Commissioner’s Update – September 27, 2012

Commissioner's Update - September 27, 2012 - cover image
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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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Amended guidance on federal sequestration

This is an update on the current status of the anticipated sequestration of federal funds as a result of the debt limit deal enacted by Congress on August 2, 2011. The President is required to issue a sequestration order, which will have immediate effect, no later than Jan. 2, 2013.

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Two Mitchell scholars study diplomacy abroad

Senator George Mitchell with 2012 Mitchell Institute international fellows Amanda Hall, of Yale University, and Spencer Traylor, of Colby College, at a post-internship celebration.
Senator George Mitchell with 2012 Mitchell Institute international fellows Amanda Hall, of Yale University, and Spencer Traylor, of Colby College, at a post-internship celebration.

This spring, the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) and the Mitchell Institute selected two exemplary, globally minded students from current Mitchell scholars to participate in an innovative diplomacy internship.

The 2012 CIEE and Mitchell Institute international fellows, Amanda Hall ’14 of Yale University and Spencer Traylor ’15 of Colby College, had the unprecedented opportunity of examining firsthand the elements that contribute to successful peace processes and public diplomacy and those factors that inhibit success in Belfast, Ireland and Amman, Jordan.   Continue reading “Two Mitchell scholars study diplomacy abroad” →

Asia Society offers global learning training series

Asia Society’s Partnership for Global Learning is offering Global Learning for Educators, a free year-long training series beginning this month with back-to-school sessions designed for district and school leaders and two webinars on project-based global learning.

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International students learn about Maine’s coastline, wind turbines

Orono High School international students visit the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center at the University of Maine.
Orono High School’s 14 international students from China visit the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center at the University of Maine.

International students engaged in interactive learning last week to better understand Maine’s effort to utilize its coastline.

Orono High School’s 14 international students from China took a field trip to the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center (AEWC) at the University of Maine. AEWC employees explained the current research and development of off-shore wind turbines and wood composites.

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From homelessness to happiness through Jobs for Maine’s Graduates program

Missy Nolette-Bald head shotThanks to Jobs for Maine’s Graduates for sharing the following article with the Maine DOE for publication.

You might not think a teenager who earned good grades and had plenty of friends would have any trouble in high school, but Missy Nolette-Bald did. A 1995 alumnus of the Jobs for Maine’s Graduates (JMG) program at Biddeford High School, Nolette-Bald faced some major struggles at home.

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