Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Virtual Meeting: Return to School – Addressing Privacy and Security Challenges in K-12 Education in the Wake of COVID-19

August 26, 1-5pm EDT

This fall, all schools and school administrative units (SAUs) are resuming full-time, in-person instruction. How can we use the lessons learned during the once-in-a-century pandemic to improve student privacy? This webinar brings together representatives from across the country to discuss the “must-dos” that come with federal student privacy laws, as well as the “should-dos,” challenges, and lessons learned from the recent rapid shift to remote learning.

This meeting is free and open to the public. Go to Meeting Registration | Return to School Virtual Meeting to register by August 24.

If you have questions you would like to see addressed, please contact PTAC at privacyTA@ed.gov.

Maine 2020 and 2021 Teachers of the Year Attend NASA Space Camp Experience

Gorham Middle School Alternative Education Teacher and 2020 Teacher of the Year Heather Whitaker and Gerald E. Talbot Community School 4th Grade Teacher and 2021 Teacher of the Year Cindy Soule, recently attended the NASA Space Academy as part of their recognition as a Maine Teacher of the Year.

Held at NASA’s Space Camp Headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama, the program includes authentic astronaut training simulators and activities developed to promote learning in a classroom setting. Curriculum includes NASA-inspired lesson plans and is correlated to the National Science Education Standards.

The 5-day professional learning opportunity is part of the National Teacher of the Year program, which is offered to State Teachers of the Year from across the country. Whitaker and Soule embarked on the opportunity separately last month with their Teacher of the Year colleagues from around the country from their respective years of recognition.

The individual experiences of both left them with many skills they will be bringing into their classrooms this fall.

For Soule, the program made her reflect on the power of building a community. One activity that stuck with her involved building a protective heat shield for an egg and keeping it from getting charred from fire. While there were others in her group who had more of an engineering background, she felt her voice, and everyone’s, was heard and valued equally, which allowed them to come together as a community in order to succeed.

The Academy provided a variety of experiences to the educators including a space flight simulation to Mars as well as a return flight from the Moon back to Earth and experience in a multi-axis trainer which simulates being in a rocket.

While the Space Academy certainly provided the educators with some practical skills for the classroom, the enrichment provided seeped into personal reflection as well. Whitaker says she was “naïve” before attending the Space Academy on the importance of space travel. During her time at camp, she found herself noticing all the various innovations to life on Earth that have come from space, making her that much more acutely aware of how small human beings are in comparison to the entirety of space. She came to this realization during a planetarium exhibition where she began to reflect on the day to day things that stress her out and made her consider how finite life on earth is- leaving her with one thought- “Why can’t we all get along?”

The experience certainly left each educator with some invaluable lessons but they also managed to have a lot of fun throughout. The first night of the Academy was the “Parade of States”- all of the Teachers of the Year from each state were asked to dress up in a costume that represented their state.

Heather dressed as a Maine Blueberry and Cindy dressed as an amalgamation of important parts of Maine including, a lobsterman, a blueberry shirt (gifted to her by Liberty Maine Graphics), and a Maine state flag hat.

Living in the Alabama dorms allowed for the participants to have plenty of time to socialize and network. Both stated they have made friends and colleagues for life.

Attending the Space Academy would not be possible if not for the support of Educate Maine, the Maine Department Of Education, and the generous donations from program sponsors. Both are extremely grateful for the opportunity and are so thankful for the lifelong lessons they will hold from the experience.

DOE Webinar on Submitting English Learner Data

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Data Team will be holding a training session on September 9^th at 10am to discuss how SAUs and private schools should be submitting English Learner data to the State. The target audience for this training includes both data coordinators and ESOL educators.

We will have April Perkins, Maine DOE’s World Languages & ESOL/Bilingual Programs Specialist on hand to answer any specific EL student questions. Please follow the “Join Live” link at the time of the training to join us.

Join Live

If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding this webinar please contact the MEDMS Helpdesk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@Maine.gov or (207) 624-6896.

Graduation Reporting Webinar

The Maine Department of Education Data Team is holding a Graduation Reporting webinar Tuesday August 24^th at 1pm. We will be discussing the graduation certification report and related procedures for validating and clearing up any issues on the report. This certification is due by August 30^th, so attendance is strongly encouraged for those charged with validating this report. Please follow the “Join Live” link at the time of the training to join us. Thank you.

Join Live

If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding this webinar please contact the MEDMS Helpdesk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@Maine.gov or (207) 624-6896.

Updated Cultural and Religious Observances Calendar Available

As SAUs are scheduling important school events, it is important to know and understand the religious and cultural observances that may not be recognized as part of the school calendar. The timing, traditions, and possible impacts of various cultural and religious holidays and observances are important to consider when planning events such as open house, awards nights, testing windows, or other events. The Maine Department of Education has updated a calendar of Cultural and Religious Observances that occur during the school year.

We hope this resource will assist schools across Maine in helping their students navigate religious and cultural observances around expectations at school, including attendance and participation, which may conflict with some students’ traditions and observances that are outside the holidays that are typically observed by American schools throughout the school year.

The calendar has been updated for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years and can be viewed on our website: Cultural and Religious Observances by School Year.

Michelle Strattard Named 2021 Maine History Teacher of the Year

Michelle Strattard, a teacher at Gray-New Gloucester High School has been named the 2021 Maine History Teacher of the Year, an award presented annually by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education. The selection of the award winner in Maine is facilitated by the Maine Department of Education (DOE) by Joe Schmidt, Social Studies Specialist for the Maine DOE.

In 2021, parents, students, teachers, and administrators nationwide nominated a record 8,510 teachers for the History Teacher of the Year Award. Amidst a very competitive field, Michelle rose to the top in Maine.

In 2012, Michelle earned a Master’s of Teaching and Learning from the University of Southern Maine after completing the Extended Teacher Education Program (ETEP). She previously earned a BA in History from the same institution. As an alumna of Gray-New Gloucester High school, she was proud to join their faculty in 2015, eventually coming to teach the very class that inspired her love of local history as a student, Shaker Studies. She brings this love of local history to the classroom so students can see where they fit into the larger picture. Students engage in historical research, exploration, and inquiry in the classroom to build academic skills and become engaged citizens. Michelle also serves as a board member of the Maine Council for the Social Studies, helping to support social studies educators around the state.

In addition to a $1,000 honorarium, Michelle’s school will receive a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials and recognition at a ceremony in Maine.

Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school. The award honors one K-12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools and US Territories. In fall 2021, the National History Teacher of the Year will be selected from the pool of state winners.

The 10 finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year Award will be announced on Thursday, September 9, with the national winner announced later that month. An in-person ceremony for the winner will be held in late fall 2021, health and safety protocols permitting. Support for the National History Teacher of the Year Award ceremony is provided by HISTORY®

Nominations for the 2022 History Teacher of the Year awards are now open. Students, parents, colleagues, and supervisors may nominate K-12 teachers for the award by visiting gilderlehrman.org/nhtoy. The deadline for 2022 nominations is March 31, 2022.

Maine Department of Education Received Over $2.6 Million in American Rescue Plan Funds to Support Students Experiencing Homelessness  

The Maine Department of Education received over $2.6 million in funding under the American Rescue Plan Act’s Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) program to support students experiencing homelessness.

“Even before the coronavirus pandemic highlighted and exacerbated inequities in America’s education system, students experiencing homelessness faced numerous challenges as they strove to learn and achieve in school each day. Amid COVID-19 and the transition to remote and hybrid learning, for so many students, these challenges intensified. As a nation, we must do everything we can to ensure that all students—including students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity—are able to access an excellent education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “I am thrilled that all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now will be able to use these funds from the American Rescue Plan to support students’ success in the new school year and ensure they are connected to vital services and supports.”

The additional ARP-HCY funding will be used by states and school administrative units (SAUs) to identify children and youth experiencing homelessness. States can provide wraparound services in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to enable children and youth experiencing homelessness participate fully in school activities, consistent with the McKinney-Vento Act, which is the primary piece of federal legislation related to the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness.

The Maine Department of Education will award 75 percent of the state’s funding to SAUs through formula subgrants, determined in part by a SAU’s population of children and youth experiencing homelessness and a district’s Title I-A allocation. Accordingly, SAUs will not have to compete for these funds, so these funds will reach SAUs that may not have accessed previous federal funding designated for students experiencing homelessness. This will make it possible for states and SAUs to access funding more quickly and reach more students experiencing homelessness.

SAUs that do not meet the minimum threshold of $5,000 for an award, based on the formula, should consider creating a consortium with other SAUs to receive a joint award. The Department’s initial estimates for ARP-HCY II disbursements can be found here.

For more information about this funding, register here to join the Maine Department of Education Staff for a webinar on August 17, 2021 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM. Or contract Amelia Lyons, McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Specialist, amelia.lyons@maine.gov or (207) 557-1787.

For assistance with the Emergency Rental Assistance Program with MaineHousing, connect with your local Housing Stability Coordinator at each Community Action Agency here.

Student Opportunity: NASA Day Event

This event is being hosted by Fiber Materials Inc.

AUGUST 24, 2021* | 9:45am – 1:30pm

Are you a high school junior or senior involved in STEM? Are you thinking about a career in manufacturing? Ever dreamed of becoming an Engineer or working in the Aerospace industry? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we’d like to invite you to be a guest at our NASA Day event.

The day will include a chance to hear from Spirit AeroSystems executives, spend time with some of our Engineers, hear a presentation from Lori Glaze, Director of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s Science Division, and enjoy a great lunch!

Fill out the registration form and submit to kwhitney@fibermaterialsinc.com by August 6th. We will pick 10 students to join us for the big event. Selections will be made by August 13th.

Registration Form (PDF)

For more information, contact kwhitney@fibermaterialsinc.com.

*Please note that participants must commit to the entire event.

Maine’s 3rd Annual Opioid Response Summit Highlights Maine DOE’s Commitment to SEL in Schools

Governor Janet T. Mills’ 3rd Annual Opioid Response Summit was on held on July 15th this year and reminded the public of the importance of social emotional learning and trauma informed approaches in Maine schools, highlighting the work of the Maine Department of Education’s development of SEL4ME, a social emotional learning (SEL) platform for Maine educators and learners.

The summit featured numerous speakers and keynote addresses including those of Dr. Larry McCullough and Mark Lefebvre from the Pine Tree Institute who led a seminar called, “Preventing Substance Use Disorders by Mitigating Adverse Childhood Experiences.” This discussion showed the strong link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and opioid addiction.

Dr. McCullough highlighted the importance of positive childhood experiences to combat the correlation between ACEs and opioid addiction. Further explaining that positive childhood experiences can be created for at-risk youth through feeling a sense of belonging in high school, having nonparent adults as role models for students, and community traditions. The seminar dug into the essential parts of community support, including a key component as social emotional and trauma informed learning, which has been shown to strongly correlate with less youth involvement in drugs.

Representatives Gabe O’Brien and Nina Misra from the Maine Youth Action Network corroborated Dr. McCullough’s presentation with their own, entitled: “Promoting Health Equity and Prevention through Youth Engagement Best Practices.” O’Brien and Misra focused on community and environmental conditions. Community conditions Misra defined as, “conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age.” Educational environments in which social emotional learning occurs within the classroom were encouraged as a best practice. Misra and O’Brien described a classroom that utilizes SEL as, “creating a space where young people feel seen and heard.”

Social emotional learning has been a priority for the Maine Department of Education, championed through the SEL4ME curriculum. SEL4ME strives for students to learn, “skills for self-confidence, perseverance and academic success as well as [become] positive members in their communities.”

The Annual Opioid Response Summit confirmed the importance of Maine DOE’s commitment to SEL as a critical role in mitigating the crisis. Dr. Jessica Pollard, Director of the Maine Office of Behavioral Health stated at the summit that newly approved funds entering into the DOE for opioid crisis work (much of it heading towards SEL professional development and training) will mean “fewer Maine youth will ever start misusing substances.”

To watch the entirety of the Summit, please click here. For more information about the Maine DOE SEL4ME platform visit: www.maine.gov/doe/sel/sel4me or contact Kellie Bailey, Social Emotional Learning/ Restorative Practice Specialist at kellie.bailey@maine.gov

Maine DOE Office of Special Services Awarded a State Personnel Development Grant

Maine Department of Education (DOE) Office of Special Services has been awarded a State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). State Personnel Development Grants are awarded to state run agencies with the aim of improving and increasing professional development for “individuals providing early intervention, educational, and transition services to improve results for children with disabilities.”*

The Maine DOE has been awarded $3.39 million over five years for special educator, educational technician and administrator professional development. The funds will be directed to two key areas of special education work- math interventions (Math4ME) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

“The grant provides the resources to support the development of intensive remote math professional development for special educators in rural areas in Maine,” said Maine DOE Special Projects Coordinator Tracy Whitlock. “The funds will also be used to build state-wide capacity for PBIS training, coaching and the development of external coaches training. This grant will help the Office of Special Services continue to meet the diverse needs of Maine students.”

*U.S. Department of Education