to Commissioner Bowen.

SOUTH PARIS – A day after releasing a new school grading system designed to focus on transparency and continuous improvement in schools, Maine’s Education Commissioner toured three Oxford County schools that are embracing new models for educational excellence.

The visit by Maine Department of Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen to Oxford Hills Middle School and Oxford Hills Technical School in RSU 17 and Mountain Valley Middle School in RSU 10 was the latest in his Promising Practices Tour.

Bowen began the tour on Thursday at the Roberts Farm Preserve in Norway, where he talked with Oxford Hills Middle School seventh and eighth graders about the life science and leadership skills they’re developing by participating in the farm’s experiential learning program.

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Students compete in trade and leadership contests

More than 800 students from 22 technical schools and two colleges competed in trade and leadership contests at the 2013 SkillsUSA Maine State Championships in March at the United Technologies Center and Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor. Gold medalists from this event will have the opportunity to represent the State of Maine at the national championships in Kansas City.

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Attend CTE literacy training

Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education (MACTE) and the Maine DOE CTE team are co-sponsoring a day-long “Developing Instructional Literacy Strategies for Maine CTE Educators” training. This interactive professional development opportunity offers CTE instructors a practical working definition of literacy that lends itself to integration in a CTE curriculum. Participants in the training will leave with a set of literacy strategies that can be applied to their CTE instructional classrooms and shops.

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Maine School Garden Network hires coordinator

The Maine School Garden Network (MSGN)—serving schools of all grade levels—has hired its first ever coordinator, Suzanne Balbo, thanks to a USDA Specialty Crop Grant. The USDA grant also will allow the network to promote school gardens, update the website, disseminate information, provide educator trainings and workshops, attend conferences and events, create connections between schools and local farms, and create new school garden sites.

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