Two weeks before the solar eclipse on April 8th, Williams Elementary School in RSU 18 principal Melanie Smith visited all classrooms to read aloud the book A Few Beautiful Minutes Experiencing a Solar Eclipse, written by Kate Allen Fox. During her visits, Principal Smith also shared a video with students that explained the difference between solar eclipses and lunar eclipses.
A Few Beautiful Minutes Experiencing a Solar Eclipse, written by Kate Allen Fox
Maps of the path of totality across the United States and our state of Maine were also shown and discussed with students.
In addition to the academic presentations and discussions happening at school, the Williams Elementary School community collected cardboard tubes during the month of March in preparation for a special solar eclipse project. The week before the solar eclipse, art teacher David Clark and 3rd-grade teacher Brynn Charest helped students create their own eclipse viewers out of the collected recycled materials. The self-created handheld eclipse viewers will allow students to view the solar eclipse indirectly. All students in RSU 18 were also provided solar glasses to be distributed to students on Monday, April 8th.
Students working on their solar eclipse viewers:
In addition, Williams Elementary teachers used eclipse resources provided by the Maine Department of Education to educate students about the upcoming solar eclipse.
“We wanted to ensure that our children had background knowledge about a total solar eclipse so that they would understand what was happening on April 8th and know how to view the solar eclipse safely,” said Principal Smith.
For more information, resources, and safety advice for schools regarding the 2024 Social Eclipse, please visit the Maine DOE Eclipse Resource page.
This story was submitted to the Maine DOE by Williams Elementary School. To submit a story about your school, please fill out our Good News Submission form.
(Pictured: United Technology Center students [L to R] Dominic, John, and Joe attend SkillsUSA with homemade t-shirts rooting for their friend, Zach who is competing in the construction competition this year.)
UTC student Dominic shows off the back of a t-shirt he made to root for his friend competing in SkillsUSA this year.
The hallways of United Technologies Center (UTC) were packed with students dressed in different uniforms adorned with the SkillsUSA emblem on March 15 as they came together from across Maine to test their talents at Maine’s annual SkillsUSA event.
Competitions started on March 14th, the day before, and were happening in locations all over Bangor, as they do each year in the spring.
“I’m so nervous,” one student said to another as they climbed the steps to the second floor in search of their instructor and to find the site where their competition would soon start. Students come from Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools all over Maine, some even come the day before due to the distance they have to travel to participate. Many have been preparing for months and even years to take part in the event.
“You’ve got this!” an instructor said to another nervous student as they rushed by to get to another competition.
“I love it!” said Laura Manzo an instructor from Northern Penobscot Tech Region III in Lincoln. Manzo was sitting on a high stool in front of students working in teams of two in the TV/Video Production competition, something she had coordinated for the second year in a row this year. She said being the coordinator of a competition entails locating all of the judges, creating the prompt for the students to use for the event, and being there to run the competition. This year the prompt was to create a promotional video on Solar Eclipse Safety.
Northern Penobscot Tech Region III Instructor Laura Manzo sitting on a stool helping students who are competing in the TV/Video Production competition.
During the competition, Manzo was on hand answering questions and directing students as the 11 teams worked with cameras and other video equipment, in addition to computers with editing software, on planning, filming, narrating, editing, and putting together a video for the judges to view later that day. Their competition started at 6:45 am that morning and would last until 11:30 am. Manzo, in her 5th year of teaching at Northern Penobscot Tech, was excited about the lineup of judges this year but also nervous for the students who would need to film in the rain, an unexpected challenge the day brought.
“We will see what they come up with,” she said hopefully as she flashed a smile and continued answering questions from students and checking her clipboard.
Down the hall students, instructors, judges, and family members lined the halls looking through big picture windows as competitions started for everything from cake decorating to cosmetology, auto collision repair, and more.
To one end of a UTC hallway sat Rylee, a student at Hancock County Technical Center (HCTC), and Ally a student at Somerset County Technical Center (SCTC) waiting outside a competition room for their turn at the Basic Health Care Skills competition.
Rylee said she likes coming to SkillsUSA because it’s something different. “It’s definitely out of my comfort zone,” she said. She was smiling as she recalled how she was talked into coming last year and again this year.
For Ally, coming to Skills is about, “showing off my talent, showing off my skills, and making friends.” The two sat close together among other students clutching their posters and presentation materials, waiting to do a presentation in front of judges where they would also need to do an interview and showcase basic healthcare skills. They had no idea who among them would get called to go in next.
(L to R) Ally from Somerset County Technical Center and Rylee from Hancock County Technical Center.Lydia from Sanford Regional Technical Center shows off her Courtesy Corp Vest.
In addition to students in the traditional competition rooms were students wearing reflective vests that said “Courtesy Corp.” Lydia from Sanford Regional Technical Center, who was wearing one of these vests, explained that she was currently competing and had been since SkillsUSA started the day before. Courtesy Corp is a community service competition where students are tasked with helping patrons who come to watch the event. They are available throughout the event to help direct people and answer questions. Their competition ends after they help get audience members seated at the main ceremony which was set for later that night at the Cross Insurance Arena in Bangor.
At the top of the stairs was HCTC Law Enforcement student Mercedes with her team of 6 students (5 competitors and one alternative). They and the other teams were all wearing red coats and waiting outside of a conference room for their turn at the criminal justice quiz bowl. This was Mercedes’s team’s second year competing in this competition, and her team won gold last year.
“We studied, so it’s just a matter of rising to the challenge,” she said. Before Mercedes and her team got called into the competition room she shared that after she graduates, she plans to go to Thomas College and pursue their 4-year Criminal Justice Program with a concentration in Law Enforcement and hopes to one day work for the Maine State Police.
Students compete in the Criminal Justice Quiz Bowl competition.
While UTC continued to bustle well past noon, other locations in the area were also hosting students at various competitions across the two-day event, like Fire Fighting, Diesel Equipment Technology, Entrepreneurship, Medical Math, and Early Childhood Education (and more) taking place at Eastern Maine Community College right next door. There were also many competitions at Cross Insurance Area where eventually everyone would end up later that evening.
Student Pin Design
Students’ T-Shirt Designs
Student Welding Sculpture
Starting the day before were a few special competitions for middle school students which also took place at Cross. Traditionally CTE programs, courses, and pathways are more widely available for high school-aged students and most of the students competing each year are in high school and college, but a growing number of middle schools are starting to offer career and technical education options as well.
Lamoine Consolidated School brought 50 students to compete at SkillsUSA this year, which is a record high for them. There were also students from Hancock Grammar School and Caribou Community School.
Middle school students had the opportunity to compete in State T-Shirt, State Pin Design, Team Engineering Challenge, Job Skill Demonstration, Woodworking Display, Community Service, Job Interview, Promotional Bulletin Board, Co2 Dragster, and 3D Printing.
A picture of the Middle School level Team Engineering Challenge in action
Middle School students from Lamoine Consolidated School take a group picture before they leave for SkillsUSA (image courtesy of Amanda Frost, LCS teacher and parent)
Lamoine Consolidated School teacher and 2023 Hancock County Teacher of the Year Miranda Engstrom, who helped coordinate one of the competitions this year, says that all the middle school students talked about having a great time and are already looking forward to next year’s competition.
“They all overcame challenges and feel more confident in themselves and their abilities to solve problems and explain solutions,” she said. As a fierce advocate for expanding career and technical education opportunities for middle school students, Engstrom adds that any other middle schools that want to be involved in SkillsUSA can reach out to their local technical school director, or reach out directly to Maine’s SkillsUSA Chapter.
When the competitions were completed and done, the students, instructors, administrators, parents, family members, and friends gathered at the Cross Insurance Area for the awards ceremony. Once the very large crowds of audience members were seated, Lydia and the rest of the Courtesy Corp competitors finally finished their competition as well, resting their green vests to also get seated for the ceremony. The ceremony entails top competitors being called up on stage and given gold, silver, and bronze metals, Olympic style standing on cascading platforms, and celebrated but one and all.
Middle School students accepting medals at SkillsUSA
The crowd at Cross Insurance Arena
Lamoine Consolidated School ended up with seven middle school students qualifying for the National Leadership and SkillsUSA Conference in the following competitions: Team Engineering Challenge, Promotional Bulletin Board, and State Pin Design. (Congratulations to Ian Frost, Jordan Chan, Benjamin Baldridge, Elza Cahn, Piper Smith, Kaia Tulloss, and Natalia Briggs!)
Mercedes and her team from the Hancock County Technical Center rose to the challenge as well by earning themselves a gold medal again this year in the Criminal Justice Bowl. As did Rylee from Hancock County Technical Center who ended up winning the silver medal in the Basic Health Care Skills competition. You can see a full listing of all the medal winners announced by SkillsUSA Maine here.
Congratulations to all of the winners, the many student competitors, as well as all of the people behind the scenes who work very hard to make this amazing event happen every year and who help prepare the students to compete.
Top winners of Maine’s SkillsUSA event will go on to compete at the national level in the SkillsUSA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in June.
(Pictured: Saco Middle School 7th grader, Keegan Wong, pilots a drone during a skill-building portion of the drone piloting club.)
This year, Saco Middle School (SMS) has three exciting student technology projects that highlight highly engaging, student-driven learning. These projects are a combination of projects funded through the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Maine Learning through Technology Initiative (MLTI) as well as a student project submission to the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition.
Lyla Picard, 8th grader, shows off her drawing that was then imprinted onto cardboard using the Glowforge printer.
The Maine DOE #TeachWithTech grant enhances teaching and learning through the use of innovative technology. Saco Middle School’s grant award of $19,517.50 funded two initiatives at Saco Middle School, a laser-cutting and engraving printer to be utilized in their STEM program and an afterschool drone pilot training club. Both of these projects reflect the school’s commitment to advancing education through cutting-edge tools and a focus on engaging students in learning.
The Glowforge printer purchased for the school’s STEM lab uses laser technology to cut, engrave, and shape a variety of materials, including wood, acrylic, leather, and paper. Under the direction and initiative of STEM teacher Sam Blunda, students have been able to create intricate prototypes for design projects and produce personalized and custom items on a variety of materials.
“These printers have enabled students to bring their ideas to life, including the printing of wooden staff desk placards and Saco Schools engraved beach stones,” said Saco School Department Assistant Superintendent Meg Parkhurst. “Students have been able to recycle old materials to create functional and artistic items.”
One project included the printing of cutout pieces that could then be assembled into small toys. This served as a way to repurpose materials that may have otherwise been thrown away, such as old file folders, and also provided a gift that students were able to donate to children in the area to build.
The drone pilot training extracurricular activity run by staff members Chris Hayden and Lisa Ronco used professional drones and has provided students with a dynamic and engaging learning experience after school. Through small group sessions, students have mastered the basics of drone flight, navigated obstacle courses, honed their search and locate skills, and even tackled blind multi-directional courses using only the camera image for navigation. The acquisition of two Mavic 3 Classic drones and five Mavic 3 Mini drones has facilitated hands-on learning.
Beyond the technical skills, students are now well-versed in the requirements for FAA Remote Pilot certification for search and rescue, motion picture cinematography, and working with law enforcement.
As part of their journey to the National Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, Saco Middle School (SMS) 7th-grade students crafted this compelling video to highlight their project’s impact. Knotmarkers, conceived and executed by the inventive minds of SMS’s Maine State winning students with the guidance of Ms. Lindsay Girard, revolves around creating 100% biodegradable, sustainable, and refillable markers. This innovative solution aims to combat the staggering environmental impact of the 400 million markers discarded annually in landfills throughout the United States. The team’s commitment to utilizing locally sourced materials and an efficient production process underscores their dedication to reducing the carbon footprint.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a national competition that challenges students in grades 6-12 to use their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills to address real-world issues in their communities and affect positive social change. Outshining their high-school competitors from across the state, SMS secured a remarkable $12,000 Samsung prize package, a video kit to assist in the national competition, and a designated Samsung Employee Mentor. The Top 10 National Finalists will be chosen by March 26, 2024, at which time the Community Choice voting will take place for the Top 3 National Winners announced on April 29, 2024.
Students share their solve for tomorrow project with Saco’s City Council.
(Pictured: WHS freshman James Arthurs, left, and Poland Regional High senior Audrey Fryda engage in a courteous conversation regarding a current legislative issue.)
For the second consecutive year, a student group from Windham High School (WHS) volunteered to participate in the Can We? Project and hosted their peers from Poland Regional High School (PRHS) in mid-February to practice skills needed for civilized conversations.
The Can We? Project is an initiative intended for high school students to rejuvenate democracy by learning the abilities necessary to engage in respectful civil dialogue. This is Poland High’s first year participating in the Can We? Project. At last month’s gathering, students from both schools had the opportunity to discuss diverse perspectives and complex issues, doing so by showing a level of maturity and respect needed in difficult discussions.
“My experience with Can We? reinforced my admiration for this generation of students,” a PRHS social studies teacher and Can We? Project liaison Elaine Fryda said. “They are mature, earnest, and articulate. I was impressed by how seriously they discussed important current events.”
Jen Dumont, a WHS JMG specialist/teacher, and Can We? Project liaison agreed, saying that any time a space is provided for students to meet and communicate with peers, in a safe and solution-oriented way, it opens students’ perspectives and encourages empathy.
“Having the opportunity to host Poland Regional High School Can We? Project students gave our Can We? participants a chance to exhibit leadership skills and showcase some of the conversation tools they have developed during our past Can We? Project retreats,” Dumont said. “It is always edifying to realize that there are other students with similar stories and concerns from around our state.”
A few students from both schools shared their experiences from participating in the project.
Audrey Fryda, a PRHS senior, admitted that in an age of internet, it is easy to be swept into a biased and stereotypical way of thinking.
“I think it is easy to be sucked into an echo chamber of sorts, where you find things on the internet that align with what you believe to be true,” she said. “By engaging in conversations, we are having today with peers who think differently, we break those stereotypes and expand our empathy for others. By being able to do this, we are taught how to deal with important and controversial issues in an intelligent and respectful manner.”
WHS freshman James Arthurs said that if you take the moment to listen to one another, even if you don’t agree on a topic, you can come to an understanding or simply agree to disagree and remain civil.
“I enjoy participating in these conversations because it helps me learn different sides of a story – so I can understand where others are coming from,” Arthurs said. “It also helps me better understand my own perspective and has sometimes changed my viewpoint a bit. I also have understood my perspective more thoroughly where I am better able to support and advocate for it.”
PRHS senior Jonathan Crump said this was the first opportunity he had to talk about laws being passed and enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say. His involvement with the Can We? Project provided a deeper understanding of real conversations.
“Most of my experiences with Can We? were positive, but I want to point out that the project isn’t a ‘utopia of open mindedness’ if you will,” Crump said. “I still felt that I was being judged by people around me, just to a lesser extent. In all, it was fun to engage in dialogue with my peers and Can We? is definitely a step taken to bridge the gap between our country’s political divide.”
The Can We? Project was founded in 2018 by Third Thought Initiatives for Civic Engagement at Waynflete School. Originally a weekend retreat serving 35 students, the project now works throughout the school year with nearly 300 students in 14 public partner schools in Maine. Can We? is a collaborative effort between Waynflete, Maine Policy Institute, a non-profit that works to expand individual liberty and economic freedom in Maine, and Narrative 4, a national storytelling exchange program that teaches the skills of compassion through active listening with others.
Dumont explained that as adults, we have a certain responsibility to students to provide the space for active listening, and it is the reason why she is a teacher and a Can We? Project liaison.
“It’s important we provide the structure and safety to share students’ personal stories and have solution-oriented conversations that build bridges between people of various backgrounds and opinions,” she said. “I feel very honored to have been able to participate. I look forward to seeing the Can We? Project evolve and take on an incarnation here that can have further impact on our student population and staff.”
Elaine Fryda agrees with Dumont.
“Can We? provides students a unique opportunity to practice empathy, communication, and reflection,” she said. “Participation in the project fosters curiosity, courage, and caring. It goes without saying that we all could use more of these traits in our lives.”
This story was submitted by Windham High School. To submit a good news story to the Maine Department of Education use our Good News Submission form.
On February 9th, 2024 Mr. Atwood’s Wildlife Studies class and Mr. Davis’s Maine Woodsmen class ventured out to Fahi Pond in Embden, Maine for a day of ice fishing and outdoor skills practice.
Mr. Atwood’s class was tasked with the assignment of manually drilling half a dozen holes in the sixteen-inch ice to set traps for a chance to catch some local fish. Everyone took turns dragging and/or carrying all the necessary equipment out onto the ice. Hauled in by manufactured and makeshift sleds alike, a camp for the day was soon on its way.
While the Wildlife Studies students were learning how to bait their hooks and set traps from Mr. Atwood, the Maine Woodsmen class, with help from their teacher, Mr. Davis, were in full swing setting up their fifteen-foot, pop-up ice fishing shack and preparing their kitchen within. The woodsmen students took turns cooking meals, cleaning, and serving everyone food and drinks. The morning started with a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, and locally harvested maple syrup with orange juice, milk, and hot chocolate.
When students weren’t busy tending to traps or providing creature comforts to their peers, everyone was able to relax and enjoy the calm sunny weather and one another’s company. Several students tried their hands at drilling holes for jigging both outside and inside the shack as well as making a comfortable campfire. As everyone began to cool down, it was soon time for lunch, and once again, the woodmen students were busy in the kitchen. This time making a meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup that really hit the spot.
Though only one flag flew and not a fish was caught, the day was a great success.
This story was submitted by MSAD 13. To submit a good news story to the Maine Department of Education, fill out this submission form.
(Pictured: members of the nutrition team at RSU 89.)
Four school districts in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Ohio received awards for their trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for their students. This announcement was made in front of nearly 850 school nutrition professionals at the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference during National School Breakfast Week recently.
Regional School Unit 89, Maine’s own Katahdin Schools received the “Innovation in Preparation of School Meals” award for incorporating more scratch cooking into menu items, such as homemade sub rolls using their oatmeal bread recipe, homemade croutons, pickles, and roasted chickpeas.
RSU 89 has also partnered with a local farm, Keep Ridge Farm in Benedicta to source produce like squash, onion, eggs, carrots, and kale. They host monthly taste tests allowing the student body to determine what the next new menu item will be.
“At our annual Thanksgiving meal, we featured Keep Ridge Farm roasted squash, local farmer Steve Crouse’s potatoes that we boiled and mashed, and turkey from USDA Foods in our homemade gravy and homemade stuffing,” said Denise Tapley Proctor, food service director at RSU 89. “The meal was well received by the community, and the reactions of our kids make us love the change in direction our school is making to more scratch cooking.”
The three school districts that received awards are the first winners of the Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards, jointly created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Action for Healthy Kids as part of USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, also known as HMI. These awards celebrate school districts that embrace opportunities to take their school meals to the next level. HMI is one of several ways that the Biden-Harris Administration is supporting schools to provide kids with nutritious meals that support their health and well-being.
Here are more pictures of the RSU 89 nutrition team preparing mashed potatoes from Keep Ridge Farm, homemade oatmeal rolls, USDA hamburger made into hamade gravy, USDA corn, and homemade apple strawberry crisp:
Maine Has More Than 70 Schools Implementing the Building Assets Reducing Risks Model (BARR), With Additional Funding Available for More Schools to Implement the Program
On the latest episode of the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) “What Holds Us Together” podcast, Education Commissioner Pender Makin talked with Calais Elementary School Principal Sue Carter and Calais Superintendent Mary Anne Spearin about their experiences implementing the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) model in their district. BARR combines relationship-building and the use of real-time data to strengthen student engagement, wellbeing, achievement, educator wellbeing, and connections across the school community. Listen here.
Calais Elementary School began implementing BARR this school year in fifth and sixth grade through a statewide grant opportunity provided by the Maine DOE through federal funds. More than 70 schools across Maine are now BARR schools, with additional funding available for schools that want to implement BARR in the next school year.
Makin spent the day at Calais Elementary School to experience the successes the school is having with BARR firsthand and taped her podcast onsite with the school leaders. Read more about her visit here.
“I’m so grateful that you hosted us today from the Department. We brought a team and we got to visit all of the classrooms. We also got to sit in on some of the BARR activities, including what’s called U-Time. When I asked ‘What is U-Time?’ she said, ‘Well, it’s an activity that we do where we learn a little bit more about ourselves and about our classmates.’ And it was just so well said. And then we also got to sit in with a group of teachers having a conversation that’s called a small block conversation, where they were discussing students in this particular case, who are appearing to be thriving across the board who are high academic achievers, and they discussed each student in terms of possibilities, ways to be more challenged, and also any concerns that might otherwise have gone unnoticed,” said Makin during her podcast intro.
Makin asked Carter what she and educators are experiencing through their BARR implementation.
“We started BARR at the elementary school in September. We applied for the state-provided program and it has really grown and become part of our school, culture, and climate,” said Carter. “Recently, we looked at our attendance. We usually don’t look at attendance until it’s a problem, and [now we] identified some kids that have been out seven days, taking the opportunity to send a letter home to say, ‘Hey, your kids missed seven days. We don’t want them to be truant, how can we help to make sure that they get to school?’ The data is inputted every week. You talk about and see that data over time.”
Spearin implemented BARR while she was an administrator at the middle/high school and provided a longer-term view of the BARR experience.
“The Calais Middle/High School adopted the program in 2016. I’m a true believer in the program. We originally brought it on because the main focus was grades and the transition into ninth grade. For us, it really made a difference when we could see the number of failures in our coursework had changed significantly in the first year and then changed again the next year. And then as time went on, it went into more of the behavioral and checking in with the students and making sure they had trusted adults and really working on how they created a culture within the ninth-grade cohorts,” said Spearin.
While at the school, Commissioner Makin had the opportunity to participate in a sixth-grade U-Time activity called “What’s on your plate?” Every U-Time is different, and in Carly Davis’s sixth-grade class, it was all about self-discovery. Sixth graders and DOE team members were each given a paper plate, which they folded in half. On one side were the participants’ responsibilities, and on the other were the things they did in their free time. After making the plates, Davis engaged the students through a series of discussion around having a balanced plate, which portions are taking up too much time, which portions they love, which portions they wish they had less of, and so forth. On the back of the plates, students wrote one thing they wished they could add or take away from their plate.
Students learn about one another through these activities, about themselves, and teachers about their students in a deeper way. Teachers also share these valuable insights at their block meetings so the entire teaching team has that information. Block meetings happen weekly, with teacher cohorts discussing not just academic-related data but every student’s strengths, passions, and personal goals. This opens a broader, more positive discussion around the whole student. The team works off a spreadsheet that builds a picture of each student by reviewing a variety of in-school factors, including progress in class, attendance, and behavior. The team also discusses factors outside the school, such as extracurricular interests, personal health, issues with other students, or troubles at home. All this data collection allows the team to flag challenges early and work together to solve problems. Importantly, teachers track not just problems but student strengths to identify achievable goals to get or keep students on track for success. For students coping with the toughest situations in and out of school, BARR’s model requires a weekly Community Connect meeting that involves more specialized staff, such as the school nurse and school psychologist along with school administration.
“The other piece that’s really important about BARR is we always talk about the kids who are struggling or you know, not doing so well. But today we actually talked about four kids who were doing very well,” said Carter. “So it identifies those kids and we talked about those kids as well, which I think you need to have a balance, and the program forces you to do that. [The teachers] are very, very committed to it.”
Makin asked Carter if she is seeing any changes in student outcomes or differences in school culture now that she is more than halfway through her first year of implementing BARR.
“I would say so. Last week, the kids had posters that they wrote on about what BARR has done for them. [And they wrote] it helped me be aware of myself, it helped me to be more friendly, it brought me joy, it taught me empathy. So absolutely, every person, adult and student, is able to vocalize what they are gaining from BARR without having to think about it,” said Carter. “There’s not any way that can’t carry over to outside of school as well because it’s in them. It’s a part of them, and they’ll take that with them and as they move on to middle school, which is very important. It will help them be successful there as well.”
Makin asked what Carter and Spearin would say to other school leaders considering BARR.
“From the superintendent role and perspective, I would say that I am 100 percent in support of BARR. I loved it as a building administrator and as a team member. I saw the changes that it made for our freshmen students coming in. It supports our students. It gives them additional resources because it forces you to bring in resources from your community,” said Spearin. “The other part is the fact that teachers are out there alone and this forces time together. It forces them to look at the kids as our kids, not my kids. It also forces them to really look at the positives. It forces them to look at the challenges and to come up with a community solution to what’s going on with those students in the positive times and in the challenging times. And so it really does give the teachers the ability to have a team to work from and it also allows them to sit and look at the positives that are coming from all the work that they’re doing. We do not have enough time built into the day to do that unless you have a program that really encourages that.”
Makin asked how activities like U-Time, the regular data collection that educators are engaged in, and the conversations in block times create better grades and fewer failures in ninth grade.
“We had kids who would be looking at not doing their homework. You had an entire team of teachers saying I know that the basketball season is coming up and this is really important to this kid. Who knows this kid well enough to be able to go have that conversation about what they need to get that work done so that their grades don’t drop below the athlete eligibility piece? Or I know this student and they’re really having some challenges at home. Who knows a student well enough and has a connection to be able to reach out [to them]? We even had liaisons with the community that came in and we could then open those conversations up with them as well,” said Spearin. “Instead of a student that went through eight different periods in a two-day time and nobody had the opportunity to reach out and say, we know there’s something going on, how do we support you? And it wasn’t doing the work for them. It was saying what do you need to be successful?”
Applications are now open to all willing and qualified public schools that would like to become a BARR school. Click here to apply. Applications are due by March 22, 2024, by 5 pm EST. The Maine DOE will cover all costs of implementing the program for schools new to BARR for the 2024-2025 school year.
The Maine DOE used American Rescue Plan funding to create a competitive BARR grant to help schools invest in the model.
(A Calais Elementary Student celebrates what he’s learned through BARR)
Nestled in the tight-knit community of Calais, Maine, is Calais Elementary, a pre-k through sixth-grade school full of enthusiastic students and dedicated teachers. Calais Elementary is one of more than 70 Maine schools using the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) education model, and this week, Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin visited to experience BARR in action.
“We started BARR at the elementary school in September,” Principal Sue Carter said. “We applied for the state-provided program, and it has really grown and become part of our school, culture, and climate.”
The BARR framework combines relationship building (staff to staff, staff to student, and student to student) and real-time data to strengthen engagement and wellbeing for all students. By building solid relationships with students and fellow educators, teachers work together to support the whole student.
At Calais Elementary, they are implementing BARR with fifth and sixth-grade teams. Fifth and sixth grade teachers hold weekly block time to discuss student strengths and what they need to thrive. Teachers also engage students through weekly U-Time activities.
“U-Time is the classroom activity part of the BARR Structure where educators and students in their classrooms dedicate a little bit of time to building relationships, deepening their knowledge of themselves as learners, as individuals, and really helping to understand one another,” said Makin.
Commissioner Makin and Chief Innovation Officer Page Nichols working on their “What’s on your plate?” U-Time activity.
While at the school, Commissioner Makin had the opportunity to participate in a sixth-grade U-Time activity called “What’s on your plate?” Every U-Time is different, and in Carly Davis’s sixth-grade class, it was all about self-discovery. Sixth graders and DOE team members were each given a paper plate, which they folded in half. On one side were the participants’ responsibilities, and on the other were the things they did in their free time. After making the plates, Davis engaged the students through a series of discussion around having a balanced plate, which portions are taking up too much time, which portions they love, which portions they wish they had less of, and so forth. On the back of the plates, students wrote one thing they wished they could add or take away from their plate.
Delilah, a sixth grader at Calais Elementary, described U-Time as a class where you learn “about your classmates, the people around you, your teachers, and you.”
Jackie, a fellow sixth grader, said that in U-Time, she has learned “to help people if they are going through a hard time, and that if you see someone crying, you should go over there to talk to them.”
“It really sparked a lot of conversation,” said Commissioner Makin. “I could see how it was creating relationships within the classroom, building trust and knowledge of themselves and others.”
Students learn about one another through these activities, about themselves, and teachers about their students in a deeper way. Teachers also share these valuable insights at their block meetings so the entire teaching team has that information.
For example, after the “What’s on Your Plate?” exercise, Davis brought a few of the sixth grader’s plates to a block meeting. “[Davis] talked about the two plates, what they said, and that was put down,” Principal Carter explained, “and we will come back around to that in our next block meeting.”
Block meetings happen weekly, with teacher cohorts discussing not just BARR-informed data but every student’s strengths, passions, and personal goals. This opens a broader,
Calais Elementary’ s BARR teacher cohort uses recess as an opportunity to hold Block Meetings.
more positive discussion around the whole student. The team works off a spreadsheet that builds a picture of each student by reviewing a variety of in-school factors, including progress in class, attendance, and behavior. The team also discusses factors outside the school, such as extracurricular interests, personal health, issues with other students, or troubles at home. All this data collection allows the team to flag challenges early and work together to solve problems. Importantly, teachers track not just problems but student strengths to identify achievable goals to get or keep students on track for success. For students coping with the toughest situations in and out of school, BARR’s model requires a weekly Community Connect meeting that involves more specialized staff, such as the school nurse and school psychologist along with school administration.
“BARR really does give the teachers the ability to have a team to work from,” said Superintendent Mary Anne Spearin. “It also allows them to sit and look at the positives that are coming from all the work that they’re doing.”
At this week’s block meeting, the team spent most of their time discussing highly successful students. These students can often receive less attention than students exhibiting behaviors or academic performance requiring intervention. Those students still get the support they need, but BARR focuses conversations on all students.
“To see that data over time is pretty amazing,” remarked Principal Carter. “No other programs that we had held us to that level of accountability.”
“BARR offers two things you don’t usually see in other programs and that is a curriculum that you could work from and the data to prove that the curriculum is working,” said Superintendent Spearin.
Calais Elementary is not the only Calais school utilizing BARR. In 2016, Spearin implemented BARR for ninth graders at Calais Middle/High School.
“It really made a difference. We could see the number of failures in our coursework had changed significantly in the first year and then changed again the next year,” recollects Spearin. “From the superintendent’s role and perspective, I would say that I am 100 percent in support of BARR. When I speak to people, I tell them they should consider the BARR method. It is just crucial to the things that are happening in our world right now. Everybody needs somebody.”
One of Calais’s BARR teachers.
When Commissioner Makin asked Principal Carter if she would recommend BARR to other schools, she enthusiastically responded, “Absolutely!”
“Every person, adult and student, is able to vocalize what they are getting from BARR,” Principal Carter told Makin. “There’s no way that can’t carry over outside of school because it’s in them. It’s a part of them, and they’ll take that with them when they move on to middle school.”
Interested in joining Calais to become a BARR school? The DOE is offering additional funding for schools to become BARR schools. To learn more, please attend the DOE’s March 14th webinar.
Applications are now open to all willing and qualified public schools that would like to become a BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) school. Click here to apply. Applications are due by March 22, 2024, by 5:00pm EST.
The Maine DOE will cover all costs of implementing the program for schools new to BARR for the 2024-2025 school year. (Note: if you are already a BARR school with an existing contract, your costs will be covered for the 2024-2025 school year as well, and you do not need to reapply.)
The Maine DOE used American Rescue Plan funding to create a competitive BARR grant to help schools invest in the model.
(Through BARR, Mt. Blue High School students McKylee and Kenzee developed a strong bond with their ninth-grade counselor and BARR Coordinator, Anna Peterson, that continued into their sophomore year.)
For five years, Mt. Blue High School in Farmington has used the BARR (Building Assets Reducing Risks) model to ease ninth graders into high school. As a result, they have seen increased attendance, lower failure rates, and stronger bonds between educators and students and among educators.
“Freshmen have always been a demographic of students who have struggled,” said ninth-grade Earth Science teacher Kerry Schlosser, “I think BARR leads to just an additional level of support. Especially when you go from middle school to high school, it’s such a vulnerable year, a vulnerable time.”
The ninth-grade educator team at Mt. Blue know their students deeply. They greet them by name in the hall, know who their best friends are, and their dreams for the future. BARR helps facilitate those strong relationships.
Mt. Blue High School is one of more than 70 schools across Maine implementing BARR. Last summer, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) provided an opportunity for any school in the state to become a BARR school and join schools like Mt. Blue that have been experiencing incredible success through BARR.
BARR is a model that combines relationship building (staff to staff, staff to student, and student to student) and real-time data to enable schools to strengthen academic outcomes and wellbeing for all students. By building strong relationships with students and fellow educators, teachers can work together to support the whole student.
Educator teams meet in Block Meetings, where they discuss each student individually, focus on their strengths and connections to school, share personal knowledge and observations (e.g., a student’s mental health, family life, goals, etc.) and analyze benchmark data (e.g., grades, attendance, behavior, etc.).
Schlosser explains how Block Meetings work at Mt. Blue.
Mt. Blue’s Community Connect meeting is where school community members meet to discuss at-risk students.
“We have a Big Block at the end of the week where we discuss students as a big team with the administrator, school counselor, and social worker. Then, at the beginning of the week, we have our Small Block meeting, where we as teacher teams and then discuss students and small interventions there,” she said.
Students whom educators identify as at risk are discussed in Community Connect meetings, which involve greater school community members including school resource officers and administrators. At Mt. Blue, they hold weekly Community Connect Meetings, which include Peterson, the ninth-grade Assistant Principal Greg Henderson, school social workers Angelica Levy and Jack Turner, school nurse Vicky Gerstenberger, special education building coordinator Mike Hanson, and school resource officer Matt Brann. During their meetings, the Community Connect team develops strategies to intervene and limit poor behaviors before they result in a suspension.
Makylee, a sophomore, feels that the support she got through BARR in ninth grade set her up to have better relationships with her sophomore teachers.
“Teachers talk and have meetings. They let each other know how you are as a student, so you don’t have to go in as a fresh start,” she shared. “Then, your bond just increases to grow.”
These positive relationships with educators are built during I-Time. Much like Block and Community Connect Meetings, I-Times can vary from school to school. At Mt. Blue, each ninth-grade teacher has twenty freshmen they see during multiple I-Times. I-Times involve everything from relationship building activities to life skills development. Most importantly, these I-Times allow students to meet and bond with peers and teachers, and students are able to bond on a deeper level.
“Not only did your teachers get to know you, you got to know them, and you bonded as a class and a community,” Makylee said.
Before investing in BARR, Mt. Blue saw consistently high suspensions and low attendance rates.
“The year before BARR, suspensions were through the roof, and there were a lot of different behaviors,” remembers Joel Smith, the Mt. Blue Principal. “Hearing that BARR had an impact on academics, attendance, and behavior, that was appealing…especially the behavioral component, and we’ve seen a difference since then.”
Since starting BARR, Mt. Blue’s suspension rates have gone down, their attendance is up, and the failure rate was below five percent in the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year.
“Our failure rate, since implementing BARR, has gone down each and every year,” said Smith.
Dr. Patricia Millette teaches her ninth-grade I-Time students about using critical thinking to decipher manipulative advertisements.
Outside of the data and inside the classroom, educators are experiencing those positive trends firsthand and they are sustained past freshman year. Sophomore English teacher Meadow Sheldon, who has been teaching at Mt. Blue since before BARR was implemented, sees a real difference in her post-BARR sophomores.
“They work hard, and they can advocate for themselves,” Sheldon conveyed. “They have an understanding of what [their grades] mean and ask for help more than students have in the past.”
What’s more, students feel better about being at school. Quinn, a freshman, found school unappealing up until this year. Now, he is an honor student who is close to his teachers.
“It feels like the school actually treats me like a person instead of like a kid,” he said.
Peterson is immensely proud of the ninth-grade team’s work with BARR.
“I love the way that we take care of every ninth-grade student. We notice if their grades are slipping if they’re absent, or if there is a problem,” he said.
Smith and Peterson hope to see the BARR model extended to the entire high school someday.
“We are looking at opportunities whenever possible to implement the BARR model,” said Smith.
Interested in becoming a BARR school? Attend this BARR webinar coming up:
Applications are now open to all willing and qualified public schools that would like to become a BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) school. Click here to apply. Applications are due by March 22, 2024 by 5:00pm EST.
The Maine DOE will cover all costs of implementing the program for schools new to BARR for the 2024-2025 school year. (Note: if you are already a BARR school with an existing contract, your costs will be covered for the 2024-2025 school year as well and you do not need to reapply.)
The Maine DOE used American Rescue Plan funding to create a competitive BARR grant to help schools invest in the model.
(Pictured: Emma Witham, a student at BCOPE, RSU 71’s alternative high school program)
Belfast Community Outreach Program in Education is RSU 71’s alternative high school program, which was funded by a grant from the Office of Substance in 1990.
The program began in a small rental space down the street from Belfast Area High School. In 2002, the district built the program their own building, which was designed by students. The campus includes a 4000 square foot building equipped with four classrooms, a full kitchen, a band room, an organic garden and a greenhouse. The program currently serves 33 students 16 of which have a parent or sibling who has attended there.
“Over the years, we have worked with many community partners,” said Helen M. Scipione, BCOPE Teaching Principal. “One of our most recent partnerships is with Village Soup, The Republican Journal, which is our local weekly newspaper. The editor, Jim Leonard, did an article on BCOPE last year and he was so impressed with what he experienced, he offered to mentor a student reporter. We quickly took him up on his offer.”
Emma Witham, one of BCOPE’s current students is a gifted writer and she accepted the challenge. Emma’s mother, Krystal, and her sister, Abby both graduated from BCOPE. Her twin sister, Ava, also attends BCOPE now.
Emma recently had her first article published and it is not only the history of BCOPE, it is her experiences with alternative learning.
“We are extremely proud of Emma and BCOPE and we’d like to share it with you,” said Scipione.
In Emma’s words, “I have been honored for who I am at BCOPE and it’s an experience I’ve never had before. I am extremely grateful for BCOPE.”
Maine DOE Newsroom 