MACTE Conference Draws 400+ Educators Statewide, Honors CTE Teacher of the Year

Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education (MACTE) held its annual conference last week at Lewiston Regional Technical Center (LRTC). The official organization for Maine’s network of 27 career and technical education (CTE) schools, MACTE plans the conference as a place for CTE educators to convene and share ideas, hear from industry professionals, and honor hard-working colleagues.

During the opening presentation of the conference, participants were welcomed by MACTE President and host Rob Callahan, who is also the Director of LRTC. Dr. Donald Cannan, Executive Director of MACTE also addressed the crowd remarking on the utmost importance of CTE educators in the training of Maine’s current and future workforce. Following the welcoming, Maine Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Dan Chuhta presented the CTE Teacher of the Year award to Greg Cushman, an electrical instructor and SkillsUSA advisor at LRTC.

An alumnus and former educator of Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, Greg has a successful 25-year career in electrical trade under his belt. He has since returned to his roots in Career and Technical Education in a different capacity, to serve as an educator to the students in his community. Known for his outstanding student outcomes and many accomplishments, both in his professional career and in education, his nominators, LRTC Director Rob Callahan along with students and colleagues from LRTC, had this to say about Greg:

“Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Greg’s nomination for this award is the quality of his character. He is a highly approachable, thoughtful and genuine person who always looks for the good in any situation. He approaches his responsibilities as an educator, electrician and community member with utmost importance. He sets an example for those around him which is based on hard work, integrity and service to others.”

After being named CTE Teacher of the year, Greg took the stage, while the excited crowd stood in applause and his family joined him to congratulate him for this well-deserved recognition. The CTE Teacher of the Year award is administered by MACTE as a way to recognize teachers who are providing outstanding career and technical education programs for youth and/or adults in their respective fields and communities.

After hearing from keynote speaker Shawn Moody, who spoke about the Blue Collar CTE scholarship opportunity, participants attended a morning filled with a variety of breakout sessions. In addition to sessions lead by Maine DOE Leaders who provided information about State level updates, data, and funding, there were also sessions led by CTE leaders and industry professionals about various topics including understanding and supporting LGBTQ+ individuals, early college opportunities through the Maine Bridge Academy program and the Community College System, as well as workforce and industry updates from Cianbro, Apple, Inc, and Maine Army National Guard to name a few.

Conference participants also had the opportunity to attend sessions led by Maine education colleagues such as Foster Tech’s Chris MeMarco and Jake Bogar who led a session about how to fit science into any CTE class, and Ruthanne Harrison, an Engineering Teacher from Bath Regional CTE, who led a session about design thinking and 3D Printing.

A delicious lunch was served at LRTC’s well-known Culinary Arts School, The Green Ladle followed by a final session that provided tech updates for CTE educators.

The annual conference came to a close with a positive response from participants, especially for the variety of breakout sessions that provided instructors with information about common best practices. MACTE Executive Director Donald Cannan says they “plan to continue this very successful practice” as they look toward planning future MACTE conferences and events.

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.

Carrie Ricker Elementary School Integrates Culture into the Curriculum

As a new addition to the community and to the school, Principal Dani Finn noticed that the students at Carrie Ricker Elementary were curious about her and her background. Being a native of the Hawaiian Islands, she was eager to share her culture and experiences outside of Maine with the students, and has found that they were just as eager to learn.

Principal Finn has since begun a “Cultural Competencies Series” which brings speakers with a wide variety of cultural backgrounds to the school to talk with students about where they are from and how that is both similar and different from the traditions found here in Maine and in the United States.

Drawing from the diverse pool of backgrounds of the various people who live right here in Maine, in the communities surrounding the Litchfield area and beyond, Principal Finn is able to welcome many folks to her school, presenting new and rich learning opportunities to the students.

Left to right: Hawo Abdille, Lewiston Public Schools English Language Learner (ELL) Intake Coordinator and Dani Finn, Principal of Carrie Ricker Elementary School

On September 26th, Hawo Abdille, Lewiston Public Schools English Language Learner (ELL) Intake Coordinator visited Carrie Ricker Elementary School to talk with 3rd graders and share her knowledge, upbringing, culture, and experiences as a native of Somalia.

As up-beat music played through the loud speakers, about seventy-five 3rd graders filed into the multi-purpose room, greeted by a wide-smiling Howa, bopping to the music and saying hello to each of the students as they took their seats. Howa was playing a video of people doing a traditional dance at a Somali wedding. She started by introducing herself and where she was from, providing a little bit of background about herself and how she moved from Somalia to the United States at the age of nine, eventually settling into the Lewiston area with her family.

First showing the students where Somalia is located on a map, Howa also shared that, like here in the U.S., people in Somalia celebrate many different holidays both religious and cultural, and have other unique customs that they treasure and look forward to. She covered a broad range of topics, everything from the way people dress to what they eat, a popular topic among the students! Students were excitedly raising their hands to ask her more and more questions.

“Does it snow in Somalia?” One student inquired. “Do you celebrate New Year’s Eve in Somalia?” Another student asked.

The patient and experienced Howa answered as many questions as she could while also carrying on with her presentation. Howa is an alumna of Lewiston Public Schools, and now proudly serves the students and families who move to the Lewiston area as they transition into the community and enroll their children in school.

As the 30-minute presentation came to a close, the students didn’t seem to fall short of yet more questions for Howa. Principal Finn asked them, “Do we want to invite Howa to come back again?” A question to which the students replied with a resounding, “YES!” Happy to oblige their invitation, Howa promised to bring Somalian food next time she comes.

In talking with Principal Finn briefly after the presentation and before she had to rush off to dismiss students for the day, she excitedly shared her success with the Cultural Competencies Series, adding that she was lucky to have the full support of her Superintendent Andrew Carlton and has been collaborating with RSU 4 Director of Curriculum, Assessment, & Instruction Kathy Martin to help integrate further cultural learning opportunities into the curriculum in multiple content areas. The series is meant to provide students with a starting point to a world of culture, knowledge, and experiences beyond their classroom walls.

Principal Finn has plans to bring a broad range of cultural speakers in to talk with all grade levels, all year long and going forward for as long as she can keep students engaged and find speakers willing to participate.

In seeing how incredibly interested and excited the students were to meet Howa, it seems like the Cultural Competencies Series could be the start of a long-standing tradition at Carrie Ricker Elementary School.

This article was written by Maine DOE staff member Rachel Paling in collaboration with Carrie Ricker Elementary School. If you would like to invite the Department to your school to write an article, or if you would like to send along a good news item for the Maine DOE Newsroom email Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Old Town Elementary School Celebrates School Garden

Information for this article was submitted by Jeanna Tuell, Principal of Old Town Elementary School.

Old Town Elementary School has developed a beautiful and effective school gardens that students and teachers alike can use as a space to learn, grow, and experience the outdoors.

Described as an outdoor learning classroom, for several years the students have planted and harvested food to give to their school community. In addition, the students have the benefit of using the space as an outdoor environment to explore and experience a variety of other topics.

In September, the School hosted a garden party for their students and families. Families were able to take a tour of the garden, harvest some of the vegetables, and have a wonderful Saturday pressing apples and tasting new recipes.

WCC Educator Profile: Lewis Collins

Washington County Consortium (WCC): Washington County Educator Profile, submitted by Sarah Woog, Executive Director of the WCC.

Meet Lewis Collins, Superintendent of Moosabec CSD and Union 103

Moosabec CSD and Union 103 is a school district in Washington County nestled in the coastal communities of Jonesport and Beal Island. It includes Jonesport-Beals High School, Jonesport Elementary School, and Beals Elementary School. The district is a relatively small district, one familiar to many of us, with generations of pride in its schools, combined classrooms, contract disputes, packed gyms for basketball games, and a part time superintendent. These characteristics represent significant strengths and challenges, and Lewis (Lew) Collins is excited to leverage the strengths of the district to meet the challenges of a small rural district in Maine.

Lew started as Superintendent of Moosabec CSD and Union 103 in July of this year, and shortly began listening to the staff at the schools and community members he signed on to serve. He sees listening as one of the most important things he can do this year, and recognizes that the voice and values of the people in the district will help him determine how to best support them and increase student outcomes. Lew plans to spend much of his time this year “going into schools, getting diverse perspectives, listening to staff and teachers.” So far, he likes what he’s hearing and said the district’s greatest strengths are “first, its kids; and next, its staff, who are completely dedicated to student success.”

Complete dedication to student success has been a hallmark of Lew’s long career in education. He began his career in Camden, NJ, where he was a teacher at an alternative education school for adjudicated youth. He’s proud of the on-the-job training the school provided, and the work-study with pay opportunities the students were able to take advantage of. The school, and Lew’s work within it, supported students in discovering, defining, and pursuing their own paths to success, paths that took them off the troubled roads they had already traversed, and supported them on a journey toward meaningful and fulfilling lives.

This theme of supporting students in finding fulfillment and success determined by their own passions and values is one with which many educators in Washington County can relate. This theme is evident in the current work being done to expand Career and Technical Education opportunities, and is pervasive in all of our schools. We all know the lobsterman’s daughter who takes a half day work-study her senior year to work on the boat, or the third-grader who designs a four-wheeler for his lego-engineering project. In fact, in Lew’s own district, students at Beals Elementary learn science by posing hypotheses and designing experiments in their own backyards, working with the Downeast Institute (DEI) to address the green crab problem, or to determine the best conditions under which mussels may thrive.

Lew is continuing his listening tour of his district. It’s important work. He is excited to see how his “understanding of the needs of his district translates into success for kids.” I have a sneaking suspicion he’ll find the needs and values that surface are already familiar to him, are harmonious with his own values and experiences, and provide a rich foundation for inspiring and supporting student success. And Lew, as you listen to the folks in Washington County you are here to support and serve, I hope one message is loud and clear: Welcome. It’s good to have you.

Cultivating Positivity at Noble Middle School

Submitted by Melinda Luders, Assistant Principal at Noble Middle School.

If you need a dose of positivity and lots of smiles to start your day, just join the parent morning drop off line at Noble Middle School in Berwick, Maine! It doesn’t matter what day of the week you choose or the weather outside, the morning crew will be there to greet you with a smile. The crew consists of principal Mike Roberts, SRO Fogg and PE teacher Becky Good. We asked Becky to share her story.

It all began a year ago when I volunteered to trade in my lunch and recess duties for everyday morning duty. As the first couple weeks went by I noticed that not everyone was as happy as I, so I got to thinking … How could I start their morning off on more of a positive note? What could I do to make them smile? After all, good energy and positive vibes are contagious; I wanted to build the momentum in our community.

I decided to print and laminate different smile emojis and mount them on paint stirrers. I found that by putting the smiley face in front of my face it would almost always elicit a smile from my passers by. As the weeks and months went by, more and more parents and children arrived with smiles on their faces wondering what crazy thing Ms. Good would be doing next. The response I love the most is when a parent rolls the window down and says, ‘Thanks for making me smile!’

One morning a parent and her four passengers arrived holding emojis up in front of their faces giving back smiles. Our greetings then evolved from smiles to other funny emojis, big head cut outs, Wednesday’s hump day hat, rollerblading in Bruins attire, serving up hot chocolate and sometimes even having a real fire pit where we roast marshmallows for some of the lucky students being dropped off.

The smiles and the kindness kept spreading throughout the school year. One parent even nicknamed Friday as ‘Kind Friday’. He gives each of us a Kind bar as he passes through the line. Another dad would bring coffee and tea on Thursdays. It’s not uncommon that the three of us often get handed an occasional whoopie pie as well.

Another school year has begun and the smiles and waves are still going strong. Even the new 6th grade parents have jumped on board with the positive start to the day. “I couldn’t think of a better way to begin my day.”

Maine Adult Education System Receives Champion of Education and Workforce Development Award

Gail Senese, Maine DOE Director of Adult Education, Lisa MacDonald Cooper, MDF Program Director, Education & Workforce, Shirley Wright, Executive Director of MAEA, and Suzanne Nowinski, President of MAEA.

At the 2019 Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon hosted by the Maine Development Foundation (MDF), Maine’s Adult Education System, comprised of over 70 local Adult Education Programs, the Maine Department of Education’s Office of Adult Education, and the Maine Adult Education Association (MAEA), was one of six award recipients.

As part of the award presentation, MDF described the Maine Adult Education System in the following way:

Local adult education programs throughout Maine provide a range of instructional services to help adults develop the skills for further education opportunities, job training, and better employment, and to realize their full potential as productive workers, family members, and citizens. Adults seeking to further their education or advance their careers can enroll in adult education courses in literacy and adult basic education, high school completion, English language acquisition courses, Maine College Transitions, and career preparation and enrichment. Instruction is aligned with adult learners’ goals and focuses on supporting their efforts to meet the College and Career Readiness Standards. The Maine Adult Education System partners with Maine CareerCenters, local employers, higher education, and community agencies to maximize the education and training opportunities for its adult learners. And, most importantly, it embodies the very spirit of lifelong learning, which enriches individual lives and whole communities.

Accepting the award on behalf of adult education programming statewide were Gail Senese, Maine DOE Director of Adult Education, Suzanne Nowinski, President of MAEA, and Shirley Wright, Executive Director of MAEA.

GailonStage — Gail Senese, Maine DOE Director of Adult Education.

“This means so much to all of us,” said Dr. Gail Senese in an acceptance speech she gave on behalf of the Maine Adult Education System. “We see ourselves as part the economic development chain in this State, preparing people to be good workers, and good community members, and good neighbors. We thank you so much for this recognition, for not only the people who work in this field but for the people who deserve to be served.”

BackPack Team at Gorham School District Receives $25,000 Neighborhood Assist Grant

Gorham School District was one of 40 recipients nationwide to receive a $25,000 Neighborhood Assist Grant. They received the award for the efforts with their BackPack Program and School Garden, an initiative that provides food for students and families experiencing food insecurity in the community.

This past June, State Farm accepted 2,000 applications for their Neighborhood Assist grant program. Submissions represented causes from throughout the country which focused on education, safety, and community development initiatives. A review committee narrowed down the submissions to the top 200 finalists which were posted online and voted on by the public. The 40 causes with the most votes each won a $25,000 grant.

Gorham’s BackPack Team Administers weekend food and snack bags to students, offering a school food pantry at the high school, and by growing a school garden which provides fresh produce to the local food pantry during the growing season. The BackPack Program sends food home every weekend with students who would otherwise not have enough food to last through the weekend. Learn more here.

Enrollment up at Maine’s Community Colleges

The Maine Community College System announced last week that preliminary enrollment figures show a 6.3 percent increase in enrolled students this fall compared to the same time last year.

The increase is in sharp contrast to a nationwide trend of declining enrollments at two-year public colleges over the last several years. The strong showing is due in part to a number of new initiatives at the colleges aimed at attracting and retaining more students. The system also did not raise tuition for this academic year, maintaining the lowest tuition and fees in New England.

As of September 23, the system-wide headcount is up 6.3 percent (an additional 966 students) from the same date a year ago. All seven colleges report increases, the largest of which are at Eastern Maine Community College, up 10.4 percent with 2,141 students enrolled compared to 1,939 last year at this time, and at Southern Maine Community College up 8.2 percent, with 6,078 students enrolled compared to 5,618 a year ago.

At the same time, the system is also seeing a surge of participation in its short-term job training programs which are not included in the fall headcount enrollment numbers.

In the last year, the number of trainees who completed short-term training programs funded by the MCCS Maine Quality Centers (MQC) program has almost doubled to 1,602, up from 897 in the previous year. MQC works with Maine employers to provide customized training that is free to trainees and is focused on strengthening the skills of the Maine workforce.

“We’re seeing significant growth both in our programs that lead to one-year certificates and two-year degrees and in short-term training,” MCCS President David Daigler told the system’s Board of Trustees at a meeting Wednesday in Bangor. “Demand from both employers and individuals looking to gain the skills needed to compete in this new economy is exploding and stretching our ability to respond.”

The high demand for both degree programs and short-term training at Maine’s community colleges is particularly noteworthy given the state’s record low unemployment, aging demographics and widespread workforce shortages. Community college enrollment has historically been tied to the economy, going up during periods of high unemployment and declining when jobs are plentiful.

Fall enrollment increases have been driven in part by initiatives at campuses across the state. Among the new efforts are: doubling the number of visits to some high schools, replacing group orientations with one-on-one orientation sessions; reaching prospective students through texting instead of email; adding new high-demand programs including plumbing, HVAC and esports; and giving students new online tools to communicate with others to increase peer-to-peer connections.

Enrollment numbers for fall 2019 will be finalized in mid-October.

See the full release with graphics on the MCCS website.