Becki Belmore Receives MAHPERD Distinguished Leadership Award

Becki Belmore is this year’s recipient of the MAHPERD Distinguished Leadership Award. Becki teaches Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education at Greely Middle School in MSAD 51, serving students in Cumberland and North Yarmouth. Nominated by a peer, the Distinguished Leadership Award recognizes a person’s excellence in their profession and commitment to the MAHPERD association.

Her administration speaks very highly of Becki and says that she is student focused and a fierce advocate for our students with special needs and their programming. She has an extensive understanding of the continuum of motor skill development and successfully engages with families and community partners.

Becki has been awarded two MAHPERD Teacher of the Year awards in the past, Elementary Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education and she is a National Board Certified Teacher, one of a very small cohort in Maine.

Here are just a few of her many accomplishments:

She is an active member of the Maine APE Task Force serving as the liaison to the MAHPERD board.
Highly involved in APE advocacy – working with the Maine Parent Federation, and directly with Maine’s Director of Special Education, National Consortium for Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPEID)
Collaborator on the Adapted Physical Education information document
Collaborator on the State of Maine DOE Q & A document for APE
MAHPERD conference presentations
- APE sessions
- Physical education sessions
- Member of the Steering Committee for Update of Maine’s Physical Education Standards

Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MAHPERD) Honor Awards are presented to MAHPERD members in recognition of their excellence to their profession by demonstrating outstanding dedication to their students and profession. To learn more about MAHPERD visit maineahperd.org.

Kennebec Valley 21st CCLC Program Students Create Ice Cream Truck as Part of STEM Activity

Students in the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) program at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kennebec Valley created an ice cream truck on World Kindness Day this past October.

“We drove it to the construction site and gave the construction workers an ice cream and then delivered ice creams to all the kids in the building,” said Holly Jordan, the Teen Center/21st Century Community Learning Center Grant Director at The Boys & Girls Clubs of Kennebec Valley.

Using creative problem solving and innovation, the students used a motorized wheelchair as the movement for the truck and then created an interior base with PVC pipe and plywood to place the ice cream structure on and then made a freezer compartment in the basket area of the wheelchair.

Check out this video of the truck in action:

Our Journey to Success: The Westbrook 21st CCLC Intercultural Community Center

Since 2014, Westbrook Intercultural Community Center (ICC) has offered Power School afterschool and summer learning programs to hundreds of children in Southern Maine. After taking advantage of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program through the U.S. Department of Education they were able to stabilize funding and improve efforts in a way they never thought possible.

“The 21st Century grant has been huge for us,” said Chris Feely, 21st CCLC Program Director at ICC. “We had previously been living grant to grant, so to speak.” The consistent funding and professional support enabled the Westbrook Intercultural Community Center to expand their staff with qualified individuals, coordinate programming efforts with the local middle school, and cement themselves as a stable resource in the community. From there, Chris says building those important community connections has been the critical component to allowing them to spread awareness and appreciation for the work they are doing in the Southern Maine area.

44BCB718-87DE-47C2-95B8-1D0EE52FFB42_1_105_c

“We have had over 50 students join the afterschool program this fall,” said Chris. “Our outreach has been so successful that, for the first time ever, we have had to create a waiting list for registered students to enter the program.”

Students learn about their program through word of mouth, which is often within local immigrant communities in the area. The Center also engages in purposeful and coordinated outreach with the Westbrook School Department.

“Specifically, we work with the middle school to identify low-performing students, and then make phone calls directly to parents and guardians promoting our program,” explained Chris. 

Regular communication and twice-a-month meetings with school and district administrators Principal Laurie Wood and Superintendent Peter Lancia ensure that updates and needs that support both the program as a whole and for individual students are discussed on a regular basis. 

“Central to our collaboration is promoting equity among students, as most of our students are immigrant or first-generation Americans and low-income,” added Chris. “We work with Amanda Atkinson-Lewis, the Equity Resources Coordinator, on identifying ways to support students and have developed a strong relationship with the School Nutrition Director, Mary Emerson, to secure healthy and diverse snacks for our students every day after school.”

Operating During the Pandemic:

Chris recounts that their year-long remote program which took place at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic from April 2020- to June 2021 had some wonderful highlights and enabled them to accessibly reach many new students.

“Kids could log on every day after school, participate in a brief lesson, and take their time getting homework help in virtual breakout rooms,” said Chris. “The need for academic as well as emotional support became clear, as many students opened up to teachers or would stay to chat after they had completed their homework. We felt closer to our students than ever before.”

While this was a silver lining to the new way the Center had to operate, like many schools and afterschool programs, they came to understand that remote learning did not fit everyone’s strengths or needs and morphed their program to a hybrid model.

“Our hybrid summer program experienced much larger attendance on in-person days, and I think that speaks to the innate need for kids to run around, socialize, and interact,” added Chris.

Although keeping the Center successful has been a lot of hard work, especially with all of the changes that have come as a result of the pandemic, the Intercultural Community Center team strives to make a difference in the lives of students in their community. When asked what the best thing is about working with the students he serves, here is what Chris had to say:

“Far and away, it’s the moments when you see that you’ve made a positive impact on a child. It makes all the planning and day-to-day tumult worth it– when a single mother tells us we’ve saved her daughter’s academic performance after they could no longer afford to pay her tutor; or when a 10-year-old girl who, a month ago, escaped threats on her life in Kabul, is seen laughing with friends and tells us that she loves Power School.”

What I Did with My Summer: Falmouth Social Studies Teacher Gains Perspective on School Desegregation

“I always think that the interactions with other teachers from different parts of the country are fascinating,” said Maine educator Keith Magnuson after virtually attending a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) workshop this past summer. “We are all experiencing some of the same basic trends in teaching, but they play out in such different ways depending on your exact location.”

Magnuson teaches social studies at Falmouth High School and this past summer he decided to take a week-long virtual workshop entitled, “The Long Road From Brown: School Desegregation in Virginia”. Hosted by professors of history and education from Old Dominion University through NEH, there were about 30 teachers from around the country that participated in the workshop along with Magnuson.

He became aware of the workshop through Maine Department of Education (DOE) Social Studies Specialist Joe Schmidt’s popular Social Studies Listserv. “Each year I try to get information out through my listserv about relevant programming, and the NEH runs these institutes each year,” said Schmidt. “Each summer there is a different slate of topics/locations.”

This particular workshop unveiled the unknown stories of school desegregation in the State of Virginia and throughout the nation after the US Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. It highlighted the role African Americans played in bringing about Brown, the state’s determined resistance, the processes that led to initial and then token school desegregation, the eventual integration of public education, and the slow decline of school integration in recent decades.

“We talked a lot about covering difficult or controversial topics in high schools,” explained Magnuson. He also recounted that there were a lot of interesting details that came from former VA high school students, in schools during that era, who spoke, and that workshop participants also got to see many primary source photographs and documents which also provided a lot of interesting information.

“I love participating in workshops like this,” he said. “Especially when they pull in such a diverse group of teachers with a variety of teaching positions and from schools scattered around the country,” adding that this workshop was on an interesting topic relevant to our times.

“I am going to be much more capable of talking in detail about the Brown decision and the implementation of it in class,” said Magnuson, adding that, “every teacher should take advantage of some of the many opportunities we have to broaden our knowledge and perspective.”

To learn more about NEH Workshops visit https://www.neh.gov/divisions/education/summer-programs or https://nehforall.org/programs/summer-programs-for-school-teachers.

To join Joe’s Social Studies Listserv click here. For more information and questions about social studies resources for Maine educators, contact Joe at joe.schmidt@maine.gov.

Portland Public Schools’ Grace Valenzuela Wins Human Rights Award

Dr. Grace Valenzuela, executive director for communications and community partnerships for the Portland Public Schools, has been selected by the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine (HHRC) as the recipient of the 2021 Gerda Haas Award for Excellence in Human Rights Education and Leadership.

Dr. Valenzuela received the award at HHRC’s virtual annual meeting on Thursday, Oct. 21. The meeting this year honored the memory of HHRC founding visionary Gerda Haas, who passed away this past summer.

HHRC promotes universal respect for human rights through outreach and education. Haas, HHRC’s founder, inspired many with her passion for human rights education. A Holocaust survivor originally from Germany, Haas advocated for the teaching about the Holocaust in Maine schools. HHRC welcomes the opportunity each year to recognize and honor an individual who, like Haas, has demonstrated excellence and initiative in human rights education and leadership.

In presenting the award to Dr. Valenzuela, HHRC Board treasurer and legislative coordinator Jenna Vendil listed her exceptional accomplishments and summarized them by saying: “Dr. Grace Valenzuela is one of Maine’s unsung heroes in the work of racial justice and human rights.”

PPS Superintendent Xavier Botana said, “Dr. Grace Valenzuela is most deserving of this recognition. The Portland Public Schools is Maine’s largest and most diverse school district, with about one-third of our students coming from homes where languages other than English are spoken. It is thanks to Grace’s long years of hard work, dedication and leadership that we have our own Multilingual and Multicultural Center that stands out as a model in Maine for meeting the needs of our diverse students and their families. Grace is a fierce champion for social justice for all students and families. We are deeply grateful to her for all she has done and continues to do for the Portland Public Schools.”

Dr. Valenzuela, who holds a PhD in public policy with a concentration in educational leadership and policy from the University of Southern Maine, is originally from the Philippines. She has worked for the Portland Public School since the 1980s, beginning her career as an ELL teacher before moving to the position as director of the district’s Multilingual and Multicultural Center.

In that role, Dr. Valenzuela made sure that students and their families received the education and support they are entitled to, assisting the Portland Public Schools in implementing and complying with the federal guidelines mandated by the landmark Supreme Court case, Lau v. Nichols, known as the Lau Plan. In 2007, Dr. Valenzuela founded Make It Happen!, an award-winning program that provides academic support to immigrant and refugee students, helping them to create competitive academic profiles and access financial aid to enable them to attend college.

Today, Dr. Valenzuela serves as the executive director of communications and community partnerships for the district, a position that brings together all of her past experiences, education, and skills.

“Grace has an infinite capacity for accomplishing a high level of quality work, at times with minimal resources,” said community outreach and development specialist Nanette Dyer Blake, who works closely with Dr. Valenzuela on the PPS Communications Team. “She credits her teams and colleagues, though it is her ability to think outside the box when confronted with challenges and an intense focus on how the outcome will best serve the community that sets her work apart. She also is well known for her party planning skills and the one many turn to when the order of the day is ‘fun!’”

In accepting the prestigious award, Dr. Valenzuela expressed her deep appreciation to the HHRC Board and staff.

“This is such a huge honor,” she said. “I am humbled to be in the company of some of the previous Gerda Haas awardees: Tim Wilson, the late Betsy Parsons, Pious Ali, ILAP, and last year’s honoree Assistant House Majority Leader Representative Rachel Talbot Ross – all remarkable and fierce advocates and leaders on human rights in Maine. I am also humbled by this recognition, knowing that much of the work I do is not done alone. It is always in community with passionate and principled colleagues, co-educators, co-activists, students, and mentors who are all co-conspirators in the struggle towards social justice, equity and liberation. This esteemed recognition belongs to them also.”

In her remarks, Dr. Valenzuela called for humane reform of the U.S. immigration system. She concluded: “Thank you very much for this award of a lifetime. I hope to continue to be deserving of this honor and live a life in the spirit and passion of Greta Haas.”

Learn more about the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine at: https://hhrcmaine.org/

Outstanding STEM Work at Waterboro’s 21st CCLC Program Featured Nationally

Aimee Moody, Director of LearningWorks -RSU 57’s 21st Century Community Learning Center program, and her afterschool staff have been providing outstanding STEM programming for students enrolled in the summer and afterschool program for many years. In more recent years, the pandemic hasn’t stopped them from continuing to offer engaging, high-level, virtual programming.

STEM Next, a national leader in increasing opportunities in STEM learning for youth, recently published a December 2020 Case Study about the Million Girl Moonshot and LearningWorks Waterboro’s 21st program.

Check out the article here: Case Study: LearningWorks Afterschool Program in Waterboro, Maine. Written by Kate Kastalein from the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance.

Governor Mills Visits Portland Adult Education To Promote Its Work

Governor Janet Mills visited Portland Adult Education (PAE) this week to promote its work in providing job and workforce training opportunities for Maine people. As part of her tour, Governor Mills visited with students in English learning classrooms, joined a virtual classroom, and participated in a discussion with former students who have graduated from PAE programs and are now in the workforce.

During the Governor’s Oct. 19 visit, immigrant students in a beginning English class took turns explaining to her why they’re learning English – reasons such as being able to get better jobs and to understand more about the culture in which their children are growing up. One student said she was thrilled that Mills had shaken her hand as they both were entering the building. “I’m so happy,” she said to the Governor.

“Maine welcomes you with all our heart,” Governor Mills told the students.

PAE is one of more than 70 adult education programs across Maine that provide job and workforce training, English learning classes, and other instructional courses that lead to better employment opportunities. Governor Mills, with the support of the Legislature, has increased funding for adult education in Maine by approximately 14 percent since taking office in January 2019, including a $1.2 million increase specifically in adult education workforce development funding.

“Maine has been grappling with a workforce shortage for decades now, and the pandemic has only made it worse,” continued Governor Mills. “Adult education is a critical component in our efforts to address that serious problem and strengthen our workforce. Not only does adult education equip more people with the skills needed to get a good-paying job, but it also allows them to put down roots, raise families, and live a rewarding life while contributing to the overall growth of our economy. It was a pleasure to visit Portland Adult Education, meet with its incredible students and staff, and see firsthand the important work they are doing every day to make Maine a better place.”

The Maine adult education system also partners with the Maine CareerCenters, local employers, higher education, and community agencies to maximize the education and training opportunities for adult learners.

PAE serves more than 2,000 racially and linguistically diverse students in its academic and workforce programs each year. Working with strong employer and community partnerships, PAE designs and implements customized workforce training opportunities for students to enter or advance in a range of professional fields, including health care, education, financial services, early childhood education and transportation. PAE offers 10-12 week intensive programs that integrate targeted language and skills training, as well as career advising and job search support in partnership with PAE’s New Mainers Resource Center.

“It was great to have the Governor acknowledge the incredible work of our staff and students,” said PAE Executive Director Anita St. Onge. “Adult education programs throughout the state are working to provide education for students seeking a high school diploma, preparing students for college, and providing training to strengthen Maine’s workforce. We are also working with foreign-trained professionals to provide education and advice with workforce issues and licensing, enabling them to reach their highest potential.”

“We were happy to welcome Governor Janet Mills to Portland Adult Education,” said Portland Public Schools Superintendent Xavier Botana. “PAE is a wonderful resource to Portland and a major source of economic development. I always say that every dollar we invest in adult education is not just a dollar invested in PAE students. It is a dollar invested in their children, in their families, and in the whole community. I appreciate Governor Mills’ recognition of this and look forward to working with her and the adult education community to maximize the value of PAE and direct the appropriate resources to support their growth and development.”

Over 28,000 Maine Public Elementary Students to Receive Free Books from FAME

(Photo caption: J. McQuilken, second grade student at Captain Albert W. Stevens School in Belfast, with a copy of the book, “Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts”.)

In recognition of October as Financial Planning Month and to strengthen financial capability in Maine, the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) has once again partnered with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to offer Invest in ME Reads, a program to support family financial education by empowering families to engage in conversations about future goals, saving money, and the value of choice.

Second graders at Etna-Dixmont School enjoy author Maribeth Boelts’s virtual book reading.

Unlike many financial education programs that focus on high school students, Invest in ME Reads engages children early in elementary school to help them begin to learn about money and financial decision making. FAME launched the program in 2020 to serve all Maine second graders and this year has expanded it to provide free resources to all public second and third grade students.

Through the Invest in ME Reads program, students will receive from FAME a collection of educational resources, including free books and bookmarks that encourage saving, giving, and delayed gratification. Families will also be given materials to use at home, including a parent guide, information to help kick-start their focus on college savings, and special content to encourage them to visit InvestinMeReads.com, an interactive web page with fun activities and resources for students and their families.

“The Invest in ME program has become a yearly event here at the Etna-Dixmont School”, said Jane York, who serves as Principal of the school. “Our second grade students and teachers have enjoyed reading the book, having a virtual visit with the author, Maribeth Boelts, and discussing the importance of friendship, caring, and helping others. The financial information for the parents has sparked conversations about saving, needs and wants and also giving back. It is a great program and we are thrilled that the third grade was included this year. The experience they had with the book and the parent connection last year has now been reaffirmed. Thank you for this wonderful program.”

The program helps to support Maine’s statewide goal to produce an educated and skilled workforce. For many Mainers, a lack of financial capability can be a significant barrier to pursuing education and training after high school, which in turn can have an impact on an individual’s ability to seek employment and, ultimately, the strength of Maine’s economy.

“At FAME, we recognize that financial capability is a key ingredient for lifelong success and we want to do our part by providing resources that will support financial education – even as early as elementary school,” said FAME Director of Education Martha Johnston. “Schools across Maine have embraced the program and we look forward this year to expanding the program to reach both second and third grade students and their families.”

In November, FAME will offer a virtual reading featuring one of the books, Those Shoes, read by the author Maribeth Boelts. One elementary school will be chosen to bring Boelts into their classroom for a special virtual visit. “A child’s financial education can begin simply through families, teachers, and caregivers sharing a story and engaging in conversation,” said Boelts. “I am so honored that my book is a part of the Invest in ME Reads Program and is included among the many helpful and rich resources provided on FAME’s website.”

For more information about how FAME can support your family’s financial goals, please visit the Invest in ME Reads website.

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) is a quasi-independent state agency that provides innovative financial solutions to help Maine citizens pursue business and educational opportunities. FAME helps to lead the creation of good paying jobs for Maine citizens by working at the nexus between economic and workforce development. To learn more about FAME, please visit www.FAMEmaine.com.

‘Laynee’s Sole Purpose’ Aims to Provide Shoes for Kids in Need

When 8-year-old Laynee Kirby saw a fellow classmate with holes in her shoes, she just couldn’t stop thinking about it. She went home and told her parents, concerned about her friend who may not be able to participate in school activities and be comfortable throughout the day with inadequate shoes.

Her dad, Andrew Kirby, Caribou High School science teacher, soccer coach, and newly named 2021 Aroostook County Teacher of the Year and his wife Brittany started to form a plan. Drawing inspiration from Andrew’s fellow County Teacher of the Year Hillary Hoyt, who experienced a similar issue in her region of Waldo County, Andrew and Brittany got to thinking about how they could help Laynee make a difference in her school and region.

In researching other similar programs across the nation, they found that adequate footwear for kids could mean as much as a 56% improved attendance at school and 70% increased physical activity offered through school.

“There’s so many social issues that kids deal with and this is just one of those and can sometimes be the determining factor that motivates a kid to go to school,” said Andrew Kirby.

“When kids have shoes that fit them, they will be able to focus and learn more in school,” added Laynee.

Andrew, or Mr. Kirby as the students call him, got in touch with Dr. Valerie Waldemarson, the district Jobs for Maine’s Graduates (JMG) Specialist, who he knew would have some ideas to get this started. She dove into action immediately.

“Given the level of economically disadvantaged students in our school district, I agreed to take on this project to bring awareness to a need within our student population, teach my current JMG Students essential skills that are relevant to competencies taught in my class, and mentor a second grader with a passion to serve,” said Dr. Waldemarson.

Incorporating her high school JMG class, Dr. Waldemarson developed Laynee’s sole purpose into multifaceted, cross-curricular, project-based learning lesson for her students, that encompasses leadership development, social awareness, civic awareness, career development, community service, and financial literacy.

Crocs, the shoe company, has made a generous donation to the project along with another local retailer, who has offered a discount on shoes purchased for the project, and many Caribou High School Alumni have made very generous donations as well. Haney’s and Sleepers are both businesses in Caribou who are also helping support the project. In addition, the JMG Viking Pantry Project is also supporting Laynee by purchasing 10 donation boxes and purchasing print material for the project.

In partnership with art teacher Jessica Goodwin, the group has cut wooden hearts that will accompany each pair of shoes that say, “Laced with Love by Laynee”. These were created and cut utilizing technology at Caribou High School and show students how to enhance their presentations utilizing technology available to them at school. In addition, Jessica Goodwin and her digital media class are on board to help in the development of marketing material.

Mr. Kirby’s varsity soccer team is helping to attach the hearts to every shoe collected and donated. “We are using the project as a way to help demonstrate the importance of community service to our players. Laynee, along with our other children, have tagged along with me to practices and games which allowed the girls to build relationships with them,” said Mr. Kirby. “I think that is a key part to their wanting to support her in this.”

They are in the process of filling a closet of shoes of all sizes for school aged youth in the area that will be available to students or teachers at request for those who might be in need. Another component to Laynee’s Sole Purpose is to use the school social worker and guidance counselors to help connect with the families in need, to ensure they are on board with accepting donated shoes.

The project has also set up donation boxes at Caribou Community School, which serves Pre-k to 8th grade students, Caribou High School, the Superintendent’s office, and a few other places around town. The gymnastics center that Laynee frequents (Allstar Gymnastics) is also supporting her by allowing her to set up a donation box at their Presque Isle and Houlton gym locations as well.

“We are blessed with an amazing leadership team and wholeheartedly believe that none of this would be possible without the constant encouragement of our Superintendent, Tim Doak, Assistant Superintendent Jane McCall, and CHS administrators Dr. Eric McGough and Evan Graves to meet students where they are at and to take their education to the next level at every possible opportunity,” said Dr. Waldemarson.

Because the issue of students not having the adequate gear needed to participate equitably in school is not unique to Caribou, after becoming fully operational in Caribou area schools, Laynee’s Sole Purpose hopes to expand their efforts to help surrounding towns and Aroostook county schools.

For more information about this project, reach out to Andrew Kirby at akirby@rsu39.org or Valerie Waldemarson at vwaldemarson@rsu39.org.

Woodland Consolidated School Awarded Technology Grant

Woodland Consolidated School, a kindergarten through 8th grade school in Northern Maine, is about to be the beneficiary of a major technology upgrade in its classrooms!

Technology Director Lisa Milliard applied for a Rural Utilities Services grant to acquire much needed technology for her school. The Rural Utilities Service is part of the Rural Development division of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant that Ms. Millard applied for, Woodlands Consolidated School will be receiving 65-inch interactive displays for every classroom at the school.

Principal Gillian Laird-Sleeper said that the driving force for the upgrade came from Milliard because she “felt that the school needed some updated technology both in implementation and delivery of lessons, as well as student use of technology.”

Sixth-grade teacher Sandy Swan, and 7th-grade teacher Cody Tompkins, will be just two of the many beneficiaries of this technology upgrade. They are both thrilled about what the interactive displays will do for their classrooms.

Swan mentioned that she’s hoping the tools that come with the new displays will allow for more creativity for her and her students. While her current board allows her to write, save, and erase, she said, “I cannot manipulate what I put on the board whatsoever.” She hopes this new technology will allow her “to complete lessons more effectively.”

Tompkins agrees and described the impact of the interactive display as a “true game changer” for his classroom. “A smart board would allow for home to school access for the students who are remote either due to quarantine or exposure to COVID-19,” he says. He also noted that the interactive features would allow more manipulation of materials like graphing in math, diagramming sentence structure in English, and highlighting vocabulary in reading.

The application of the interactive displays will certainly serve the Woodland Consolidated School staff and students well. As Swan put it, “I cannot wait to see what the tools, gallery and multi-touch options hold in store for us.”

For more information (requirements, terms, application process) about USDA Rural Utilities Service grants visit: https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/telecommunications-programs/distance-learning-telemedicine-grants. Grant applications are accepted through grants.gov.