RSU 34 Taps Retired Teacher to Train and Mentor New Educators

Submitted by Jeanna Tuell, Principal of Old Town Elementary School.

Retired teachers are a wealth of professional knowledge and wisdom. Although the days of retirement are exciting for our teachers, we have found a way to tap into our retired teachers and have them support the next generation of teachers.

In RSU 34, we are committed to our new teachers and their development by matching them with an experienced, outstanding retired teacher named Mary Bagley. Mary was a teacher in the district for 40 years and throughout her career was always on the cutting edge of instruction, curriculum, and assessment. When Mary thought it was time for her to step away from the classroom, we were not convinced and talked her into the position of professional support and coaching for our new teachers in our K-12 district.

It has been a match of support, professionalism, and chance for our new teachers to learn from a master teacher without the intensity of evaluation. We believe this model is an incredible connection between mentor and classroom teachers not experienced in many districts. The results have been phenomenal. Teachers feel supported in every aspect of their first years in the profession and have noted the tremendous support they have received with Mary coaching them through various instructional tangles.

Accomplished Bangor High School Alum Provides Interdiciplinary Art Lesson to Students

Submitted by Kathy Harris-Smedberg, Assistant Superintendent of Schools at Bangor School Department.

Bangor High School Teachers Emilie Throckmorton and Eva Wagner recently collaborated on a unit to connect students with nature. Both visual art and creative writing share a long history of artists being inspired by nature. Wagner and Throckmorton are nature enthusiasts and have a connection with artist eco-artist Mariah Reading, a Bangor High School and Bowdoin College graduate. Their unit culminated with an adventure to Schoodic Point where Reading is the Artist in Residence. Wagner brought her Sculpture class and Throckmorton brought her Creative Writing class.

When Wagner and Throckmorton realized that Reading was chosen to be an artist in residence in Maine, they both thought about what a wonderful opportunity it would be for their students to learn from her. Mariah is positive and energetic and her mere presence would be good for students to absorb. With help from grant writer, Cathleen Neslusan and the Friends of Acadia, the trip became possible.

The day started with a talk with the artist who discussed the reason behind her eco-centered art making. Reading finds trash found in national parks and other protected places and paints bold, colorful realistic landscapes onto them. She then photographs them in front of the landscape so they blend in seamlessly with the environment. Reading has always been inspired by nature but she realized when she was in college that her work was often creating more waste which led to more degradation of the environment. She decided to do something about it and then collected trash and used it as a substrate for her work. Her artwork was so striking and unique that it commanded more and more attention as she shared it on social media. Eventually with 7000 plus followers the art world started paying attention and Mariah got sponsorships.

After Reading’s inspiring and informative talk, the students headed out with their paints, and writing prompts in hand and found a beach to create on. Some students painted, some wrote and others collaborated on an Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculpture. The students seemed awestruck by the thunderous waves and rocky shores. Many had never been to Schoodic Point and some students had never visited the ocean before.

The students responded to the environment, worked together and learned from a contemporary artist that art can make a difference. What was especially important for these students was that Reading had also been a student at Bangor High School, it made her successes seem that much more attainable. A great day was had by all and Throckmorton and Wagner are convinced that students will remember this day for a long time.

Webinar to Assist with Annual Dropout Data Submission

To assist those who are responsible for the important task of reporting annual dropout data to the Department of Education, the DOE Data Team will be holding a webinar on Wednesday October 23^rd from 10am to 11am.

This webinar will focus on how to complete, validate and certify the Annual Dropout Report. If you are tasked with editing, validating or certifying the annual Dropout Report for your district or school, you are encouraged to attend. If you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to this webinar, please do not hesitate to contact us at the MEDMS helpdesk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@Maine.gov or (207) 624-6896.

Please use the Registration URL and the Webinar ID: 785-724-819.

MEDIA RELEASE: Gorham Middle School Teacher Named 2020 Teacher of the Year

Gorham, Maine – In an all-school assembly today at Gorham Middle School, the Maine Department of Education and Educate Maine named alternative education teacher Heather Whitaker Maine’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.

During her 18-year teaching career at Gorham Middle School, Heather has been a true advocate for combining learning opportunities with the needs of the community. She started her school’s garden, which donates over 800 pounds of produce for the local food pantry each year. She also was a founding member of the Gorham BackPack Program, which provides students in her community, experiencing chronic hunger, with food over the weekend. Her alternative education students are active volunteers for both programs. Just recently, this program was awarded a $25,000 State Farm Community Assist grant.

Heather is passionate about and experienced in using restorative practices and experiential learning. She believes in the power of relationships and that learning should be meaningful to students. Whenever possible, Heather takes students out of the classroom and has them engaged in the community.

Heather graduated from Boston College in 2000, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with Moderate Special Needs. She later earned her Master of Science in Literacy Education at the University of Southern Maine.

Heather’s biggest love is her family. Her husband, Marc, son Trent, and daughter Maeve inspire her daily. She loves hosting friends at her house, can be found in the mountains skiing during the winter, and is proud to be a “Maine-ah.”

She was nominated by her former principal, Robert Riley, who stated “because of her innovative, can-do nature, her refusal to give up on any student and her selfless contributions to our school community and to her students, I believe Heather is an excellent candidate to represent all that is good in our educational system.”

Heather was selected from a pool of more than 300 teachers who were nominated by a member of their community earlier this year, she was then named the 2019 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year, and then later named one of three State finalists before being named the 2020 Teacher of the Year today.

The Teacher of the Year Program is a year-long process that involves educator portfolio and resume submissions, interviews, oral presentations, and classroom visits made by a selection panel comprised of State Board of Education members, school administrators, Maine Department of Education staff, former Teachers of the Year, and other Maine business partners.

As the 2020 Maine Teacher of the Year, Heather will travel throughout the state and country collaborating with other educators to support the efforts underway to prepare all students for college, work, and civic life. She will be Maine’s representative in the National Teacher of the Year program which includes a national forum with other State Teachers of the Year, a week at a NASA Space Camp, and a visit to the White House.

The Maine Teacher of the Year program is administered by Educate Maine, a business-led advocacy organization, in partnership with the Maine Department of Education and the Maine State Board of Education. Funding for the program is generously provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Dead River, Geiger, Hannaford, Maine Lottery, and Pratt and Whitney.

For more information about the Maine Teacher of the Year program, visit www.mainetoy.org.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month

We know that Maine schools are actively working to ensure they are providing a safe and inclusive community in which all educators and students feel supported and can thrive. Bullying prevention takes a team effort, adult modeling and a commitment from the whole community. Educators, families, students and community members can work together to build safe, supportive learning environments for all Maine students.

National Bullying Prevention Month is the perfect time to talk about kindness, encourage and model inclusiveness, and review bullying prevention strategies. It is also a great time to ensure that any student experiencing bullying has a safe, effective way to access support from peers and trusted adults.

Here are some resources that may be of help in understanding, preventing, and addressing bullying in your community.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s comprehensive technical package on the prevention of violence and associated risk behaviors outlines effective prevention practices in 5 strategic areas:

Promoting family environments that support healthy development
Quality early childhood learning experiences with family engagement
Universal school based social emotional learning programs that strengthen youths’ skills
Programs and activities that connect youth to caring adults
Creating protective community environments

This resource also includes a section on interventions to lessen harm and prevent future risk.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)’s publication on social emotional learning and bullying prevention provides a detailed framework for addressing bullying as part of a school’s social emotional learning program.

Stomp Out Bullying is a comprehensive kid, teacher, and parent-friendly web resource offering:

A live Help Chat Line for youth seeking help with bullying situations
Resource pages for parents and educators
An upcoming resource section devoted to dealing with online cyberbullying.

Looking for homegrown Maine resources?

Crossroads Youth Center’s United Against Bullying Maine offers a bullying prevention school visitor program.

Visit the Creating Safe Maine Schools Coalition for an online guide to bullying prevention and safe schools programs and resources across the state.

For free, online professional development and model policy resources on preventing and responding to bullying, visit the DOE’s bullying prevention page.

Resources for Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Schools

In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Maine Department of Education would like to share resources and information that educators and schools can use to teach about Native American history and culture, as part of their classroom and school activities that commemorate this important holiday.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated across the United States on the second Monday in October, this year the holiday will be celebrated on October 14th.

The Maine DOE has expanded its Maine Native American Resources webpage section to include robust historical and cultural information that honors Maine Native Americans, as well as resources that will help guide discussions about Indigenous Peoples’ Day, both in and outside of the classroom.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Seeking Public Comment on Health Education and Physical Education, Visual and Performing Arts, and World Languages Standards

As part of the scheduled periodic review of the Maine Learning Results, the Maine Department of Education is seeking public comments regarding the current health education and physical education, visual and performing arts, and world languages standards. Find links to each of the current standards below along with details for submitting comments.

Current Standards:

The standards review process opens with a public comment period and a public hearing, prior to the convening of steering committees who are charged with reviewing all submitted comments and with developing blueprints for the revision of the state standards in their assigned content area. Once the blueprints are created, writing teams, consisting of pk-12 teachers who represent Maine’s cultural and geographical diversity, will assemble to draft the standards revisions.

Anyone may speak at the public hearings, which will be live-streamed. People wishing to speak will be asked to sign in, and it will be helpful, but not mandatory, to provide a written copy of comments.

Public hearings will occur on October 23^rd in room 103 at the Cross Building, 111 Sewell Street, Augusta, from 1-4pm. A link to the live-streamed hearings will be available prior to the public hearing.

Anyone unable to attend the public hearing may send written comments by 5 pm on November 8^th, 2019. Written comments may be sent to Standards Review at sis.doe@maine.gov, or mailed to Beth Lambert, 23 SHS Station, Augusta, ME 04333.

Get to know the DOE Team: Meet Paula Gravelle

Maine DOE Team member Paula Gravelle is being highlighted this week as the part of a Get to know the DOE Team campaign! Learn a little more about Paula in the brief question and answer below.

What are your roles with DOE?

I am the School Finance Manager on the School Finance and Operations Team. My role is primarily to facilitate the calculation of the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) School Funding model, which determines how much State funding each of the 266 School Administrative Units (SAUs) in Maine will receive each year. I am also tasked with processing the monthly payments for subsidy and construction aid for SAUs and Centers for Technology Education (CTEs), managing the DOE Vendor Codes for SAUs, assisting SAUs with school closures, withdrawals, school board apportionment, and assisting with the Education Service Centers and other efficiency initiatives.

What do you like best about your job?

I may be biased, but I believe I work on the best team at the DOE. School finance may seem boring to some, and we do take our jobs very seriously; after all, we are calculating over 2 billion dollars of State and local resources; but we also have fun and support each other every day. The best part of my job is being part of a dedicated, caring and supportive team within the DOE.

How or why did you decide on this career?

I believe God was grooming me for this career before I even knew it existed. I began working at the University of Southern Maine shortly after graduating from there with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Minor in Business Administration. I worked for USM for 15 years, the last 8 of those years was with Dr. David Silvernail at the Center for Education Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE), during the research and creation phase of the EPS funding formula. During this time, I was living in West Gardiner and traveling to Gorham every day; which got to be too much of a commute for me, so I started looking for something closer to home. After a brief time as the human resource manager for a small company in Augusta, I applied for the job here at the department. I was already familiar with the EPS funding formula from the work I had done at CEPARE, and I had worked with some of the people at the department during that time as well; so it seemed like a perfect fit. I have been in this position for over 9 years now, and I joke that it took me 6 years to finally understand the EPS formula; but honestly, I love my job, even if it can drive me crazy at times. And, I want to do it to the best of my ability, because I know it directly impacts tax payers, which includes me.

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

I care for my disabled mom, and share a home with her, two of my nephews, and my brother; which makes for a very busy home life. I am very involved with my church where I have been a member for over 16 years. I teach Sunday school to an amazing group of young ladies, I assist in the nursery, and they allow me to sing in the choir and ladies ensemble, although sometimes my alto voice sounds more like a bass. I am a big Patriots football fan, and enjoy watching games with friends when time allows.

Seeking Public Comment on Career and Technical Education Performance Indicators

In an effort to increase high quality CTE programs, Maine needs your input. The Maine Department of Education-Career and Technical Education Team has posted the proposed performance indicators for public comment as part of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act(Perkins V). The performance indicators, referenced as Perkins V Accountability Measures, can be found on the DOE-CTE web site as well as a survey to allow for feedback. These will be posted for 60 days to allow for public comment, after which recommendations will be reviewed by the CTE Team. For more information, contact Dwight Littlefield at dwight.littlefield@maine.gov.

Opportunities to Lead and Participate In the 17th Annual MLTI Student Conference

Each year, the Department of Education’s Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) hosts the MLTI Student Conference. Over 1000 students and their teachers gather to engage in a day of learning and creating with technology. This year the event will be held at the University of Maine in Orono on Thursday, May 21^st, 2020 from 8:30am – 3pm. Details about opportunities to lead and participate in the day are below.

Registration

Last year, the Department received a significant amount of positive feedback regarding the new registration process. Educators said that knowing which sessions their students were going to ahead of time reduced uncertainty related to whether sessions would fill, the shuffling of chaperones, and how to prepare student devices for full participation in the session. They also really appreciated having name tags printed with all the session choices for each student. However, there was some feedback that the pressure to sort out student choices before registration filled created some frustration. We have worked to space out the registration process a bit more this year and hope you will mark the following dates on your calendar!

January 27^th, 2020: Session descriptions posted
(Time to check in with students)
March 2^nd, 2020: Registration open (up to 40 students per school)
March 30^th, 2020: Registration open for schools that want to add additional students (beyond the 40).
- Larger schools typically have developed a process to select the 40 students who are able to be registered in the first round (student leadership, fundraising, etc.). We encourage you to think about this now!
April 10^th, 2020: Last day to register
April 14^th, 2020: Final lists sent to schools for review
April 17^th, 2020: Last day to make changes to registration
April 20^th, 2020: File with T-shirt order and nametags sent to UMaine.
- While you can substitute students after this date, we will ask that they take the nametag and t-shirt of the student they are replacing. Late registration may be possible if there is space, though we can’t guarantee a personalized name tag and t-shirt.

Teacher Leaders

Applications Due Tuesday, October 22^nd, 2019

Link to Application: http://bit.ly/MLTI-sc-2020-teacher-app

Teacher Leaders will:

select the conference theme,
develop/lead UBER Session,
select session proposals, a -shirt winner, and student band(s)
setup before the conference, lead/facilitate during the day, and clean up after the event

Teacher Leaders will meet virtually ten (10) times and will need to have four (4) days outside of the classroom. Dates are below. Teacher leaders will receive travel reimbursement (mileage and hotel) and meals when they gather in person. They will also be eligible to earn up to 45 contact hours for their participation throughout the year.

Virtual Meetings on Wednesdays 3-4:30pm: 10/30, 12/18, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/26, 3/25, 4/8, 4/29, 5/13
All Day Meetings: Friday, December 6^th, 2019 and Friday, March 13^th, 2020 (location TBD)
Conference Setup: Wednesday, May 20^th, 2019 (University of Maine in Orono)
Conference Leadership: Thursday, May 21^st, 2020 (University of Maine in Orono)

Call for Proposals

Sessions will be one-hour long, must involve some form of creating, making, and doing, and should leave participants excited about what they learned and eager to share their experiences with others. Presentations that incorporate students as leaders or co-leaders with educators will be given priority!

Important Dates

Monday, November 4^th, 2019 – Call for Proposals open and theme announced
Tuesday, January 7^th, 2020 – Proposals due
Monday, January 13^th, 2020 – Sessions selected
Friday, January 17^th, 2020 – Sessions confirmed by presenters
Monday, January 27^th, 2020 – Sessions posted

Spread the word – if you know of someone doing fantastic work involving technology with making, doing, or storytelling please encourage them to submit a proposal or send an email with suggestions to MLTI.Project@maine.gov!

MLTI T-Shirt Design Competition

We encourage all students to submit designs to the MLTI T-shirt Design Competition. A panel of teacher leaders will narrow the list to five possible options and then will encourage other students to vote to pick the winner. Up to twenty (20) student artists will also win free registration to the conference.

Eligibility requirements, submission guidelines, and judging criteria will be posted on the DOE website in November.

Important Dates

Monday, November 4th, 2019 – Competition begins
Monday, February 24th, 2020 – T-shirt designs due
Monday, March 2nd, 2020 – T-shirt voting begins (with registration)
Friday, April 10th, 2020 – T-shirt winner announced

Musical Performance Opportunities

We will be looking for students to perform the National Anthem as well as music during other parts of the day—such as the UBER Session. More information will be available in November!

Important Dates

Monday, November 4^th, 2019 – Call open and theme announced.
Monday, February 24^th, 2020 – Applications due
Friday, April 10^th, 2020—Schools notified of application status.

Transportation

We encourage you to start planning for conference transportation soon and to consider sharing buses with other attending schools. If you need assistance with this, please contact MLTI.Project@maine.gov

For more information or answers to questions, please contact MLTI.Project@maine.gov or visit the MLTI Student Conference website.