Houlton students harvest 400 ears of corn

Dale Flewelling of the Friends of Aroostook initiative, goes over some of the ears of corn collected by Houlton Elementary students Tabria Flewelling and Launa Jay.
Dale Flewelling (left) of the Friends of Aroostook initiative, goes over some of the ears of corn collected by Houlton Elementary students Tabria Flewelling (middle) and Launa Jay last Wednesday.
Photo by Joseph Cyr

Thanks to the Houlton Pioneer Times for sharing the following article, written by staff writer Joseph Cyr.

HOULTON — Sometimes the best lessons are not taught in the classroom.

Such was the case for a group of Houlton Elementary School [students] in Lauren Fitzpatrick’s second-grade class Sept. 20, as the students journeyed to a field in Hodgdon to pick fresh corn for the school.

“(Dale) Flewelling and I have done some gardening projects with the kids in the past,” Fitzpatrick said. “We see a real excitement and ownership in the gardening project when kids have a direct connection. They get excited to put the seeds in the ground and watch them grow.”

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Harvest Lunch Week a trend at Brooklin School

Brooklin students in grades 4 through 8 are on a rotating schedule to help cook Lori Boyce in the kitchen. Last Thursday, Colby Schneider served broccoli to students, and Lucas Torrey dished up corn.
Brooklin students in grades 4 through 8 are on a rotating schedule to help cook Lori Boyce in the kitchen. Last Thursday, Colby Schneider (left) served broccoli to students, and Lucas Torrey dished up corn.
(Click to view more photos)

During Harvest Lunch Week, schools statewide are encouraged to incorporate Maine-made ingredients into their lunch menus. But at the Brooklin School in Hancock County, Harvest Lunch Week is nothing out of the ordinary – cook Lori Boyce serves local food every day of the year.

Instead of consuming instant mashed potatoes or from-the-box desserts, Brooklin students eat potatoes they dug up in the school’s garden and pumpkin bars baked with gourds they grew themselves.

Boyce makes nearly all her food from scratch, which is difficult yet feasible at a K-8 elementary with a 46-student enrollment for 2012-13.

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Maine’s first two charter schools open doors

Olivia Broadrick, senior at the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, chose to attend the public charter school because she plans to work in the sciences.
Olivia Broadrick, senior at the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, chose to attend the public charter school because she plans to work in the sciences.

AUGUSTA – The Maine Academy of Natural Sciences (MeANS) and Cornville Regional Charter School opened as Maine’s first two public charter schools Monday, providing new choices for Maine students.

Charter schools are public schools of choice that have more flexibility than traditional public schools over decisions concerning curriculum and instruction, scheduling, staffing and finance. The opening of the charter schools directly aligns with the LePage administration’s ABC plan, which aims to improve achievement growth in Maine by prioritizing three core areas: accountability, best practices, and choice.

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Grant to help Maine schools develop teacher, leader evaluation systems

AUGUSTA – Seventeen Maine schools will share a nearly $25 million grant to build systems that recognize and reward great teachers and school leaders. The federal grant will be used to improve educator evaluation systems, reward effective teachers and principals, and provide greater professional opportunities.

The 17 schools are in six districts: RSU 16 (Poland area); RSU 19 (Newport); Millinocket; Bangor; MSAD 11 (Gardiner); and RSU 86 (Fort Fairfield).

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Commissioner’s Update – September 27, 2012

Commissioner's Update - September 27, 2012 - cover image
Click the image to view the fully formatted Commissioner’s Update.

Next Friday is packed with events for Maine educators, and I’m excited to be right in the thick of it.

While I’m presenting Maine’s Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year award at our annual CTE conference in Lewiston, educators gathered in nearby Gardiner will be linking Next Generation Science Standards to the Common Core at the Maine Science Teachers Association’s fall conference.

Registration for both conferences is still available at the links above. I’m looking forward to seeing many of Maine’s teachers and administrators Friday, October 5. Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – September 27, 2012” →

Upcoming conference for career and technical educators

High school and community college career and technical education teachers will have a chance to discuss alignment of curriculum to Maine and industry standards, innovations in the trade areas, assessment agreements, and exemplary practices in the world of work at the annual CTE conference Friday, Oct. 5 at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center.

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