Dustin Lee, Parts Manager of Lee Auto has created a unique and valuable internship opportunity for Portland High School students. Through Lee, students have the opportunity to intern in the service department learning skills such as changing and torquing tires, changing oil, checking tire pressure, rotating tires, and working with breaks and spark plugs. Lee is the only auto shop that currently partners with Portland High School, providing an invaluable experience for students. Students work directly with service staff members and gain one on one mentorship in the field.

This internship allows students who did not have the opportunity to enroll in the automotive program at Portland Arts and Technology High School and students who hope to begin the program in the future to be able to get hands on experience working with cars. Lee had one Portland High intern last year and two Portland High interns this year.

Broderick Rutledge, a sophomore planning on enrolling in the PATHS Automotive Program says he likes the internship because “it’s something I enjoy, [and] the people that I work with also play an important part in it too. They make the internship even more enjoyable.”

Francis Costin, a senior says “It’s really interesting to learn auto skills on a variety of different vehicles, and I am also excited to be able to apply the skills I learn at Lee Auto to my car later in life.”

The internship benefits Lee too. Dustin Lee says that “It’s a great opportunity for us to build relationships with Portland students who have interest in automotive.” It helps their company because “these students get real exposure to what it’s like to work at our dealership. Hopefully they like it and will think of us when it comes time for them to start their careers.”

Portland High would love to partner with more businesses, including in the automotive field! If you are interested in getting involved through job shadows, mock interviews, internships, or career panels. Please contact Andrea Levinsky, Extended Learning Opportunities Coordinator at levina@portlandschools.org.

This article was submitted by Andrea Levinsky, Extended Learning Opportunities Coordinator at Portland High School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. If you have a story or an idea email it to Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

On Friday 1/31/20, Maranacook Community Middle School students participated in a presentation through the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The presentation outlined symptoms of mental health conditions and gave ideas about how to help themselves, friends, or family members who may need support.

The presentation included personal testimony from someone living with a mental health condition and her journey to recovery. The presentation helped students see how mental health is so important for all of us, and there is something we can all do to help ourselves and each other. This supports the district’s mission of being a caring school community.

Thank you to NAMI and all our students for helping to make this our reality!

This story was submitted to the DOE by Kristen Levesque, Principal of Maranacook Community Middle School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. Submit stories and ideas to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Aquaculture me!, an initiative created by Yarmouth educator, 2016 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year, and Miliken recipient Morgan Cuthbert, to get classroom teachers connected to the science and industry of aquaculture, held a professional development conference at the University of Maine’s Darling Center near Damariscotta last week.

Maine Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Dan Chuhta attended the event on behalf of the Department to give brief remarks and to extend a heartfelt appreciation to Aquaculture me! and educators throughout Maine who work hard to provide Maine students with meaningful educational lessons that incorporate scientific practice about the complex systems that affect our communities and environment through aquaculture education.

The workshop gave participants the opportunity to hear from Maine aquaculture researchers, learn about connecting with the community and the industry, in addition to hearing from Maine educators from Cape Elizabeth, Brunswick, and Yarmouth Schools about successful ways to connect Aquaculture to the classroom.

The conference also gave participants the chance to network with one another and have a round-table discussion about Aquaculture education in Maine.

For more information about Aquaculture me! visit their website.

The conference also gave participants the chance to network with one another and have a round-table discussion about Aquaculture education in Maine.

For more information about Aquaculture me! visit their website.

Having attended Alabama’s Chelsea High School’s presentation on their community art project #whyyoumatter at the National Art Education Association Conference in Boston last spring, Medomak Valley High School’s advanced photography teacher, Brooke Holland, and her class have taken on the challenge here in Maine.

The mission of the campaign states, “ #whyyoumatter is a public art campaign that focuses on empowering students while fostering a positive school climate where all people feel supported and valued.”

Holland, with the help of volunteer photography specialist Kyle Santheson, has instructed her advanced photography students in taking black and white photographs of everyone in the school along with their personally written messages of why they matter.

To prepare, staff were given a script with resources to use with their home bases. After viewing inspirational videos about making a difference, students were given time to think about why they matter.

Holland reports, “Within the photo studio, you can hear students and staff helping each other write their statements; whether that is simply articulating their message or giving them the pep talk they need on why they matter.”

These 11X18 posters will affirm and empower our daily interactions and efforts and will, in total, be an impressive display for our district art show this spring. We matter!

This article was submitted by Linda Dolloff Pease, Principal at Medomak Valley High School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. If you would like to submit a story or share an idea for the campaign email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

The Camden-Rockport Middle School 7th grade Interdisciplinary fall project, “Learning How to See” was selected as a “Model of Excellence” and is featured in the National Model of Excellence database.

Created in collaboration with Harvard Graduate School of Education, Models of Excellence is a open resource featuring exemplary pre-K to 12th-grade student work. Works chosen for this database are recognized for their high level of integrated curriculum development, instruction, assessment and students final product work.

In a press release issued by Five Town CSD / MSAD #28, special congratulations were given to John Dietter, Hilary Flagg, Sam Zwecker, Sarah Whittam, Beth York and Kristen Andersen for their hard work on this project.

The release also said, “Camden-Rockport Middle School is so proud to have their hard work recognized. The school is on a journey to implement meaningful project based learning experiences for students and this is strong affirmation at the national level!”

Camden-Rockport Middle School 7th grade Interdisciplinary fall project, “Learning How to See” can be viewed here.

Information for this article was provided in a press release from Five Town CSD / MSAD #28 Executive Assistant to the Superintendent & Communications Director Trina Schroeder.

Submitted by Lanet Hane, Director of Community Connections, RSU14.

Michelle Lane has brought her love of robotics with her to Windham High School. Ms. Lane is in her second year teaching computer science with the district, coming to us from Biddeford. While there, she led the robotics club to a number of successful years.

Ms. Lane was eager to continue her work with students and robotics, and it is out of that desire that the WHS Robotics Club was born.

Michelle Lane, Julian Howard, and Dillon Foley discuss improvements to their robot’s design.

Dillon Foley and Victoria Lin working on the two team robots. The robot that is currently operational is designed to collect the blocks and carry them to a new location.

The club consists of a small number of students, grades 9-12, who have a passion for robotics, programming, and computers. Students meet after school twice a week to construct and adapt their robots in the pursuit of victory at their robotics meets.

“We started with building 1 bot and attended a competition at York High School. During that competition the team competed in the individual skills competition and earned enough points to qualify for states. The team received a grant to purchase a second robot kit with a stipulation that we needed to have another robot to compete with by the end of the season.”

The students are currently working on making their second robot operational and hope to utilize it in future meets.

Victoria Lin, a freshman at WHS, says of the club, “At first, it was intimidating. I was very unfamiliar with the tools and how the competitions work. But over time I watched and learned. Before I knew it, I was designing and building a robot! The thing I love about robotics is the logic problems. You don’t need to be a math wiz or some kind of master mechanic, all you need is the motivation to get involved.”

As funding becomes available for additional robots and supplies, Ms. Lane hopes to expand the club to meet the growing need for increased IT and computer science opportunities.

The team has three meets remaining before the state championship in March. The state championship will be held at The Point Community Center in South Portland on March 14th, beginning at 9:30am.