Category: News & Views

Poland teacher named 2013 Teacher of the Year

Shannon Shanning, seventh and eight grade special education teacher at Whitter Middle School in Poland, is named Maine's 2013 Teacher of the Year.
Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen presents Maine’s 2013 Teacher of the Year award to Shannon Shanning, seventh- and eighth-grade special education teacher at Whittier Middle School. Click here to view more photos from this event.

POLAND – Shannon Shanning, a seventh- and eighth-grade special education teacher at Whittier Middle School, was named the 2013 Maine Teacher of the Year in front of students, colleagues, family and other distinguished guests Monday. In keeping with Maine tradition, Shanning was not informed ahead of time that the “all-school assembly” was called to honor her.

Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen presented Shanning with the award – the first awarded to a special education teacher as far back as program records indicate. Bowen also read a letter of congratulations from Governor Paul LePage.

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First Lady Ann LePage announces “Maine is ME Student Art Challenge”

The following press release was issued today by First Lady Ann LePage.

AUGUSTA – First Lady Ann LePage is announcing the Maine is ME Student Art Challenge, in partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

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New scholarship fund for National Board-certified teachers

State law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A subsection 5 & 6; as Amended by PL 2012 c. 702, established the National Board Certification Scholarship Fund to encourage teachers to apply to and enroll in the certification program offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization.

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Waterville teens “spark” change at Seventeen magazine

Waterville Junior High classmates Julia Bluhm (left) and Izzy Labbe traveled to New York City to protest Seventeen magazine's use of Photoshop to adjust models' appearances.
Waterville Junior High classmates Julia Bluhm (left) and Izzy Labbe traveled to New York City to protest Seventeen magazine’s use of Photoshop to adjust models’ appearances. They returned to NYC for a national SPARK (Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge) meeting in August.

Call it a hunch.

Julia Bluhm, an eighth grader from Waterville Junior High, had a sneaking suspicion that not all young women were beautiful, thin and fit.

Yet, as Bluhm flipped through the pages of last May’s Seventeen magazine, there they were, in glorious color, one perfect teen after another.

Of course, it wasn’t just May’s issue. And it wasn’t just Seventeen magazine. These smiling stick-figures in minimalist fashions were everywhere, she discovered, seemingly taunting her.

“All fake,” Bluhm concluded.

Riding a mantra of “if you don’t like something, change it,” Bluhm and her Waterville Junior High partner Izzy Labbe set out on a campaign to shake up the good folks who, for starters, publish Seventeen. The magazine’s current circulation is 20 million worldwide.

“When girls read magazines like Seventeen, they shouldn’t have to be subjected to Photoshopped images and subliminal messages about the way they are supposed to look,” Labbe said.

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Commission issues request for charter school proposals

The following is a news release from the Maine Charter School Commission.

AUGUSTA – The Maine Charter School Commission announced last week it will accept applications from potential charter school operators who hope to open schools for the 2013-14 school year.

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Flags to be flown half-staff Friday, August 31

The Governor’s Office has issued the following notice:

AUGUSTA – In accordance with a Presidential proclamation, the United States flag and the State of Maine flag shall be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Friday, August 31, 2012, to honor the passing of astronaut Neil Armstrong.

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