Our MSAD 54 family has had great success in feeding our students during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of our transportation department, administration, ed techs and of course or school nutrition team we were able to serve close to 500k meals and traveled 48k miles between the months of March-June.

We received many words of appreciation, cards, photos of the children, and signs around the towns thanking us for all that we have done. It has been a great and humbling experience for all of us that have been involved over the last couple of months.

This story was submitted by Jana Wacome, Director – School Nutrition, RSU 54/MSAD 54 as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, email it to Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Every year when students enrolled in Todd Papianou’s Lifetime Pursuits physical education class at Mountain Valley High School when they return from April vacation, they are given the opportunity to choose their next unit. The Lifetime Pursuits course is an outdoor skills based class, and in the spring, students are able to choose between kayaking, canoeing, and biking. This year, things looked a little bit different.

About 15 years ago, in a combined effort between RSU 10 and the Dirigo District (RSU 56), Todd Papianou, a physical educator at MVHS, applied for and was awarded a federal physical education program grant, specifically, the Carol M. White Physical Education Grant. With the award from the grant, he and a group of physical educators were able to purchase 110 bicycles to be shared between 4 schools.

Papianou collaborated with the Bike Coalition in conjunction with the DOT to pilot bike education curriculum in Maine. With the Coronavirus impacting schooling and forcing a switch to distance learning, Todd jumped at the opportunity to adjust his bike curriculum and continue to make it accessible during this period of remote learning. His adjusted unit has a focus on bike awareness and commuter safety. To make this work, he has implemented a new plan that uses content, videos, and teaching tools produced by the League of American Bicyclists.

Papianou knew that he wanted to get the bikes out to students, but was not able to at first. The school was being deep cleaned and he couldn’t get in. After a conversation with his principal, Matt Gilbert, they decided that it was time to “roll out” the bikes. After gaining permission from the principal, Todd rushed home, got his trailer, and headed back to the school so that he could load up the bikes. He brought all 25 bikes home and stored them in his barn which became a makeshift bike shop. He then tuned each bike before sending them out to his students.

Over the course of two days, Todd Papianou and Matt Gilbert drove around delivering bikes to students by placing them at the end of each student’s driveway. Todd said that the bike roll out was exciting and that he was happy to see both students and parents (from a distance) while dropping off the bikes. He has received a lot of positive feedback from parents who were grateful that their children now had an additional option to get outside and to get active.

Todd has taken advantage of new technology to assist in the bike roll out and distance learning. He set students up with an app called Strava, which tracks ride analytics including distance and time. This data was shared between himself and his students so that he could see the progress they were making. In relation to using this new technology, Todd said “Being ready for the past decade with a comprehensive ‘Commuter Bike/Trail Bike Unit’ online already makes me feel proud that I had the foresight to prep and commit myself to Senator King’s vision to transition our learning/teaching delivery to include technology.”

To wrap up the school year, Todd planned an in-person assessment day for his students to show of their new skills, demonstrate bike control, and return the bikes. On this day, Todd focused on discussing what worked and what didn’t work in regards to remote instruction with his students. Todd said that both personally and professionally, the biggest takeaways from distance learning were that “nothing replaces instantaneous feedback, discussion, and banter…[and that] teachable moments arise and present themselves.” In a time where many of us have been stuck at home, Todd provided an option to get outside and be active for his students, his determination and innovation made the bike roll out highly successful.

This article was written by Maine DOE Intern Aidan Sachs in collaboration with Todd Papianou, a physical educator at MVHS as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea email it to Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Morse High School, Bath, ME: Amidst the uncertainty and chaos that ensued following the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, rising juniors at Morse High School, Isabel Strelneck and Isaac Ensel, came up with an inspiring idea to bring friends back together and bring joy to their community. Together, they rallied over 40 of their classmates to work together to produce a music video to show their community what their lives as high schoolers have looked like since the onset of social distancing. You can watch the video here.

One day, Isaac Ensel called Isabel Strelneck and asked her to listen to the song “Carry On” by Fun. As she listened, he described how a music video would be a perfect way to capture their daily lives, and the vision for the project became clear. Isaac and Isabel filmed some portions of the video together, from a distance, and reached out to friends to get clips from their days. In the video, you can see everything from practicing lacrosse to an online English class. Isabel and Isaac were able to create and provide a platform for their friends to share and validate their own experiences during this time of uncertainty.

Isabel says that they were inspired by wanting to bring joy to people and to talk to friends who they had not seen recently. The two filmmakers said “we created this video to bring light to the pandemic while demonstrating what students have been doing” Isabel and Isaac wanted to document this rare time, and making a music video was something they had always wanted to do. The combination of these ideas has made an amazing impact on their community.

When asked how well the video captured how she and her friends are handling this time of social distancing, Isabel said “I think it’s harder to describe how I’m feeling and spending time during quarantine, but the video shows a good representation of the ways [my friends and I] are trying to get through it…If anything, it was also a reminder to me that there’s a positive side to all this time-so many new things to try and practice.”

Teachers, classmates, and community members alike have left comments on the video sharing their love and support. Leah Heyman, a science teacher at Bath Middle School, and former teacher of many students in the video wrote “I love this, miss you! An amazing way to work together, [and] stay connected.” Many others chimed in with praise, love, and pride. “This is SO SWEET! Got me a little teary-eyed. So great to see all those fantastic Morse students!” commented another viewer.

When asked what the message behind the video was, Isabel said that “the message behind the video is that [Coronavirus] is impacting every single person differently, but there’s ways to make the best of it and ‘carry on’…it’s also a reminder that we can all stay connected even when we can’t be together at school.” With well over 5,000 views on YouTube, Isabel and Isaac have been able to spread this message to their community and beyond. Isabel and Isaac hope that their video can make people’s day, bring them joy, and hopefully inspire them. After reading through the comments on the YouTube page, as well as having conversations with community members, Isabel said that she and Isaac “really weren’t expecting people to have emotional reactions to the video but rather for it to be something enjoyable, but it touched a lot of people and we think that’s really cool.”

In talking with Isabel, who is also a member of the Commissioner’s Student Cabinet, she reflected further on the impact her video has made on the community. When asked further about responses from teachers and fellow students looked like she responded with:

At first, Isaac and I thought it would be a fun, lighthearted video that would only reach our closest friends. Once we posted it, students thought of it as fun and entertaining, as we originally thought it would be, but teachers and adults treated it more sentimentally. We’ve received many thank-yous and grateful notes on how the video had impacted people’s lives and made a difference in their day. It may have been how much time we spent working on the video or something else, but we overlooked the possibility that it could really be so meaningful-a lot of people have reached out to us, even saying they’ve cried from it! -Isabel Strelneck

Watch the “How We Carry On” music video created by Morse High School juniors Isabel Strelneck and Isaac Ensel here!

This article was written by Maine DOE Intern Aidan Sachs in collaboration with rising juniors at Morse High School, Isabel Strelneck and Isaac Ensel as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea email it to Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Sebago Elementary has approximately 100 students and a community that is hugely supportive and proud of their school. Brenda McGuinness is an Art Teacher at Sebago Elementary School one day per week along with music teacher Jennifer Null and instrumental music teacher Lindsay Waller. In March they were making final plans for the second annual Arts Festival to be held on April 14th. Unfortunately, like events all over the world, the school Arts Festival was canceled.

With a strong desire to showcase the talents and efforts of their students, they worked hard to bring the first Virtual Arts Festival into the homes of students, their families and the community in an alternative way.

Using photographs of the art projects from each grade throughout the year as well as the various events students were involved in throughout the state, along with emailed photos of student art work during remote learning, they made a memorable slideshow of art adventures for the 2019/2020 school year.

• View the visual art portion of our Virtual Arts Festival 2020
• View a collection of musical performances from students

“The reaction from our students and families to our Virtual Arts Festival has been wonderful and I feel delighted to have been able to present them with this event,” said Brenda in an email to the DOE.

This story was submitted by Brenda McGuinness, Art Teacher, Sebago Elementary School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. to submit a story email Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Vinalhaven’s K-12 Visual Arts Teacher Heather White just couldn’t end the year without an Art Show.

“Students created so many cool ‘things’ in the art room this year, and it’s important, now more than ever, to share that work,” said Heather in an email to the Maine DOE.

Instead of having an in-person event this year, Heather got busy creating a website that showcases the work of students at Vinalhaven School so that it can be seen and appreciated by students, their families, the community, and beyond.

“It’s fun to think that instead of just sharing this year’s art work with our island community, we are able to share it with anyone in the world,” added Heather.

Check out the Vinalhaven School K-12 19/20 Virtual Art Show here!

This story was shared by Heather White, K-12 Visual Arts Teacher, Vinalhaven School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story, email it to Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Kirsten Arndt is without a doubt one of the best art teachers in the state of Maine. Her classes are overflowing with aspiring artists who are drawn to her compassionate and supportive nature. We have so much interest we often have a waiting list for students to get in.

One or two times a year Kirsten, with the help of her students, put together an art show hosted at Oak HIll HIgh School. Unfortunately, with the onset of the pandemic, like everything else, changes to the art show had to be made. Kirsten jumped at the chance to do the art show in a different format. Ms. Arndt compiled a number of works from her students and put them together in a video presentation.

We put the presentation out through email and our Oak Hill High School Facebook page and received such a positive response we wanted to share it with you. The presentation is a testimony to Ms. Arndt’s dedication to her students and her craft. 

Submitted by Marco E. Aliberti, Principal of Oak Hill High School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, email it to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.