Senator King Visits LearningWorks Afterschool

Written and Submitted by Marci Dionne and Amy Pichette, LearningWorks Afterschool Program Directors. Photos by Molly Haley Photography.

Senator Angus King visited the LearningWorks 21st Century Community Learning Center Afterschool program in Biddeford on Friday, February 8th.

Six student leaders, their grandparents and parents met with the Senator and explained what they enjoy most about the after school program. Dillyn said “The program gives us a leg up in school. We learn about engineering, science, and math.” Jayden explained the steps in the engineering design process to Senator King. Kendra said, “We get to choose which club we join, either drama, prop and set design, science experiments, mask making or coding.”

Afterschool staff touched upon some of their favorite aspects of the program: the social and emotional growth and development of the students as well as access to new experiences and opportunities they would not have without the program. These experiences build self-confidence, background knowledge, and help children aspire to learn and explore their world.

Somerset Valley Middle School Shares Recent Highlights & Successes

Submitted by Denise Kimball, Principal of Somerset Valley Middle School in RSU 19

Somerset Valley Middle School is located in Hartland, Maine. It is currently grades 3-8. The district is in the process of consolidating due to a new high school/middle school construction project. The new school will open in the fall of 2019. At that time, Somerset Valley Middle School will become Somerset Elementary, grades PreK-4.

Somerset Valley Middle School is focused on providing our students with a safe, happy place to learn and grow. We offer free breakfast, lunch, and a healthy snack to our students daily.

Over the past couple of years we have had some major changes in our content area instruction. RSU 19 has been providing time for the teachers to develop our curriculum and district assessments. This past year the district adopted Envisions, which is a math program for grades 3-5. All teachers have received training and they have lots of opportunities to discuss what is working in their classroom and what their challenges are. Students are learning a lot and really enjoy working with Envisions.

This year, Somerset was invited to work with Darlene Bassett, the state’s Literacy Coach. Darlene trained our Language Arts teachers in grades 3-8 in Jan Richardson’s Guided Reading Framework. This framework gives the teachers the structure needed to provide the students with a structured, focused guided reading lesson. Jenn Massow, our fourth-grade teacher, is our lead teacher in this work. Teachers from Somerset County will be invited to visit Jenn’s classroom to see the Framework in action.

Somerset is also involved in a lot of other initiatives. We have partnered with Northern Light Healthy Maine. Each week a group of students work together to find ways of getting the word out on how to live a healthy life. They sponsored a spirit week back in October and are planning one for February. These students send messages by word of mouth, posters and different activities. Once a month we have an activity called Lunch & Learn. During these lunches, students learn about healthy habits. They enjoy this time because they get to win prizes for their participation. This group also joined us for our parent conferences, passing out literature to our parents about healthy life habits.

We work hard to try and improve student academic and behavioral outcomes. We are very involved with PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports). Somerset has a matrix of behaviors that the students and staff developed at the beginning of the year. We celebrate the students that follow these expectations by giving out Panther Paw tickets. Students can win daily, weekly and quarterly prizes. The quarterly prizes usually involve the whole school on Panther Pride Day.

Recently, Somerset had a Giving Tree Contest. The grade level that brought in the most nonperishable items for our local food cupboard would be treated to a pancake breakfast. Grade 4 won! As a school we collected over 1200 items. The local food pantry was thrilled.

Seventh & eighth graders at Somerset Valley Middle school entered the Young Writer’s “Stranger Sagas Contest.” We had 14 winners and three Honorable Mentions out of 13,500 entries. The winners will have the opportunity to have their stories published. How exciting for our middle school writers.

Somerset is also involved in some work with bullying prevention. We partnered with Project Love and Duct Tape to learn about kindness and how it can affect our everyday lives. In February the Maine Parent Federation will be hosting a Bullying Workshop for parents.

Somerset Valley Middle School staff and students are dedicated to becoming lifelong learners. We are constantly working together to form a positive school community where everyone can learn and be successful.

Seeking Additional Maine Schools for Social Emotional Learning Pilot Program

The Tobacco and Substance Use Prevention and Control Program with the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (MECDC), in partnership with the Maine Department of Education (Maine DOE), is seeking additional schools that would like to implement the social emotional learning (SEL) program, Second Step, funded by a grant through MECDC.

The MECDC received a portion of the State Opioid Response grant to provide community-based substance use prevention as part of the grant’s larger goal to reduce the prevalence of non-medical use of opioids. The Second Step Curriculum is research-based and available for grades PreK through 8th grade. Many of the skills within the Maine Learning Results for health education in elementary school align with goals of Second Step, such as nurturing skill building and preventing problematic developmental behaviors that are part of the trajectory toward later substance use.

If you are interested in adding Second Step to your school’s curriculum and you are not already part of the MECDC pilot and have not already been contacted by the Maine CDC from your application from the last round, please complete this brief 5 minute application survey.

Please note: If you applied in the last round and have not heard from the Maine DOE or CDC, please feel free to apply again. We may not have had enough information from you in the last application to proceed.

For more information, contact Cheryl.Cichowski@maine.gov at Maine CDC or Emily.Poland@maine.gov at the Department of Education.

The Maine Association of School Nurses (MASN) is Seeking Nominations for School Nurse of the Year 2019

The purpose of this award is to recognize the contributions of Maine School Nurses by honoring one school nurse who has demonstrated leadership and excellence in the practice of school nursing. This title recognizes a nurse who has demonstrated excellence and leadership in the following: care provision, program management, health education, professional development, community involvement, and research.

Please consider honoring the excellence of your school nurse. Nomination packets are due April 1. Instructions for nominations and more information can be found on the MASN website, or you may contact Deb Braxton, the coordinator for School Nurse of the Year for MASN: dbraxton@capeelizabethschools.org

National Congress on School Transportation Writing Committees Seeking Input

The National Congress on School Transportation (NCST) is accepting change requests from any interested party on the National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures.

All change requests must be made on the NCST 2020 Change Request Form: The form and instructions are located on the NCST website.

The deadline for submission of change requests is March 31, 2019. All requests must be submitted by that date in accordance with the form instructions to allow the NCST Writing Committees time to review and properly research the proposals before the 2020 Congress.

Under the Congress’ procedures, the Writing Committee Chairs must notify all persons submitting change requests for the status of their respective requests following the committees’ deliberations and decisions. This feedback to submitters must occur well prior to the on-site Congress.

The job of researching suggested changes to the National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures is performed by the NCST Writing Committees. Questions about the NCST 2020 Change Request Form and submittals may be addressed to Patrick McManamon at patrick.mcmanamon@vermont.gov .

For information about Maine school transportation, please contact Pat Hinckley, Transportation and Facilities Administrator, at pat.hinckley@maine.org .

Resources to Help Schools Eliminate Browntail Moth Nests

The Maine Department of of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry has put together the resources and information below to help Maine schools eliminate Browntail Moth nests

Browntail caterpillars cause a severe poison ivy-like rash and can cause breathing problems in some people. If this insect is present on your school properties you should take action to destroy it now to protect the health of students, staff and visitors in the future. Unmanaged infestations can cause health risks for years because the caterpillars’ barbed and toxic hairs can remain in the environment for up to three years.

Browntail moth caterpillars overwinter in fist-sized silken nests on branch TIPS in oaks, birch, apples, cherries, crabapples and other hardwoods. Now is the time to remove these nests from trees on school grounds.

Clip webs BEFORE the caterpillars emerge in mid April
Burn them or soak them in a bucket of soapy water to kill the caterpillars inside
Don’t leave webs on the ground, the caterpillars will still emerge
Each web can have between 25-400 caterpillars inside so each web counts
If time or funding is an issue focus on trees with webs in high traffic areas

Browntail caterpillar webs can be found from the New Hampshire border to Deer Isle, and inland to Raymond, Turner, Rome, Smithfield, Burnham and Eddington. They are worst along the coast from Falmouth to Bristol and up the Kennebec River to Richmond. It has also been found in Belgrade, Burnham, Eddington, Liberty, Lincolnville, Turner and Whitefield. More information, a video showing how to clip the webs, a list of arborists willing to do prune webs and a list of licensed pesticide applicators can be found here: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/browntail_moth_info.htm

If you think you’ve found webs but aren’t sure, contact the Maine Forest Service at (207) 827-1813.

Employee of the Week: Sarah Adkins

Sarah Adkins, Student Assistance Coordinator, is the Maine Department of Education’s Employee of the Week. Get to know a little more about Sarah through this brief question and answer:

What are your roles with DOE?

I help schools and families in understanding Maine’s anti-bullying law; provide guidance to schools in regards to Student Behavior data collection – bullying, violent and harmful behavior, and restraint & seclusion; assist schools and parents in understanding Chapter 33 (Restraint and Seclusion); and support Maine’s school counselors in their role of providing academic interventions, social/emotional learning, and college and career readiness to students PreK-12^th grade.

What do you like best about your job?

Interacting with parents, school leaders, and school counselors in finding ways to best support, help, and understand Maine’s students so that school is a safe, welcoming, and encouraging learning environment.

How or why did you decide on this career?

School is essential in providing not only relevant and meaningful academics but also experiential activities that develop well-rounded and happy children and adolescents. I chose to have a career path in the field of education in which hard work and patience in needed in order to make sure all Maine kids are learning, that they are happy, and are provided opportunities to show and demonstrate their talents. Maine kids are great and I am dedicated to the work in education that brings out the best in every Maine kid and those adults who work with them every single day.

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

Skiing, kayaking, shopping at Goodwill, going on family adventures, camping, completing house projects, and attending sporting events for all four of my children

PRIORITY NOTICE: Maine Department of Education’s Position on School Mascots and Logos

Because our schools must provide safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environments, and because schools teach many lessons by example, DOE urges schools to refrain from using mascots and logos that depict Native American tribes, individuals, customs, or traditions. For information about the negative impact of using such mascots/logos:

https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/indian-mascots

http://www.changethemascot.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DrFriedmanReport.pdf

While we recognize that DOE does not have jurisdiction over local decisions like these, we encourage schools and communities to consider the impact of promoting symbols and stereotypes that marginalize individuals or groups of people.

The DOE is working to enhance our office of Student Supports with additional staff and resources to assist Maine schools and districts in the development and strengthening of practices that promote cultural competence and reduce bias and inequity.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Reminder to Review and Report any District Data Errors in 2019/20 Subsidy Printouts (ED 279s) by March 15, 2019

The Maine Department of Education would like to acknowledge the hard work of school districts in ensuring that the data they submit to the Department is as accurate as possible. Each year there are a handful of data errors that districts notice after the release of the ED 279 printouts and these can have a significant impact on subsidy.

The Department encourages school districts to examine their ED 279 printouts as closely as possible to identify any possible data errors. Any districts who have found an error in their data are encouraged to report this as soon as possible to the Department of Education’s School Finance Team. Errors must be identified and reported within 30 days of the posting of the preliminary ED 279s.

While we cannot guarantee a complete financial correction for errors that have been made because of inaccurate data submitted by school districts, we will work hard to mitigate the impact on your district to the greatest extent possible. (The Department will always make fiscal corrections in the event that an error is made on our end – this notice pertains to inaccurate data submitted by school districts). As corrections are submitted, they will be placed on a list for review in the order received. As a reminder, any financial corrections in subsidy are made after the state budget has passed the legislature.

To better understand where and why errors might occur, here is a list of reports that impact the ED 279 subsidy calculation and a list of deadlines. We send out reminders around these reports, and encourage superintendents and business office staff members to carefully examine the data before submitting and certifying it; this will help to avoid issues that emerge after the release of the ED 279 printouts.

Should you have questions regarding subsidy printouts or to report an error, please contact our friendly, smart, and helpful school finance team: Tyler Backus at tyler.backus@maine.gov; Paula Gravelle at paula.b.gravelle@maine.gov; or Ida Batista at ida.batista@maine.gov.

Reminder of Cybersecurity Opportunity for Students

As a reminder, ‘GirlsGoCyberStart’, an exciting national program that uses online games of discovery to introduce high school girls to the cybersecurity field, is open for registration. Young women in high school who excel in the GirlsGoCyberStart game will have the opportunity to win scholarships and other prizes.

This will be Maine’s second year participating in the program. Last year, nearly two hundred students from all over Maine participated in the event and placed in the top 100 of all participating state teams.

Participating students do not need prior cybersecurity knowledge or programming experience. All that is required is a computer and an internet connection. The website for registration can be found here. Registration for GirlsGoCyberStart runs from February 18, 2019 to March 20, 2019, when the event begins.

To be eligible to participate, students must:

Identify as female
Be at least 13 years old.
Be enrolled in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade at a public or private school (or the home school equivalent)

For further information please contact Carrie Valentine, Director of Workforce Innovations for the Maine Office of Information Technology at Carrie.Valentine@maine.gov.