Category: Good News from Schools

Join the #LoveMaineSchools Movement!

The 2023 County Teachers of the Year cohort (CTOYs) want to share your amazing stories! During the 2023-2024 academic school year, the 2023 CTOYs will collect and share positive stories from Maine educators to elevate the teaching profession and connect with a variety of audiences. The group of teachers plan to showcase and distribute stories, images, and videos that capture the exceptional efforts of our magnificent Maine educators as they engage students in dynamic learning opportunities.

The group is trying to reach people across Maine,  any and everyone invested in Maine schools including teachers, parents, business partners, policymakers, and community members.

#LoveMaineSchools is the platform for educators to share their passion and spark conversations celebrating positive stories. A new monthly theme, intentionally broad and open to interpretation, will invite participation from all grade levels and content areas.  For instance, when the theme is “Making Connections,” submissions can effortlessly explore various aspects of creating links with individuals, families, communities, subject matter, content, and curriculum, among other possibilities. This flexible approach promotes active participation and allows diverse and imaginative interpretations of monthly themes. They want to hear from you and your school community!

As the hashtag #LoveMaineSchools gains momentum and reaches more people, they expect more teachers to share voices and stories.

Submit your stories at bit.ly/lovemaineschoolssubmit

You can see the positive messaging and stories the group has already begun sharing by following their Facebook and Instagram pages.

As part of their year of service in the Teacher of the Year Program, Maine’s State and County Teachers of the Year serve as advocates for teachers, students, and public education in Maine. They also receive ongoing professional learning and participate in many state and county leadership opportunities. For more information about the Maine Teacher of the Year program, visit the Maine Teacher of the Year website. 

 

Brunswick ELO Program Expanding Career Exploration Opportunities for Students

As an Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Ed Tech, Molly Myers supports “the expansion of career exploration experiences and career planning” at Brunswick High School. From career fairs to internships, Myers helps students prepare for their post-high school pursuits.

The program has been incredibly successful among Brunswick students with about 20 students participating directly in ELOs and another 200 taking part in other career-related activities. These related activities included virtual job shadows, career fairs, guest speakers and panels, and more. Myers created course-specific career exploration for teachers to use in their classrooms to help students broaden their horizon of what might be possible through what they are learning in the present.

Students directly involved in the ELO program have completed paid work experiences, such as internships, in several lines of work including healthcare, culinary, veterinary medicine, and education. Through these experiences, students gained confidence in trying new things, asking for help, solving problems, and, in the end, articulating their learning to the larger community.

Myers says the best part of her job is “meeting with students and hearing the stories of their interests, passions, and amazing accomplishments both within and beyond school!”

Myers would like to thank Cory King for being a huge help and supporter of Brunswick’s ELO program.

Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) are hands-on, credit-bearing courses outside of the traditional classroom with an emphasis on community-based career exploration. These opportunities are personalized for students and help them explore options for their professional lives. They help students engage in learning through instruction, assignments, and experiential learning. The Maine Department of Education (DOE), along with state-wide partner Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG), have made a concerted effort to provide working models, support, and funding opportunities for Maine schools to set up ELO programs within their school communities. To learn more about Maine’s initiatives with extended learning opportunities, visit: https://www.maine.gov/doe/index.php/learning/elo or reach out to Maine DOE ELO Coordinator Rick Wilson at rick.wilson@maine.gov.

Celebrating Summer Food Service Programs Providing Free, Healthy Meals for Students Across Maine

(Pictured: part of the lunch spread provided at an MSAD 33 Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) meal site this summer.)

Portland’s Munjoy South playground filled with people as meals were distributed to students through the USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) recently. The Munjoy South playground site, which is one of 12 summer meal sites throughout the city and over 400 across the state, is operated through Portland Public Schools. The site serves 20 to 30 students a day on average and on this particular day, was serving sandwiches, chicken drumsticks, cornbread, fruits, vegetables, milk, and more.

The SFSP is a federally funded and state-administered program that provides free, healthy meals and snacks to children, youth, and adolescents in low-income communities. Local sponsors, like Portland Public Schools, operate the meal program throughout Maine.

At the Munjoy South summer meal site were volunteers from the Maine Celtics and the Locker Project. The Maine Celtics volunteers help run summer day camps Mon-Fri for students and also enjoy playing quick games of soccer and basketball with anyone who wants to join in. Also present was The Locker Project, which helps fight food insecurity in Cumberland County by providing students and families with surplus local produce and other foods, in addition, the Book Fairy Pantry Project was there with a free book stand with ample children’s books for the taking.

Food provided by The Locker Project at the Munjoy South Playground Summer Meal Site
Books provided by the Book Fairy Pantry Project

On this day, also visiting the meal site were representatives from Maine Equal Justice, Good Shepherd Food Bank, the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council, AmeriCorps VISTA, Preble Street, Full Plates Full Potential, and the offices of Governor Mills, Senator Collins, Senator King, and Representative Pingree. These organizations were brought together by Anna Korsen, Full Plates Full Potential, Policy and Program Coordinator to showcase all that Portland Public Schools (PPS) has done to provide food for local youth and to witness the success and joy of so many community partners coming together to benefit the community.

Maine DOE Assistant Director of Child Nutrition Adriane Ackroyd speaking with state leaders at the Munjoy South Playground Meal Site.
State partners gather for a group picture at the Munjoy South Playground Summer Meal Site recently.

Maine has good reason to celebrate all that has been accomplished this summer and recently in the way of providing nutritious food to youth both during the summer and the school year.

Maine is one of the first states to provide meals at no charge to public school students during the school year. Starting with the pandemic-related waiver that allotted funds for schools across the United States to provide free meals for students in the 2021/2022 school year, this past year a new Maine-specific law went into effect that provides funds to Maine schools through its annual budget, specifically to provide school meals to all students, regardless of their family’s income. Maine is one of less than 10 states to continue with free meals for all students beyond the pandemic.

Maine is incredibly proud of its many partnerships between both federal and state-level partners, Maine school nutrition programs, and countless community partners across our state who have worked tirelessly to feed Maine’s youth through school-administered programming all year long.

We want to celebrate school nutrition champions like Dawn Hilton the Director of Food Services for PPS and Jim Hanna, Executive Director, Cumberland County Food Security Council for their ongoing work to organize local partners within their community at sites like the Munjoy South playground. In addition to Hilton, there are 106 other districts across Maine with countless school nutrition champions that partner with organizations within their communities to offer summer meal sites at 400 sites throughout Maine.

Special thanks to Kittery School Department, MSAD 33/27, RSU 54, and Belfast Soup Kitchen for providing pictures from some of their summer meal sites this summer:

Kittery School Department
Kittery School Department
MSAD 33
MSAD 33
MSAD 33
MSAD 33
MSAD 27
RSU 54
Belfast Soup Kitchen Summer Meals site, a partnership with SNAP-Ed.

For Portland’s efforts, Hilton would like to thank her Summer Meal Team for their continued help in fighting food insecurity along with the Maine Celtics, Cumberland County Food Security Council, Full Plates Full Potential, and the Locker Project for their endless support in their work during the summer. It is because of community partnerships like these, that exist in every corner of Maine, Maine DOE can leverage federal programs like Maine’s Summer Food Service Program to direct funding to communities across our state to help fight food insecurity throughout the summer.

To learn more about the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in Maine and how to get involved, visit the Maine Department of Education’s website.

South Portland ELO Coordinator Making Career Exploration Opportunities More Accessible for Students  

As South Portland High School’s Extended Learning Coordinator, Sheree Inman hopes to open career exploration opportunities to as many students as possible. When South Portland received the Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) grant, Inman was tasked with uniting the school’s existing internship and co-op programs and expanding these offerings to more students. Inman has been immensely successful in implementing the school’s ELO Program with many students participating in internships, job shadows, and other career-related opportunities.  

 

Through the program, South Portland students have been able to pursue ELOs in a wide variety of career fields including banking, real estate, media, firefighting, veterinary care, and more. One of Inman’s students was interested in finance and accounting and went on to intern for Saco Biddeford Savings Bank for her ELO. Through this internship, she gained hands-on experience in bank telling, accounting, and marketing and was able to spend time in their corporate office. This is just one of the program’s many success stories in which students have been able to gain professional experience and a head start on their career path.  

 

Another career exploration opportunity available to students through the program is the annual career fair. “This is where students can talk to employers about occupations and opportunities beyond high school,” said Inman. Several local businesses at the career fair also offer job shadows and internships for students.  

 

“The best part of my job is when I can make a connection with a student into a field that they really want to learn more about,” said Inman. Seeing students get excited about these opportunities gives her a great sense of pride in her work.  

“Without this type of programming in schools, students don’t always get to see what actually happens in various career fields,” said Inman. In the future, she hopes to continue to provide individual ELO opportunities while expanding offerings for group ELO experiences. She is also working with special education teachers to help bring ELO opportunities to their students.  

 

Inman and the South Portland ELO Program are very thankful to their community business partners and to South Portland’s Economic Development Director William Mann.  

Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) are hands-on, credit-bearing courses outside of the traditional classroom with an emphasis on community-based career exploration. These opportunities are personalized for students and help them explore options for their professional lives. They help students engage in learning through instruction, assignments, and experiential learning. The Maine Department of Education (DOE), along with state-wide partner Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG), have made a concerted effort to provide working models, support, and funding opportunities for Maine schools to set up ELO programs within their school communities. To learn more about Maine’s initiatives with extended learning opportunities, visit: https://www.maine.gov/doe/index.php/learning/elo or reach out to Maine DOE ELO Coordinator Rick Wilson at rick.wilson@maine.gov. 

Meroby Elementary School Improves Student Attendance with Family Engagement Opportunities

As student absenteeism became a persistent issue at Meroby Elementary School, three school leaders worked together in a successful effort that decreased the school’s chronically absent rate by more than 40% over the course of a school year.

Jodi Ellis, Hillary Cayer, and Nicole Pinkham – who serve as the school’s principal, social worker, and school nurse respectively – knew they needed to address student absenteeism during the 2022-2023 school year, as the previous year’s chronically absent rate was over 70%. In October, the team of three took the lead in creating a strategic plan to improve attendance.

The first significant change that took place was shifting the responsibility of absenteeism to Ellis, Cayer, and Pinkham who were ready, and had the capacity to take it on. Previously, absenteeism was the responsibility of the school’s leadership team Pinto Collaborative which had too much on their plates and the shift provided a better balance for everyone.

“I then started asking teachers to make phone calls to families when a student had been absent for three days, and to report back to Hillary, Nicole, and I about the outcomes of that conversation.  When the student was absent for 5 days, Hillary, Nicole, and I would make the phone call and start conversations about what we could do to help the family with getting the student to school.  At 7 days absent, we would request an in-person meeting to talk about solutions.  We would then continue to monitor student attendance and continue to have follow-up conversations with families,” explained Ellis.

While Ellis, Cayer, and Pinkham worked directly with teachers and families to monitor and address individual cases of absenteeism, the Pinto Collaborative created numerous family engagement nights. These events included an ice cream social, a fall festival, and STEAM night.

“Not only do we invite families to these events,” says Ellis, “but we also invite local businesses [and] organizations to set up booths that families can visit to see what resources are available in the community.” These family engagement opportunities aim to make families feel more supported and welcomed by the school and school community, thus encouraging student attendance.

Here are a few photos from some of Meroby’s family fun nights:

Through attention to individual absences and increased opportunities for family engagement, the chronically absent rate at Meroby Elementary decreased to below 30% this past school year – a success made possible by the leadership and hard work of Ellis, Cayer, and Pinkham and the involvement and support of school and community members.

Looking toward the upcoming school year, the team hopes to keep the momentum going. “Our goal is to decrease our chronically absent rate by an additional 10% this year,” says Ellis. To do so, they plan on continuing their work from last year while providing even more family engagement opportunities and levels of support for students and families.

Ellis would like to thank the following community partners for their support in increasing student attendance at Meroby: Team Long Run/Friends of the River Valley, Mexico Public Library, Rumford Public Library, The Fitch Company, Mexico Fire Department, Mexico and Rumford Police Department, Rumford Hospital, Oxford Federal Credit Union, and Hope Association.

Lamoine Students First Middle School Students from Maine to Compete at National SkillsUSA Competition in Atlanta

In June, three students from Lamoine Consolidated School’s Team Engineering Challenge team made history by being the first middle school team to go to Atlanta, Georgia to compete at the National Leadership and SkillsUSA Conference. Benjamin Baldridge, Ian Frost, and Jordan Chan fundraised over $10,000 to attend the weeklong conference and compete in the world’s largest skill competition after winning gold at the State Championships in Bangor back in March.

“The Team Engineering Contest is designed to evaluate and recognize outstanding students for excellence and professionalism in the areas of critical and creative thinking skills and the decision-making process to solve a problem,” said Lamoine teacher Miranda Engstrom who accompanied the team to Atlanta. “The contest fosters creativity, innovation, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.” Students demonstrate an occupational skill and present a clear explanation of the topic through displays, examples, experiments, and practical testing operations.

The conference and competition ran from June 19-24 with students competing for 16 hours over the course of three days. The Lamoine students earned 9th place overall, and students also earned special Skill Point Certificates for meeting a threshold contest score. Students can then use these certificates in their employment portfolios to show proficiency and workplace readiness for a particular specialty.

These students are three of 42 middle school Career and Technical Education (CTE) students at Lamoine who compete at the Maine SkillsUSA competition. They are excited to attend the Maine State Leadership Conference again next March and try to qualify for Nationals again.

“They are excited to share with their peers and teachers all they learned during their conference and showcase their treasures they collected when we were in Atlanta,” said Engstrom. “They wish to thank the many generous donors that helped them fundraise to get them there, helped them grow as leaders and thinkers, and make memories that will last a lifetime.”

Unraveling Roots: Cultivating Genealogy as an Instructive Journey

At the end of June, a group of teachers met to learn about using genealogy to teach inclusive history with Dustin Axe, the Youth Genealogy Curriculum Coordinator with the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS).  This workshop kicked off the American Ancestors pilot that supports teacher planning for inclusive historical inquiry projects using genealogy.  During the next school year, teachers in this pilot program will participate in monthly virtual meetings to deepen their understanding of this work and to collaborate with each other. Twice a year, teachers will meet with NEHGS in one-on-one meetings that are personalized to their instructional needs.  There will also be a monthly professional learning community led by the Maine Department of Education for teachers to collaborate and share their work.

As many teachers know, teaching genealogy can be challenging.  By focusing instruction on critical research and thinking skills, teachers learned how to empower students to make personal connections to history by connecting to the process of historical inquiry instead of the product.  As one teacher commented, “I loved all the resources available online for schools and the multiple levels of scaffolding that were available. [Dustin] did an excellent job at making this accessible to all learners regardless of their circumstances, but also gave us a framework for research/investigations that can be applied to any topic.” According to NEHGS, research finds that genealogy can help students’ well-being and connect them to their communities when it is done well.  The free resources from NEHGS support high-quality genealogical practices.

One strategy to make genealogy more accessible is to look at the lives of other people, particularly those who have impacted their community. NEHGS developed several case studies of key figures in American history, as well as important Mainers, like Gerald Talbot and Samantha Smith. Rooted in inquiry-based practices, the skills and processes learned by doing genealogical research can help students learn about important events for communities that place more value on the collective. In this way, many of the resources provided by NEHGS can help teachers develop inclusive lessons that can meet the requirements of state mandates regarding Wabanaki and African-American studies and the history of genocide including the Holocaust.  “I had not considered using genealogy with my students, but I now see that it can be a good way to connect to my students and for them to connect with history,” remarked a teacher after the workshop.

For more information about the American Ancestors program, check out www.AmericanAncestors.org/Family-History-Curriculum or contact Dustin Axe at dustin.axe@nehgs.org

The Maine DOE encourages all schools and districts across the State of Maine to learn more about interdisciplinary instruction on our website or by contacting the Interdisciplinary Instruction Team Coordinator at Kathy.bertini@maine.gov

 

 

Share Your Good News! Maine DOE Seeking to Highlight ESSER Federal Emergency Relief Funding Projects

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is looking to share stories of school administrative units (SAUs) using Federal Emergency Relief Funding to positively impact their students and school communities.

The Maine DOE is administering a questionnaire to collect information about these projects in order to create stories that will be shared broadly through the Maine DOE communication efforts. Sharing good news about the use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding increases transparency and visibility, giving the public insight into the purpose and impact of these funds.

Find the questionnaire here: Federal Emergency Relief Funds Highlights

If you have any further questions or need clarification, reach out to Maine Department of Education Communications and Outreach Coordinator Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

 

 

 

Build Academic and Social Emotional Skills with SpiritCorps Maine (Funded Through ARP Grant)

Through a partnership with Spirit Series, the Maine Department of Education is offering SpiritCorps, a three-week, project-based, narrative writing and self-discovery program designed for students from 7th to 10th grade. First-time participating schools receive 100% funding through January 1, 2024, thanks to a federal ARP grant. Openings for the fall remain available on a first-come, first-served basis!

The SpiritCorps experience–as students identify, craft, record on video and share with their classmates personal stories of Courage, Conscience or Compassion–is often profound, building self-efficacy and strengthening connection at a moment when mental health crises and alienation plague our youth.

Here are some examples of the power of the SpiritCorps experience:

Powerful data collected last year by SpiritCorps shows strong academic and social-emotional gains, as do comments like these from students who have felt the influence of this program on their lives:

“I learned that my story is important and interesting… It helped me learn that other people are struggling with the same things I am and made me feel less alone.” – Bobby, 8th Grade, ME

“Doing SpiritCorps, I’ve learned what it actually means to be compassionate and courageous not just for myself, but for others as well.” – Sara, 10th Grade, ME

“This gave me the chance to really open up around my pain… It helped me let go, just a little, which means a lot to me. Thank you SpiritCorps!” – Randy, 8th Grade, ME

And partner teachers say this about the impact of SpiritCorps:

“I would absolutely recommend SpiritCorps to any educator. It was easy to use, fun and so well organized. It was great! It was so easy from an educator’s perspective to integrate this curriculum into my classroom…And it was a masterclass in self-reflection.” – Scott Arritt, Gr. 7 & 8 ELA, Durham Community School

“By providing an authentic audience and utilizing the peer feedback process, kids who do not consider themselves writers find that their voice has value and their stories are worth telling. And kids who love to write get expert advice on how to hone their craft. Time after time, our students produce their best writing of the year, hands down, during the SpiritCorps program.” – Sarah Abbott, Gr. 5-9 ELA, Noble Flex

“For those who engaged deeply in the process, writing stories about real compassion for themselves or others, this experience was truly a “gift to themselves”. I saw students forgiving a parent for hurting them and forgiving themselves for how they hurt themselves with their own thoughts. A truly powerful gift. A bonus to this experience is how it helped them see their classmates in a different light.” – Patti Forster, Gr. 10 ELA, Camden Hills Regional High School

To learn more, watch our brief video Introduction to SpiritCorps. For further information and/or to schedule an engagement at your school, email Dr. Christina O’Neal, Director of Program Partnerships for SpiritCorps, at coneal@spiritseries.org.

 

Students Rewrite Their Stories in Biddeford ELO Program

“Our main goal of this project is exposure and exploration,” says Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Coordinator Andrew Burnell. Burnell co-leads the ELO program at Biddeford High School’s Alternate Pathways Center (APC) alongside Tabatha Frawkins. Burnell and Frawkins work as a team to provide students with various career exploration opportunities including site visits, guest speeches, and the school’s ELO course. “We are a team and successful because we are such a cohesive team!” says Burnell of his work leading the program with Frawkins.

During the ELO course, students learn about five potential tracks including directly entering the workforce, military, college, trades, and service or travel opportunities. They are also taught important elements of “adulting” such as budgeting, doing taxes, and writing resumes and cover letters.

Students in the ELO program have gained volunteer experience by assisting in classrooms at Biddeford Primary School, Biddeford Intermediate School, and the John F. Kennedy Kindergarten Center. Some students have also been able to develop their leadership skills through a weekly leadership program where they work on communication, empathy, self-reflection, determination, and problem-solving.

Burnell says the best part of his day working as an ELO Coordinator is connecting with students. “Shifting students’ stories about themselves from negative to more positive, learning about students’ strengths and what their goals are, and being part of a community that believes in our students are all highlights of our days and work at APC,” said Burnell.

Co-led by Burnell and Frawkins, APC’s ELO program is helping students build strong and meaningful connections while exploring career paths and writing a positive story for themselves. Burnell says, “the ELO program is only strengthening our students’ [stories] and providing them opportunities they may not have otherwise experienced.”

Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) are hands-on, credit-bearing courses outside of the traditional classroom with an emphasis on community-based career exploration. These opportunities are personalized for students and help them explore options for their professional lives. They help students engage in learning through instruction, assignments, and experiential learning. The Maine Department of Education (DOE), along with state-wide partner Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG), have made a concerted effort to provide working models, support, and funding opportunities for Maine schools to set up ELO programs within their school communities. To learn more about Maine’s initiatives with extended learning opportunities, visit: https://www.maine.gov/doe/index.php/learning/elo or reach out to Maine DOE ELO Coordinator Rick Wilson at rick.wilson@maine.gov.