Maine Education News

Welcome to this week's newsletter. You'll find inspiration, updates, and ways to get involved—all at a glance. We promise to keep these short, sweet, and worth your time.

Collaboration Starts with Civil Discourse

One of the ways Ed Forum serves the community is by bringing thoughtful people together to discuss aspects of education based on their experiences, not their positions. Through these conversations we are building a stronger and deeper collaborative network and promoting substantive, healthy, civil discourse.

Watch the video below to hear

• Emily Dwinnells (Director, NASA Space Grant Consortium), 
• Jeremy Jones (Executive Director, Maine Charter School Commission), and
• Derek Pierce (Principal, Casco Bay High School)

discuss their own school experiences, imagination as a core skill, why we need nature in our lives, and more.

One point made here is that students need to DO things, to get out from behind their desks and engage with the world. Kennebec County educators in Maine ED 2050 and Vic Esposito from JMG are saying the same thing. (See below.)

Jobs for Maine's Graduates

Another part of we do at Ed Forum is connect with education and youth-focused nonprofits around the state to learn what's going well and what obstacles are preventing students from thriving. In uncovering common themes, we support collaborative problem solving.

The other day I was lucky enough to meet with Vic Esposito of JMG, a group dedicated to connecting youth with successful futures. He highlighted relationships as a key ingredient in the program's success, whether it is eating lunch with isolated students, preparing youth for job interviews, or helping employers learn how to invest in their communities by investing in their younger employees.

The educators we heard from last week concur: Putting relationships first saves time, improves well-being, and encourages youth to go deeper with their learning. 

On the topic of successful futures...



The legislature has been discussing a number of bills on the topic of Career and Technical Education (CTE). LD680, a bill to study the creation of a comprehensive CTE system, sponsored by Sen. Mattie Daughtry of Cumberland, is one example.

Ed Forum is thrilled to partner with Educate Maine for Maine ED 2050, a project to create a common vision for the future of education in Maine and the active collaboration to get there.

Our partners in EVERY COUNTY will make this a success. You can be involved without a heavy lift—be in touch to find out how.

** REPORTING OUT **

What are Maine Educators saying?

Kennebec County educators shared their perspectives last week. Below are a few points we heard.

Students:

• care deeply about each other, their community, and the world;
• are sometimes uncomfortable in the non-digital social realm; and
• are unsure how they can contribute.

Schools can offer:

• relationship-based learning,
• learning through real world problem-solving, and
• opportunities for appropriate risk-taking.

Kennebec County community members's voices will featured next time. Be in touch to bring your voice into the conversation.

Visit the Maine Education 2050 website.

Let us know if you have a topic you think we should include in future newsletters. Thank you for engaging with us to create the best future for Maine through education.

Jennifer Chace

Executive Director