Training of the Trainer (TOT) in Suicide Prevention for Schools

NAMI Maine, a training contractor for the Maine Suicide Prevention Program, is offering a Training of the Trainer (TOT) in-person, half-day training on November 16 in Westbrook.

This training prepares participants to deliver a facilitated 60-90 minute suicide prevention awareness session for co-workers and/or community members. The awareness session is required by state law for all school personnel. By attending the Training of the Trainer (TOT) your school administrative unit will be equipped to provide these trainings as needed when new staff are brought in and when previously trained staff is in need of a refresher. Ready-to-use packaged materials will be provided.

Prerequisite: Completed Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training.

For more information and registration click here.

Free Virtual Workshop Series: Building an Active and Engaging Recess & School Culture

This workshop series is sponsored by MCD Public Health’s Healthy Kids Healthy Future Program in partnership with Maine CDC, Maine DOE, and Let’s Go!

Playworks is excited to offer a free virtual workshop series, Building an Active and Engaging Recess & School Culture, starting November 18th to Maine schools.

We all know it’s more essential than ever that students feel safe within their school community, are supported by adult role models, and have access to positive outlets for physical activity and social emotional development.

In each of these critical areas, Playworks brings validated best practices developed over 25 years to Maine educators.

Join with a team of educators from your community for interactive virtual workshops and access to 50+ online learning modules to help build an active and engaging recess all through PlayworksU!

The Playworks Workshop Series will be held virtually November 18th and December 2nd from 3:30 – 5:30pm.

Registration is limited! Sign your team up here.

For more information and resources, visit the eventbrite page or contact Dawn Lavallee, Playworks New England Partnership Director, at dawn.lavallee@playworks.org or contact jean.zimmerman@maine.gov for more information.

Teaching Cybersecurity Training Opportunity for High School Teachers

Recognizing October is Cybersecurity Awareness month and recognizing that a career in the high demand field of cybersecurity may be of interest to students in high school, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) would like to share information about a scholarship opportunity for high school teachers to be trained to teach cybersecurity.

Jointly sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency, the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity is funding the first credentialing program for high school cybersecurity education in the country through a collaborative of higher education institutions called the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy (NCTA). The inaugural program will prepare 90 high school teachers to teach an advanced cybersecurity course designed for high school teachers.

Three universities (DePaul, University of Louisville, and UA Little Rock) will be offering the virtual program, with a little bit of variation depending on the university’s program. Teachers who are accepted into the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy will receive funding covering tuition for the 12-credit hour virtual graduate certificate program that will include coursework on teaching cybersecurity, foundations of cybersecurity, network security, and advanced topics designed for high school teachers.

With 90 scholarships available, interested teachers should register for information before December 1, 2021 at this National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy link. The application for the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy will open in December and the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy program will begin in Summer 2022.

To view the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s press release about its National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy program click this UA Little Rock link.

For more information about the K-12 Maine Learning Results Life and Career Ready Standards and specific strategies for facilitating career awareness, exploration, planning, and development with students, contact Maine DOE Life and Career Ready Education Specialist, Diana Doiron at diana.doiron@maine.gov or 207-592-2128.

Virtual Tour of NASA’s Antarctic Meteorite Lab + Astromaterials 3D

The NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) team invites you to register for the upcoming webinar for educators, educator-led groups of students, or college level students. The targeted audience is students in grades 9 and above, but other grade levels are welcome to register.

Virtual Tour of NASA’s Antarctic Meteorite Lab + Astromaterials 3D

Join a FREE NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) webinar! During this webinar, they will give participants a tour of their Antarctic Meteorite Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center, where they curate meteorites collected during ANtarctic Search for METeorites (ANSMET) Expeditions. They will also introduce participants to their Astromaterials 3D Project, a STEAM effort that encourages investigators of all ages to virtually explore meteorites like never before! The presentation will last approximately 45 minutes followed by an optional ~15-30 minutes of questions and answers.

Register for the live event or to receive an archived recording of the presentation (pending a successful recording). To participate in the live event you will need an internet connected computer with speakers (no microphones or cameras are needed).

Tuesday, November 16, 2021 from 12:00 -1:00pm Eastern Time
We plan to remain on the live event ~15–30 minutes past the top of the hour to answer additional questions participants may have.
Registration here!

Other Webinar Details:

After you register for the event, you will see a Webinar Registration Complete! Confirmation on your screen AND you will receive an email with a confirmation that your registration has been received.
For those of you who register for the Live event, you will receive an email with the Webinar Testing (which will likely occur on 11/15) and Live Event Connection Information (11/16). We will facilitate this webinar using Zoom Webinar.
This event will also be livestreamed on YouTube (details will be shared as we get closer to the event).

If you have questions, please feel free to email Paige V. Graff (paige.v.graff@nasa.gov) or put your questions in your registration form so she can contact you directly.

WEBINAR: Bullying Awareness and Prevention Resources and Strategies

Please join the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse on October 26 at 3:00 PM EDT for an informational webinar on bullying awareness and prevention resources, tactics, and strategies to create safer school environments. This session will provide information and resources to the kindergarten through 12^th grade (K-12) school community.

The session will feature guest speaker and bullying prevention expert Melissa Mercado Crespo, Ph.D., MSc, MA from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Violence Prevention. She will provide an overview of what bullying is and how to identify it, key strategies and actions schools and school personnel can implement to prevent and address it, and the tools and resources available from the government to support schools in these efforts. She will also describe the different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), their impact on school violence, and the relationship between bullying, suicide, and the well-being of school-age youth.

The discussion will also feature additional school safety-related resources on topics like school climate and mental health access and support and a Q&A session for participants to engage directly with Dr. Mercado Crespo.

When: October 26, 2021, 3:00 to 4:00 PM EDT
Where: Adobe Connect (access link to be provided one day in advance of the event)
For: K-12 School Superintendents and Principals; Counselors and Mental Health Practitioners; School and District Administrators; Teachers and School Staff; School Resource Officers; Parents and Guardians; Students
Registration: https://schoolsafetybullyingpreventionwebinar.eventbrite.com

We hope you can join us for this special event during National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Homeland Security’s School Safety team at SchoolSafety@hq.dhs.gov.

Count ME In Training: Transforming School Climate & Culture

Join Count ME In for a fall training session and learn strategies on how to build a positive climate, improve school culture, decrease chronic absenteeism whether remote, in-person, or six-feet apart, and much more!

Date & Time: Tuesdays, November 9 & November 16 from 12:00 pm – 2:45 pm

INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SESSION

You and your team CAN create a positive school climate and culture during a pandemic!

PARTICIPANTS WILL:

Examine how to build healthy relationships within the school community even when behind a screen (staff with students, staff with staff, and staff with families)
Learn how to implement fair process for inclusive decision-making
Explore strategies for difficult conversations among staff, students and/or families
Access a framework (including staff survey) to assess your own school climate and culture through consensus decision-making
Leave the workshop with tools to help create a thriving school where all students and staff can feel welcome and be successful

PRESENTERS: Ansley Newton and Susan Lieberman

COST: $85 per member of the school team (minimum of 3 team members) and $115 for individuals. This covers training and materials. The same team should attend both remote sessions. Zoom link will be forwarded after registration.

REGISTER HERE or visit: www.countmeinmaine.org/newsite/attend-upcoming-trainings

If you have any questions, please contact Susan Lieberman at slieberman@countmeinmaine.org.

Two-Part Webinar Series on Nurturing Speaking Growth for English Learners

The Maine Department of Education invites all educators, Kindergarten to Grade 12, to participate in a two-part webinar series on Nurturing Speaking Growth for students who are English learners. Facilitated by Terri Mosgrove of WIDA, this webinar series is designed to support all educators who would like to explore the connection between the ACCESS Speaking Test and classroom practices that promote oral language development.

Participants will explore the underpinnings of the Speaking Test in a self-paced module that allows for choice and control. In each webinar, participants will engage in meaning making activities that provide ways to nurture students’ speaking growth. Participants will be asked to speak and share ideas with colleagues within the virtual event.

By engaging in the eWorkshop, participants will:

Apply the underpinnings of the Speaking Assessment to classroom practice
Connect the Key Language Uses to instructional practices in speaking
Explore the impact of holding the floor for extended classroom discourse
Choose Teacher Moves to support student voice
Develop an ear for language to support precision decisions.

Dates: 10.19.21 and 10.26.21

Times: 2-3:30pm

Register here – closes on 10.11.21.

Note that these webinars will not be recorded, per WIDA policy, and alternate tasks will be provided for registered participants who are unable to attend. If you have any questions, please contact April Perkins, World Languages & ESOL/Bilingual Programs Specialist, at april.perkins@maine.gov.

ACTEM 2021 Fall Conference to take place Virtually on October 14th and 15th

The 2021 Fall ACTEM Conference (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine) is virtual this year, hosted by Hopin, a very reliable and successful platform. The conference is FREE for all ACTEM members, $20 for in-state non-members, and $30 for out-of-state educators.

The conference will run Thursday, October 14h and Friday, October 15th from 3:00PM to 7:00PM each day.

2021 Fall ACTEM Conference Highlights:

Two amazing keynotes, Michael Matera and Dr. Shreya Dave.
90% of the presentations are recorded and available to all ACTEM members.
Check out the schedule of presentations here: https://bit.ly/ACTEM21

Learn more and register here!

For more information contact ACTEM at (207) 222-4353 or info@actem.org.

Free Statewide Meet & Greet for New School Library Staff

New to a school library and/or changed libraries? Join the Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) and its members members in small groups to chat about your questions and ideas.

This is a free, virtual event that will take place on Thursday, September 30th from 4pm to 5pm.

During the event you will have the opportunity to connect with other new library staff new to a school or the profession while also gaining perspective from MASL members. The session will cover the benefits of MASL membership including professional development, networking, and scholarship opportunities.

For more information or to register, please visit the event page on the MASL website.

FREE TRAINING: Behavioral Threat Assessment

What is school-based behavioral threat assessment?

Violence prevention strategy recommended by the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Secret Service, and FBI.
Multidisciplinary team approach to identify behaviors of concern, assess the level of risk, and provide appropriate interventions.

Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG TRAINING):

Consists of 2 levels of training.
Level 1: 8 eLearning modules, taking approximately 6 hours, to be completed at your convenience asynchronously online. Training window opens on October 4, 2021.
Level 2: 4-hour Synchronous training to work through practice cases applying the methodology learned in the Level 1 training. October 19th via Zoom from 9:00-1:00.

Who should attend?

School Resource Officers
School Administrators
Law Enforcement Responding to Schools
School Mental Health Providers/Social Workers/Psychologists
School Safety Teams
Juvenile Community Corrections Officers

How to register?

Contact Karen Barnes, Threat Assessment/Mental Health Officer at the Maine School Safety Center at karen.a.barnes@maine.gov for more information or to be added to the training roster.
Additional training dates TBA.