Category: News & Views

USM to Host Special Performance of ‘The Thanksgiving Play’ By Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation) for Educators w/ Post-show Talkback

The University of Southern Maine (USM) College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Theatre invites Maine educators to join them on Friday, November 18th at 7:30pm, Russell Hall, Gorham Campus for a special performance of The Thanksgiving Play, with a post-show talkback moderated by USM Professor/Director Rachel Price Cooper featuring guests: Dr. Shannon Epplett (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) Theatre Professor and consultant on USM’s production of The Thanksgiving Play, and Dr. Margo Lukens, University of Maine, Native American Literature & Theatre.

Educators who attend the play and talkback will receive a copy of Chris Newell’s (Passamaquoddy) elementary school text If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving (Scholastic 2021). Light refreshments will be served for the talk back event. Contact hours available upon request.

RSVP REQUIRED for all educators. Deadline to RSVP is NOV 18th at 12:00pm. **Tickets will be reserved on a first come, first served basis. The play is a little over an hour, no intermission, immediately followed by the talkback.

THE THANKSGIVING PLAY By Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation) Directed by Rachel Price Cooper

Nominations Open for LifeChanger of the Year Award

Nominations are now open for the LifeChanger of the Year Award, a national program sponsored by National Life Group that recognizes and rewards K-12 educators and school employees across the country. The program celebrates those who are making a significant difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence, and leadership.

Click here to learn more about criteria and to submit a nomination. Anyone can make a nomination (by name or anonymously).

To learn more about the program, visit www.lifechangeroftheyear.com. 

Maine Professional Learning Community: The Rural Experience in America – Info Sessions Nov. 14 & 15

Funded by a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program, NCHE (National Council for History Education) is proud to announce a 3-part colloquium for teachers focusing on Rural America. These free professional learning opportunities will help teachers develop place-based interdisciplinary units that connect students to their rural communities.  Additionally, the Maine Department of Education will be hosting a bi-weekly professional learning community to support educators through these NCHE modules.  The Professional Learning Community will incorporate the work developed by the Maine DOE interdisciplinary instruction specialists.

The program is designed to:

  • engage rural teachers in a deep examination of rural history and the impact of agricultural change on children, families, and communities in the United States:
  • connect teachers with the Library Congress’s collections on rural history and with local rural historical societies so they can situate local history in the larger human experience;
  • support teachers in the design and implementation of works of public value that connect rural students to their community’s history
  • The Right Question Institute will be leading a 4-week session on the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) with a focus on working with rural students

Educators may complete all or part of the 3-part colloquium.

  • Part A – Free, asynchronous, online modules. (Dec 1-March 31)
  • Part B – Free, synchronous, online colloquia. (Feb 25, April 15, May 6)
  • Part C – Summer Colloquium.  Details TBD

Register here for these NCHE events. When you register with NCHE, you will receive a follow-up from the Maine DOE to register into our Maine PLC.

Information Sessions with the NCHE will be held on:

For more information, please contact Jaime Beal, Interdisciplinary Instruction Specialist, at  jaime.beal@maine.gov.

WEBINAR: Developing Comprehensive and Equitable School Safety Programs that Consider the Whole Child, Whole School, and Whole Community

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools and its Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center will host a Webinar on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. This Webinar will highlight comprehensive approaches to school safety and emergency operations plan (EOP) development that include physical and psychological safety and well-being that are rooted in equitable approaches.

The objectives of this 60-minute Webinar are to

  • Reinforce the significance of creating plans that consider the needs of the whole school community and that represent an equitable approach to emergency preparedness.
  • Describe the concept of the Whole Child, Whole School, and Whole Community and the role that it can play in enhancing school safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness efforts.
  • Share state-based approaches used by education agencies and their community partners to enhance emergency preparedness planning using the Whole Child, Whole School, and Whole Community model.

Register on the REMS TA Center Website to participate in the Webinar

Presenters:

  • Ohio Department of Education, Office of Whole Child Supports
    • Jennifer Vargo, Director of the Office of Integrated Student Supports
  • Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction
    • Bobbie Boyer, Deputy Director for Prevention Services
  • Ohio Department of Public Safety
    • Emily Torok, Executive Director, Ohio School Safety Center
  • Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety
    • Shaun Ali, Senior Justice Technical Assistance Specialist
  • REMS TA Center
    • Janelle Hughes, Project Director

Twitter Chat

You are invited to participate in a Twitter Chat immediately following the Webinar, where presenters will continue to answer your questions. No Twitter account is necessary to view questions, but an account is needed to pose questions and engage in tweets. Follow @remstacenter and tune in at 1:30 p.m. ET on November 16.

Questions

Contact the REMS TA Center Help Desk at 1-855-781-REMS [7367] or info@remstacenter.org from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. Can’t make the live event? This Webinar will be archived on the REMS TA Center’s Website within 7 business days.

Nominations Open for ‘Spirit of America Foundation’ School Award

Spirit of America Foundation, an Augusta based public charity established to honor volunteerism, wants to honor people, groups or projects across Maine who are helping our Maine schools. They are seeking nominations for their School Award.

Spirit of America Foundation Tribute is presented in the name of Maine municipalities – and starting in 2022, the Spirit of America Foundation School Award is presented in the name of Maine schools – to local individuals, organizations and projects for commendable community service. Community members can make suggested nominations for this award to their local schools and school principals can make the official nominations here: https://spirame.org/submit-winner/

To see past awardees or learn more about the Spirit of America Foundation, visit spiritofamerica.website.

Let’s Celebrate the School Psychologists that Live and Work in the State of Maine!

This year’s National School Psychology Week theme, “Together We Shine,” honors the hope we feel after several challenging years and emphasizes the power of our collective efforts to overcome difficulties to ensure that all our students can thrive in school, at home, and in life. Throughout the week, schools across the country will be taking part in events and activities designed to highlight how school psychologists, teachers, and other school personnel work with students and families to reestablish their sense of being valued parts of a greater whole.

National School Psychology Week 2022National Association of School Psychology (NASP) President Celeste Malone shared, “I am proud to see how our community of school psychologists have supported their students, families, and fellow educators during difficult times. School psychologists work every day to enhance the connections between students, schools, and the evidence-based practices that help them thrive.”

In Maine, despite there being a shortage of school psychologists, these caring professionals are doing everything that they can to support our students so that they can thrive.  School administrative units (SAUs) across Maine rely on school psychologists to support students who are struggling in a myriad of ways, such as clarifying treatment issues, supporting interventions for academic and functional needs, and collaborating with school staff to promote inclusive educational experiences to name a few.

So especially during the National School Psychology Week please say “thank you” to your school psychologist for all that they do each and every day!

Educational Resources to Celebrate Veteran’s Day

A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made Nov. 11 of each year a legal holiday—”a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.'” Congress amended this act on June 1, 1954, replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans,” and it has since been known as Veterans Day.

Resources for consideration:

Public Pre-K and Partnership Open Office Hours Scheduled

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Early Learning Team is pleased to offer Open Office Hours focusing on technical assistance for public pre-k.  These office hours will feature Marcy Whitcomb, Public Pre-K Consultant and Sue Gallant, Public Pre-K Expansion Consultant.

Sessions are meant to be a time for educators, pre-k coordinators and administrators to come together to ask questions, celebrate successes and/or work through problems of practice in public pre-k that educators, administrators, and partnership programs may be experiencing. Office hours are offered as part of the Maine DOE’s Pre-K Technical Assistance program and are meant for your use and discussion; you can join for the full hour, or just a part; for each session or only when you have a question.

Sessions after the first session will not be predetermined but will be an open conversation driven by the topics brought from the field.  Our first session will focus on celebrations and problems of practice from the first months in the classroom.

Sessions will be held every first and third Thursday of the month, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., on the following schedule:

November 17th
December 1st 15th
January 5th 19th
February 2nd 16th
March 2nd 16th
April 6th 20th
May 4th 18th
June 1st 15th

Please use and save the following Zoom link and password to access each meeting (the meeting link will be the same for each office hour session):

Join Zoom Meeting
https://mainestate.zoom.us/j/82733636260?pwd=VUd5eklsaHRIaEEzeldhazJDSWw2dz09

Meeting ID: 827 3363 6260
Passcode: MePreK22!
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,82733636260# US (Washington DC)
+13092053325,,82733636260# US

To submit a topic or question prior to a session and for more information please email Marcy Whitcomb, Public Pre-K Consultant, at: Marcy.r.whitcomb@maine.gov

 

Educational Resources for Native American Heritage Month and Beyond

November is recognized nationally as “National American Indian Heritage Month,” or otherwise known as Native American Heritage Month which celebrates and recognizes the accomplishments of the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers, and settlers of the United States.

The Maine Department of Education website has a listing of curated material which represent a continuing collaborative effort between the four nations of the Wabanaki in Maine, Native and non-Native educators, the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission, the Maine Department of Education, and the University of Maine System.

This website is designed to support K-12 Maine educators in integrating Maine Native Studies into existing curricula.  While it is most common to find this content taught in a social studies curriculum, it can be easily integrated into content areas and courses across all grade levels.  Resources included here are not comprehensive or definitive but rather represent high-quality materials that are widely available.  They have been reviewed by cultural experts designated by Wabanaki Tribal leaders and by practicing Maine educators.

Maine Native Studies Website

Report on Bilingual Education in Maine Now Available

Bilingual education, including language immersion programs, offer exciting and impactful interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students. Research shows that developing proficiency in two or more languages has cognitive, educational, economic, and sociocultural benefits.

In response to interest in developing bilingual programs from a variety of schools across the state, the Maine Department of Education launched the Multilingual Education Task Force (METF) in May of 2022. Over 100 educators and community members came together to learn about bilingual education and to provide the Department with recommendations to inform its plan for promoting bilingual programs and supporting interested schools. The Department would like to express its sincere appreciation to METF participants for their contributions to this important work.

The Multilingual Education Task Force Report compiles participants’ recommendations and offers a road map of action steps for the Department. Educators and community members who would like to pursue the development of a bilingual program in their school are encouraged to contact April Perkins, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) & Bilingual Programs Specialist, at april.perkins@maine.gov.