The Maine Department of Education, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC), conducts the School Health Profile (SHP) Survey for principals and lead health education teachers every two years.

A packet with a letter explaining the details of the survey and the surveys will be mailed on Friday, January 19, 2018 to K-8, Middle, Junior, and/or High School Principals. There are two surveys for each school to be filled out and returned to Pan Atlantic Research separately: 1) the Principal Survey and, 2) the Lead Health Education Teacher Survey. Please read a sample letter for further details.

Your participation and support in carrying out this survey is greatly appreciated as it is vital to the improvement of health related policies and practices in Maine’s schools and ultimately the health of students.

For further information, please contact Jean Zimmerman, Health Education and Physical Education Consultant, at the Maine Department of Education at 624-6687 or jean.zimmerman@maine.gov or Gregory McHugh at Pan Atlantic Research, 221-8877 ext.106 or gmchugh@panatlanticresearch.com.

The Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Maine in collaboration with the Maine Department of Education are happy to announce that registration is open for the spring conference, Partners in Progress: Bringing Students into the Formative Assessment Equation.

KEYNOTE: TRACY ZAGER
Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had

Locations and dates:

• Brewer High school
  March 10, 2018
  8:30am – 3:30pm
• Deering High school
  March 17, 2018
  8:30am – 3:30pm

Three Strands:

• Eliciting Evidence
• Responsive Action
• Student Ownership

Breakout Sessions available for grade spans, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 led by Maine educators who have used the strategies and routines with students.

Registration starts at 8:00 am with an opening session with Maine Department of Education Math Specialist, Cheryl Tobey.

Pricing:

Register by Feb. 15 for Early Bird discounts:

• Group rates (5 or more): $95 per person
• Members: $100
• Non-Members $120

After Feb. 15:

• Members $120 Non-Members $140

Included in the price is lunch and the resource, Mathematics Formative Assessment.

Register at www.atomim.org
(Please Note: ATOMIM does not accept Purchase Orders)

Maine DOE is pleased to announce the selection of students for the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP).

High school students Caroline Baldacci of Bangor High School and Virginia Jewel Hugo-Vidal of Gorham High School will join U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King in representing Maine in the nation’s capital during the 56th annual USSYP Washington Week, to be held March 3-10.

Baldacci and Hugo-Vidal were selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation. Each student will receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study. Check out the Maine DOE USSYP for more information about the program in Maine.

Read the official news release here.

For more information on the USSYP visit the Maine DOE website or contact Joe Schmidt Social Studies Specialist for the Maine Department of Education (207) 624-6828.

To help educate more young women about the opportunities in the field of cybersecurity, Governor Paul R. LePage, the Maine Office of Information Technology and the Maine Department of Education are promoting ‘GirlsGoCyberStart’, an exciting national program that uses online games of discovery to introduce high school girls to the field.

“This innovative program offers young women in high school an opportunity to discover their aptitude and learn basic cybersecurity skills,” said Robert G. Hasson, Jr. Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the field of information security is projected to grow 28 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations.

CyberStart was created by a national company called the SANS Institute, and first piloted to youth in the summer of 2017. The program enabled 3,500 students nation-wide to discover and demonstrate their aptitude for cybersecurity, yet only five percent of the students who participated were young women.  The results of the pilot sparked the GirlsGoCyberStart program, specifically designed to interest young women in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.

“We are excited to join this wonderful opportunity to expand our talent pipeline by engaging young people interested in learning more about cybersecurity and directing them to the appropriate training and career coaching,” said James Smith, Chief Information Officer for the Office of Information Technology.

Maine students who participate in GirlsGoCyberStart will be doing so alongside students from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming and American Samoa.

Participating students do not need prior cybersecurity knowledge or programming experience. All that is required is a computer and an internet connection. Young women in high school who excel in the GirlsGoCyberStart game will have the opportunity to win computers and other prizes as well as a trip, with a parent, to the 2018 Women in CyberSecurity Conference.

The website explaining the program is available at GirlsGoCyberStart.com. Registration will begin on January 29 and end on February 16, 2018. The first 10,000 young women in high school who have registered by then, can play the game online from February 20 through February 25.

For more information about eligibility visit GirlsGoCyberStart.com and for more information about Maine’s participation in the program contact Dr. Kelly Rickert, Director of Workforce Development for the Maine Office of Information Services.

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