Learning Through Technology Team Announces Expanding Access to Computer Science in Maine Classrooms at the 35TH Annual ACTEM Fall Conference!

(Pictured: Maine DOE’s MLTI 2.0 Team.)

On Thursday October 13th at the 35th annual Fall ACTEM (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine) Conference, the Maine Department of Education’s Learning Through Technology Team – along with Commissioner Pender Makin and Governor Janet T. Mills – announced a statewide plan for expanding access to computer science in Maine classrooms. This initiative is funded through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund and is a part of the Governor’s plan to expand access and support Computer Science in Maine.

Governor Mills video at ACETEM Conference

The #MaineTeachesCS initiative centers around the provision and use of mobile computer science labs along with ongoing professional learning opportunities for each school as well as a computer science integration cohort for a full calendar year (Dec. 2022 – Dec. 2023). Schools will be provided with a mobile lab that focuses on one of three computer science topic areas: Robotics and Programing, Coding and Circuitry, and Augmented and Virtual Reality. Each mobile lab will have equipment and supplies that teachers can use to integrate the topic area into their classrooms.

In addition to these mobile labs, the Maine Department of Education will also assemble cohorts of educators who will engage in comprehensive Computer Science Integration (CSI) professional learning. CSI cohorts will engage in hands on opportunities to explore best practices for computer science integration and will serve as the computer science integration “champions” for their schools, helping other educators to integrate computer science into their classrooms.

This initiative centers around the principles of Maine’s 7 Keys to Computer Science Education Success. These mobile labs, paired with targeted professional learning, and an ongoing CSI cohort, will help our schools to continue the important work of integrating computer science into their classrooms, to ensure that all Maine students have access to high quality computer science learning opportunities.

For more information on this initiative Contact the Computer Science Specialist, Emma-Marie Banks, emma-marie.banks@maine.gov

This announcement was targeted to those at the ACTEM Conference because many of the nearly four hundred and fifty people in attendance are the involved with computer science in Maine’s schools. The two-day conference includes over a hundred sessions that focus on technology integration in the classroom, use of digital tools and other topics that cater to PreK-12 educators as well as school technology staff. This event traces its roots back to the Maine Department of Education’s “Maine Computes” conferences in the mid-1980s up through the MAINEducation Technology Conferences and is one of the state’s largest, ongoing educational conferences. While illnesses, substitute teacher shortages and even a severe storm might have limited attendance, those present fully embraced this year’s theme of “Connect and Reconnect.”

In addition to the computer science announcement the Learning Through Technology Team was present at the ACTEM Fall Conference in the exhibitor hall and presenting sessions throughout both days of the conference. The Learning Through Technology Team and the MLTI Ambassadors presented a number of sessions for educators such as “Learn about the MLTI SLAM Program from the students”, “Digital Tools and Math”, “Left to Their Own Devices”, “Getting Started with Blended Learning”, and a session to “Meet the MLTI Ambassadors” featuring the MLTI Ambassador team led by MLTI Digital Learning Specialists.

“Meet the MLTI Ambassadors” provided educators with the opportunity to meet the ambassadors and hear firsthand about MLTI’s continued focus on professional learning. The MLTI Ambassadors shared professional learning focus topics such as Digital Citizenship, Technology Integrations, and Digital Instructional Design. The MLTI Ambassadors also shared information on asynchronous learning opportunities, book studies, PLC’s. and Podcasts coming up in the 2022-2023 school year! For more information on MLTI Professional Learning contact the MLTI Digital Learning Specialist, Jonathan Graham,Jonathan.Graham@Maine.Gov

MLTI’s Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine or SLAM were also present at the ACTEM conference with a teacher and student led session. Kern Kelley from RSU 19 presented along with his SLAM students to highlight and share the work of the SLAM program directly from the student leaders themselves. The session provided the SLAM students an opportunity to share the work they have created and highlight their weekly live SLAM show! The session also covered equipment, content, and how schools can involve their students to start their own SLAM clubs! For more information on SLAM contact the MLTI Student Leadership Development Coordinator, Kern Kelley,Kern.Kelley@Maine.Gov.

For more information on the MLTI program contact the MLTI Project Manager, Brandi Cota, brandi.m.cota@maine.gov.

The conference also included the return of their ACHIEVE Award and John Lunt Award after not being awarded in-person since 2019. ACTEM’s ACHIEVE Award was given to teacher Cathy Morse from the Lubec Consolidated School, who was introduced by Maine DOE Digital Learning Specialist Jon Graham. This Award is ACTEM’s version of ISTE’s “Making IT Happen” Award, which “honors outstanding educators and leaders who demonstrate extraordinary commitment, leadership, courage and persistence in improving digital learning opportunities for students.” In addition to winning $1000 for her school to spend on educational technology, Cathy won a $2000 cash award.

The John Lunt Friend of Technology Award, which had not been given out since 2019, is ACTEM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, it was given to three retired educators who have had a significant impact not only on ACTEM, but educational technology in Maine as well as nationally. Cheryl Oakes, who worked at Wells High School, was introduced by Alice Barr and Michael Richards. Then, Alice was surprised as the next winner by ACTEM President Mike Arsenault and colleague at Yarmouth Schools Cathy Wolinsky. Dennis Crowe, Technology Director in Gorham and Bonny Eagle and past ACTEM president, was introduced by ACTEM Executive Director Gary Lanoie

ACTEM will be hosting their Spring Leadership Conference, will be held at Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland on May 1st, 2023. For more information about their events or membership, please see their website at ACTEM.org.

Human Trafficking Webinar Series – Protecting Young People from Online Exploitation

Since 2020, the U.S. Department of Education has conducted a webinar series to address the growing response of America’s schools to child trafficking. The series draws attention to the important efforts underway in our nation’s education community to address both sex and labor trafficking.

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) invites you to join the next webinar in this series, Protecting Young People from Online Exploitation.

Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Time: 3:00 – 4:30 pm EDT

This webinar is focused on understanding what online exploitation is and how schools can protect young people from it. Speakers will start by defining what online exploitation is – describing how it is facilitated via technology and how online human trafficking compares with online sexual abuse – and then share what you can look out for and do if it is happening. Following a set of presentations, the speakers will engage in a panel discussion to share how they implemented mitigation strategies and how schools can educate young people to recognize grooming and other dangerous online behavior. After the panel, the speakers will be available to answer a few questions from participants. Join us to learn strategies you can use tomorrow!

Speakers/Panelists

Ruth Ryder, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education
Jennifer O’Brien, Assistant Professor, Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Wendy Walsh, Research Associate, Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Stacey Robinson, Manager, Project-Grant Fund, Division of Equity and Student Empowerment, DeKalb County School District, Stone Mountain, GA
Dr. Nicole Prad-Jennings, Human Trafficking Prevention/Not a Number Facilitator, DeKalb County School District, Stone Mountain, GA
Dave Alley, Special Agent, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, Detroit, MI
Rachel Thomas, Member, U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, Person with Lived Experience

Webinar Materials

Speaker Bios (Coming Soon on October 26)
Slides (Coming Soon on October 26)
Recording (Coming Soon on October 27)
Transcript (Coming Soon on October 28)

Registration

You must register to participate in this presentation.

Register

Please contact NCSSLE if you have any questions.

National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security Summit – Nov. 1-3

The Maine Department of Education supports Cyber Awareness Month. The National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security Summit includes CYBERSECURITY AND ONLINE SAFETY. Please consider attending!

November 1-3, 2022 @ 2:00-4:00pm

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will host the inaugural National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security on November 1-3, 2022. This three-day, virtual event will convene school safety experts, practitioners, and leaders from across the country to discuss current threats in school safety and explore research-informed strategies for addressing security challenges and risks in K-12 schools.

Sessions are planned for all members of the K-12 community and will include keynote remarks, one-on-one interviews, and panel discussions on issues such as targeted violence, violence prevention, cybersecurity, online safety, emergency planning, and physical security. The event is designed to foster a nationwide dialogue on school safety, as well as equip school stakeholders and personnel with resources, training, and expertise to apply in their local school settings and communities.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT

The Summit is a free, virtual event that combines discussion, education, networking, and knowledge-sharing among federal, state, and local school safety stakeholders. Through the event, attendees will hear from government, private sector, and community leaders in the field, who will speak about current and critical school safety issues, threats, and solutions.

EVENT DETAILS

The Summit will be held virtually over the course of three days in November. Each day will consist of a two-hour session centered around the themes of violence prevention (Day 1); cybersecurity and online safety (Day 2); and physical security (Day 3).

Additional event details include:

Dates: November 1-3, 2022
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Held virtually via Microsoft Teams (access link to be provided to all registrants)
Registration Information: The Summit is open to all interested parties and there is no cost to attend. Registration is required for planning purposes.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The Summit is open to anyone with a passion for improving school safety. K-12 educators, administrators, principals, school-based law enforcement, mental health professionals, policymakers, cybersecurity experts, community liaisons, and other school safety and security professionals are especially encouraged to attend.

Register here

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Additional details, including confirmed speakers and a final agenda, will be shared when available. If you have any questions, please contact the CISA School Safety Task Force at SchoolSafety@hq.dhs.gov.

Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition Team Hosts 45 School Food Service Directors for Annual Fall Info Meeting

On Tuesday, October 18th, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Child Nutrition Team staff were thrilled to be joined by 45 Food Service Directors from schools across Maine, for the first time in over two years, for the SY23 Fall Info Meeting.

Discussions centered around additional funding sources for nutrition programs, best practices for the Federal nutrition programs such as the After School Snack Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Breakfast After the Bell, Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk, and the Farm and Sea to School program.

To break up the day, Representatives from C. Caprara and Hatch Jennings gave an equipment demonstration of Delfield Shelley Serving Lines equipment.

Old Town Elementary Hallway of Flags Celebrates Diverse School Community

A few years ago Old Town Elementary School (OTES) reflected on their school’s role in expanding the experiences and perspectives of the students and staff in the school. They realized they had an obligation to make the community aware of the diverse cultures and countries entering through their doors each day and to create a welcoming environment for all people at OTES. With the University of Maine as the school’s neighbor, they often receive students from the University because parents are finishing their degrees or are professors.

OTES decided to put a flag up for every country represented at the school to welcome families and teach their students about the various cultures represented at the school with each of these new community members. As a result, OTES families coming to the school building feel immediately welcomed by the gesture of seeing their native country flying in the hallways of the school.

“Students and staff are so excited about another country joining this hall of flags and getting to know about the country,” said OTES Principal Jeanna Tuell. “We have found more opportunities to make connections with other countries and to celebrate our diversity.”

UMaine, Maine DOE inclusive education collaboration changing name, expanding focus

A project that has served individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families for nearly a decade at the University of Maine is getting a new name and taking on a broader mission.

The Maine Autism Institute for Education and Research will now be Maine Access to Inclusive Education Resources (MAIER).

Established in 2014 with financial support from the Maine Department of Education, MAIER has sought to improve outcomes for individuals with autism in Maine throughout the spectrum and lifecycle by building statewide capacity for leadership, training, professional development, technical assistance, collaborative consultation, technology and research.

That work will continue as MAIER’s mission expands. The project will now serve as an information and resource clearinghouse that will assist professionals and families in accessing and navigating programs and services related to inclusive education of all students with disabilities. It will aim to ensure that educators and other service providers, as well as families and individuals with disabilities, receive information about practices to promote inclusion that are grounded in research.

Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education is providing MAIER with grant funding of nearly $632,000 over the next three years to carry out this mission.

“We’re excited that our partnership with Maine DOE will continue, and that MAIER will be able to touch the lives of more people in Maine by improving inclusive education and services throughout the state,” says Sarah Howorth, MAIER director and assistant professor of special education at the UMaine College of Education and Human Development.

“MAIER is one of many programs in our college that support positive inclusive outcomes for schools and students across Maine,” Howorth adds. “As part of the flagship university in the University of Maine System, we are continually looking to maximize the impact of our research, collaborations and engagement with educators, families and other service providers.”

Howorth says MAIER’s service to the state will be guided by four aspects of high-leverage practices to promote inclusion and equity in education for people with disabilities: collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral, and instruction. Future MAIER training and professional development topics will include improving access to inclusive post-school opportunities and employment for individuals with disabilities, inclusive teaching practices, and multi-tiered behavioral supports to serve those who are at-risk or have identified disabilities.

“Inclusion is vital to the development of all students from preschool through high school and beyond,” says Tracy Whitlock, special projects coordinator with the Maine Department of Education Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education. “We are proud to collaborate with the University of Maine on this work that will lead to stronger Maine communities.”

Among MAIER’s accomplishments during its first eight years was the establishment of an Early Start Maine program that provided early intervention services to nearly 400 toddlers and preschoolers with autism throughout the state. Based on the Early Start Denver Model, MAIER staff also trained 34 early intervention providers with Maine Child Development Services, which assumed oversight of the program in 2020.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, MAIER saw an increase in the number of educators and other professionals utilizing its professional development offerings. In 2019–20, there were 354 total participants in MAIER’s online training modules. That number went up to more than 1,000 participants from around the country in 202–21.

“As both a parent and an educator, I have been fortunate enough to utilize many of MAIER’s program offerings,” says Angela Lundy, a special education teacher at Mary Snow School in Bangor. “From professional development to PEERS social skills training with my son, MAIER is an invaluable resource for Maine families.”

In addition to the name change, MAIER recently transitioned to new leadership. Howorth took over as director after Deborah Rooks-Ellis, who started the project and led it for eight years, accepted a position at Coastal Carolina University. Longtime MAIER research associate Donna Doherty retired last year as well. Anica Miller-Rushing is MAIER’s new research associate and family partnership director. Miller-Rushing, who earned her Ph.D. in STEM Education from UMaine in 2022, will lead collaborations, manage programming and professional development, and support MAIER’s research agenda.

More information about MAIER can be found on the project website, umaine.edu/maier.

Annual Career and Technical Education Conference Draws 400+ Educators from Across Maine

(Pictured: Commissioner Makin attended the conference to acknowledge and thank educators for their dedication to career and technical education.)

On Friday October 7th the Maine Association for Career and Technical Education (MACTE) organization held their annual Career and Technical Education (CTE) conference at Lewiston Regional Technical Center (LRTC) in Lewiston. More than 400 CTE educators from secondary and post secondary schools across Maine came together to discuss their respective programs as well as attend workshops held throughout the day. Workshops that were offered ranged from clean energy, apprenticeship opportunities, and industry partners to name a few.

The conference also carried on its annual tradition of recognizing the MACTE CTE Teacher of the Year as well as the MACTE CTE Lifetime Achievement Award honorees.

2022 Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year:

Jean Palmer
Creative Digital Media Instructor
Region 10 Technical High School in Brunswick
Read a story about her award in the Portland Press Herald

Lifetime Achievement Award:

Dan Caron
Chef and Culinary Instructor
Lewiston Regional Technical Center (LRTC)
Read a story about Dan in the Lewiston Sun Journal

For more information about the MACTE CTE Conference reach out to MACTE http://mainecte.org/contact/

Tune in to the MLTI 2.0 Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine (SLAM) Show

The Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine (SLAM) show is a free, interactive, leadership opportunity where students connect with a community of ‘SLAMmers’ across the state. During these events, held both virtually and in-person this year, students learn presentation and technology skills using online tools to make creative products.

A part of the redesigned, Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI 2.0), SLAM launched in the fall of the 2021/2022 school year to provide student leadership opportunities and allow students from across Maine to meet up virtually once a week to share skills, knowledge, and curiosity with each other.

This year, in addition to the weekly live online events, the Maine DOE’s MLTI team, led by Kern Kelley and the Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine (SLAM), will host in-person monthly SLAM Shows at schools across Maine.

What is SLAM?

View the latest SLAM episode on the MLTI 2.0 Youtube Channel. To learn more about the MLTI 2.0 SLAM program visit: http://MLTI.me. To sign your school or classroom up to take part in this awesome opportunity, fill out this form.

Following the Maine Department of Education on Facebook and Twitter to see a posting of the latest virtual SLAM show each week. Subscribe to the Maine DOE Newsroom to see a re-cap of the in-person SLAM shows each month.

Get to Know the Maine DOE: Meet Kathy Bertini

Maine DOE Team member Kathy Bertini is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Kathy in the question and answer below.

What are your role or roles with the Maine DOE?

I am the Interdisciplinary Instruction Team Coordinator for the Maine Department of Education. My main job is to work with a team of Interdisciplinary Instruction specialists to support educators in empowering students with the tools to see the wondrous interconnectedness of instruction.

What do you like best about your job?

I appreciate that I am part of the Interdisciplinary Instruction team that shares a common vision regarding the importance of connecting student centered learning experiences across all disciplines. Also, I am thrilled to be able to work with educators and administrators statewide to provide innovative practices to help support Interdisciplinary Instruction.

Why did you decide on this career?

I am excited to be a part of the Innovation team at the Maine DOE and have the opportunities to promote the positive impact of student centered learning which is crucial for today’s evolving world. I have been in public education for more than 30 years and see how meaningful Interdisciplinary Instruction can be for all systems involved. I look forward to working with the education field to help support innovative teaching practices.

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

I live on a rural farm in the western part of our beautiful state of Maine. This area allows me to connect deeply with nature. I enjoy spending time outdoors with my family and animals. Recently I have taken up the hobby of scientific drawings and I find this interest to be both relaxing and challenging at the same time.

Student Mental Health Support Modules

The Maine Department of Education’s SEL4ME platform is now hosting over 100 free, PK-12th grade modules focused specifically on supporting student mental health and wellness. While schools and districts are faced with significant educational and developmental priorities for many children and students associated with the pandemic, there is a need for balanced programming that supports learning, while also supporting their social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment.

The following resources can be incorporated into existing Social Emotional Learning, School Counseling and Health programs as well as part of an overall MTSS approach, and are accessed through a free registration of the SEL4ME platform.

Mental Health Modules: https://www.maine.gov/doe/mentalhealthmodules

More information on SEL4ME and login: https://www.maine.gov/doe/sel/sel4me

For more information, reach out to Bear Shea, Maine DOE Mental Health / School Counselor Specialist at w.bear.shea@maine.gov.