Maine Career Development Association Hosts Art & Poetry Contest for Maine Students

In celebration of National Career Development Month in November, the Maine Career Development Association is sponsoring a statewide Poetry & Art contest, that is open to students and adults state-wide.

The Contest is held annually on a national level in celebration of the importance of life-long career development and the personal empowerment of all people. Events and activities in celebration of National Career Month help examine lives, careers, and the alternatives available to increase everyone’s personal success and happiness.

Contest Eligibility

Adults and students enrolled in public, private schools in Maine, and students who are homeschooled in Maine are eligible to participate.

Contest division areas include:

Primary Grades: K – 2
Intermediate Grades 3 – 5
Middle Grades 6 – 8
Senior Grades 9 – 12
Adult Student 18 and older enrolled in school
Open Adult 18 and older (teachers, parents, professionals, etc.)

Each entry should celebrate and inspire career development with a positive tone while emphasizing the national theme.

For further information on how to participate in the contest including eligibility requirements for both poetry and art submissions and how make submissions, please view the Maine Career Development Association’s Art & Poetry Contest Flyer and Entry Form.

Winners in each category will be posted to the MCDA website (https://www.mainecda.org/) as well as included in the MCDA newsletter! Winners will then be sent on to the NCDA to be judged nationally. National winning entries will be recognized on the NCDA website, as well as on display at the annual conference in Atlanta in 2021. The school coordinator of each state winner will receive a free year’s membership to the Maine Career Development Association!

DEADLINE: All submissions must include the official entry form, be postmarked by November 23rd, and mailed to Tara Kierstead, MCDA K-12 Representative, at the address on the entry form.

Please email Tara Kierstead at tkierstead@kidsrsu.org with any questions.

MEDIA RELEASE: Report Released on Maine’s State and Local Initiatives to Improve Outcomes for Children

On June 24, New America released a report describing efforts to expand and improve early education in Maine: Building Systems in Tandem – Maine’s State and Local Initiatives to Improve Outcomes for Children by David Jacobson. Find the report here.

The report describes the efforts of 13 Maine schools who, in collaboration with partners within their communities, have crafted and begun to implement First 10 plans designed to better support children and their families from birth through the first 10 years of children’s lives by attending to all domains of development, wrap around supports, parenting skills, and transitions across early learning experiences.

Maine DOE sought the help of the report author, David Jacobson, through a Preschool Expansion Grant obtained in 2014. Jacobson leads the First 10 initiative at Education Development Center. A list of the 13 Maine school communities and a summary of the project can be found here.

Simultaneously, while the 13 communities were developing their plans, a team composed of specialists from Maine DOE, Maine DHHS, and CDS formed to learn more about First 10 Schools and Communities, other national models, and strategies in which state level administration can engage to support this work at the local level. Findings from Maine’s work in this area are included in this report along with next steps.

The State Team members from Maine DOE, Maine DHHS, and CDS continue to meet to explore how to expand on this work. Questions may be directed to Lee Anne Larsen, Maine DOE Early Learning Team Coordinator, at leeann.larsen@maine.gov.

Pre-K for ME Curriculum Training

The Early Learning Team at the Maine Department of Education is pleased to host this free training for public Pre-K teachers, ed techs and administrators. Together with four Pre-K teachers from RSU 57, we’ll provide a two-day training for those interested in implementing the newly developed, whole-child, comprehensive curriculum, Pre-K for ME. Access to curriculum units is free and available now on our website at: https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/earlychildhood/PreK4ME

This two-day training will be held in-person at the Massabesic Training Center in Waterboro, Maine on August 3^rd and 4^th. All necessary precautions will take place regarding the health and well-being of our participants. We will also offer remote attendance through a Zoom conference link, provided after registration. Please note that the in-person setting may change pending guidance from the CDC, Governor Mills and registration results.

Attendance by school administrators is highly encouraged in order to support the ongoing needs of your teachers, as well as to gain a better understanding of the science behind the curriculum, best practices in a Pre-K setting, and the six comprehensive units of study that the curriculum offers.

Registration is available now through the end of July at: http://events.egov.com/eventreg/ME/event.htm?name=prekformecurriculumtraining

Any questions should be directed to Nicole Madore, Early Childhood Specialist nicole.madore@maine.gov

Early Child Care and Public Preschool Providers Caring for Children Birth-5 – No Cost Professional Development Training

Maine Resilience Building Network (MRBN) will once again offer free professional learning opportunities focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and resilience building. MRBN offered this training in the fall of 2019 and is now offering 6 more sessions virtually between April 21-June 2, 2020. This learning opportunity is funded through the Preschool Development Grant, a collaboration between Maine Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. These new sessions are open for Pre-K and child care educators, as well as other staff working with this population, to strengthen their role in supporting children and families.

Strong Kids, Strong Families, Strong Communities: The Impact of ACEs and Resilience Building will bring together childcare and public Pre-K professionals to learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences research, early brain development science, the effects of toxic stress on social emotional learning and protective factors including positive relationships. This training will provide an understanding of how adverse experiences at a young age can affect a person’s emotional and behavioral development. Participants will also hear suggestions for how to support the individual and family and learn classroom strategies including the practices of mindfulness, compassion and co-regulation.

In the fall of 2019, the training was offered in 12 sites across the state to early childhood educators working with children up through Pre-K. Through the evaluation, participants shared that they learned strategies to build stronger connections and relationships with children and families, to be more compassionate and less judgmental, and to be better prepared for stressful situations. They felt they had a better understanding and awareness of where children are “coming from” and to think about what happened to the child as opposed to what is wrong with the child. One participant commented that “All professionals who work with children should attend.”

Registration is required

Date/Time	Registration Link
April 23, 2020 6-8pm	https://maineresilience.org/event-3790527
April 28, 2020 9-11am	https://maineresilience.org/event-3799333
May 4, 2020 2-4pm	https://maineresilience.org/event-3799347
May 12, 2020 9-11am	https://maineresilience.org/event-3799366
May 21, 2020 6-8pm	https://maineresilience.org/event-3799397
June 2, 2020 6-8pm	https://maineresilience.org/event-3799412

For more information, contact Karen Bergeron, PDG Director, Maine Department of Education

Karen.j.bergeron@maine.gov 207-446-3754 or Info@maineresilience.org

Calling All Teachers of Social Studies Content PK-12!

With the emphasis on teaching about Maine Native Americans as part of the revised Maine Learning Results for Social Studies, Joe Schmidt, Social Studies Specialist at Maine Department of Education, continues to gather data from educators in the field in order to best support their efforts.

If you are a teacher of social studies content in grades pk-12, please complete this brief, anonymous survey no later than the end of the day on Thursday, February 20. Please share with others in your school as necessary.

Take Survey!

State Collaboration Helps Improve Early Childhood Programs in Maine

Through an ongoing partnership between the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), a subset of DHHS has been working to proactively plan for an anticipated $550 million increase in federal funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program.

Through knowledge gleaned from the needs assessment and strategic plan of the Preschool Development Grant (PDG), a grant program administered by the Maine DOE in 2019. OCFS has been able to do advanced planning and implementation work to best meet the specific needs of Maine children and families. In addition to using information from the PDG program, OCFS also worked with other state level partners such as the Children’s Cabinet, and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

“I want to extend a well-deserved congratulations to our partners at DHHS for the amazing work they do,” said Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin. “This is a testament to how vital our partnerships are with other state agencies and with our schools as we work to improve and expand Maine’s early childhood education programs.”

For more information about the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program, including information about the implementation plan, visit the OCFS website.

Staff at the Burchard A. Dunn School in MSAD 15 Team Up to Improve Student Inclusion in Pre-K

Beginning last September, a team of twelve dedicated staff members from MSAD 15 in Gray – New Gloucester and Child Development Services in Cumberland County joined forces with the Maine Department of Education, Child Development Services (CDS), The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) and Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN) to learn ways to improve their current inclusion practices within their three public Pre-K classrooms. “We’re doing this for the kids, everything we do is with their best interest in mind,” one preschool teacher noted when asked why they originally signed up for this professional learning opportunity.

Team members included district administration, special education staff, classroom teachers and their education technicians as well as an itinerant special education teacher from Child Development Services (CDS) Reach. The initiative included a continuum of professional development strategies from knowledge and skill building through individual and group training to guided reflective practice and application opportunities. School district team members started by completing a self-paced on-line training entitled Inclusive Environments in Public Pre-K. Next, the whole team participated in a one-day kick-off event hosted at Educare Central Maine in Waterville. This orientation session provided participants with a chance to meet the trainer and consultants, learn more about the education and support components and discuss the key indicators of high- quality indoor and outdoor classroom environments covered during the on-line training. After the orientation session, team members participated in the MRTQ PDN 30-hour Creating Inclusive Early Childhood Settings on-line training while also receiving onsite consultation visits and participating in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) lead by two CCIDS consultants.

In January, all partners convened at the school to discuss the process, tour the classrooms and present their learning. External evaluators from Early Childhood Associates in Massachusetts conducted focus groups to gain more specific feedback about the professional learning and its impact. Participants noted:

“Working together with a specific early childhood focus strengthened our team and our work.”

“Having administrators involved was REALLY valuable!”

The teams were awarded $1,500 mini-grants for each pre-k classroom to enhance inclusivity. The funding came from a federally awarded Pre-K grant Maine received in 2019. The mini-grants were used to purchase sensory materials, equipment, furniture and other enhancements such as lighting, flooring and sinks! Comments from participants demonstrate the impact of the professional learning:

“I am internally motivated to attend IEP meetings and say, yes, Dunn School has everything we need to service your child.”

“My students seem happier, they’re excited, I feel comfortable meeting them where they’re at.”

“We didn’t know what we didn’t know!”

The Maine Department of Education in partnership with CDS, CCIDS and MRTQ PDN is considering ways to continue this project with other interested districts throughout Maine. As opportunities become available, notification will be provided to the field!

Read to ME Challenge to Kick-off February 3rd at Lincoln School in Augusta

Year five of the Read to ME Challenge is scheduled to begin on February 3, 2020. Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin will launch the campaign by reading to children at the Lincoln School in Augusta. She will follow up her reading by issuing a challenge to participate in the 2020 campaign. The Department will be live streaming this event, and will provide those details soon. This simple but powerful campaign challenges adults to read to children for 15 minutes, to capture that reading episode via a photo or short video and then post it on social media to challenge others to do the same. The Read to ME Challenge will run for the month leading up to Read Across America Day on Monday, March 2, 2020.

Schools and organizations are invited to join the challenge and to encourage community members to do the same. The collective voice of many key partners, leaders and those in respected positions will send a clear message about the vital importance reading to children plays in the social and economic well-being of Maine. Maine DOE also encourages partners to be creative and to use this opportunity to enhance ongoing literacy education outreach efforts.

If your organization is willing and able to promote the Read to ME Challenge, please follow this link to provide us with your contact information. Read to ME Challenge resources, including a guidance document, public service announcements in a variety of languages, fliers and a list of engaging ways to incorporate the challenge are available on the Read to ME webpage.

Reading aloud to children is one of the most cost effective and highly beneficial methods of building children’s literate abilities. The simple act of reading aloud to a child 15 minutes a day for five years results in 27,375 minutes of language exposure which can put children on the path to high literacy achievement. Reading aloud exposes children to the world around them, helps them see reading as an enjoyable and valuable activity and often strengthens bonds with trusted adults.

Thanks for your consideration of this opportunity, and don’t hesitate to contact danielle.m.saucier@maine.gov (624-6734) with any questions.

Professional Learning Opportunity: Early Mathematics Diagnostic Interview (EMDI), A Diagnostic Interview Tool

Registration: 8:00 am, Session 8:30 am – 3:15 pm

Who is invited?

This professional learning opportunity is specifically designed for Pre-K-5 mathematics educators, including classroom teachers, special education teachers, Title 1 teachers, math or instructional coaches, and math support staff.

Why participate?

Learn about and practice using a diagnostic interview tool for mathematics and how to plan for instruction based on results
Recognize the developmental progression of and misconceptions in mathematics learning
Strengthen your own pedagogical and content knowledge in mathematics
Compare assessment practices and ways to use assessment to improve student learning
Take away the EMDI tool, ideas, resources, and materials to use in your school and classrooms

What are our key goals?

The key goals are to provide you with experiences, information, and resources to guide you in the areas of diagnostic assessment, identifying students’ mathematical needs, and developing knowledge of instructional strategies that have an impact on students’ mathematical learning.

What is our approach to professional development?

Do the math: Using video and hands-on explorations, delve into key elementary mathematics concepts using multiple approaches, including identifying types of questions and responses and varying types of mathematical
Connect to research: Discuss readings that connect each topic to research and take away powerful research-based approaches, tools, and resources to use in your school and
Collaborate: Work together and share ideas with other Pre-K-5
Leading change: Set goals and generate a plan for ongoing mathematics improvement for your school and

Cost: $90.00 per person for the 3-day series (includes continental breakfast, lunch, and materials)

Contact hours: 24 hours

When?

Locations:	Dates (Must attend all dates):	Registration Links:
Big Cat’s Events Center, Ellsworth	2/4/20; 2/5/20; 4/9/20 Storm Date: 2/25/20	Register for Ellsworth Event
Northeastland Hotel, Presque Isle	2/6/20; 2/7/20; 4/10/20 Storm Date: 2/11/20	Register for Presque Isle Event
The Green Ladle, Lewiston	3/10/20; 3/11/20; 4/29/20 Storm Date: 3/19/20	Register for Lewiston Event
Hampton Inn, Saco	3/12/20; 3/13/20; 4/30/20 Storm Date: 3/25/20	Register for Saco Event

Space is Limited! Register by January 10, 2020

Questions? Please contact: Jen Robitaille, Elementary Mathematics Specialist: 624-6673, jennifer.r.robitaille@maine.gov

No Cost Mandated Reporter Training Available to School Personnel

In 2015, Maine revised its mandated reporting law, requiring state-approved training for certain professions every four years. Specifically, it includes school personnel described as the following: teachers, guidance counselors, school officials, school bus drivers and school bus attendants.

Maine’s Network of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Councils is working to ensure that local school districts are aware of the changes and have the necessary resources to maintain compliance with Maine Statute. The local councils are able to provide in-person training at no-cost to the school districts.

As schools know, child abuse and neglect are serious issues, and school personnel often witness the challenges faced by Maine’s children. In fact, according to the Office of Child and Family Services’ recent child welfare data, school personnel were responsible for over 20% of the total reported cases of suspected child abuse and neglect. This demonstrates the importance of providing school personnel the most current, state-approved information for recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect. It is important that school personnel feel comfortable, confident, and fully understand their role as a mandated reporter. For information on how to access this free training, contact your local Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Council or visit the Maine Children’s Trust website. Click here to read the full law. If you have any additional questions please email Denise Trafton at the Maine Children’s Trust, deniset@mechildrenstrust.org.