2024 Educate Maine Symposium: Full Schedule

10:00am EST

Expanding Equitable Access to Pre-K Throughout Maine

Friday December 13, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am EST

Public preschool is a fundamental and important building block in early learning. Yet, in Maine only about 50 percent of 4-year-olds are in public Pre-K, and current Maine law only requires Pre-K to be for 10 hours a week. The scheduling of Pre-K programs can be a challenge for the 73% of preschoolers who have working parents. In 2023, the Maine Legislature passed a law to establish an equitable, mixed-delivery public preschool system and created a Commission to report back to the legislature recommendations to achieve this goal. In this session, policymakers will share the work of the Commission, discuss the recommendations for implementation, and share more about how we can work together to reach this goal.

Speakers

Senator Eloise Vitelli

State Senator, State of Maine, Senate District 24

Kim Russell

Director of Special Projects, Educate Maine

Tavis Hasenfus

State Representative, State of Maine, House District 57

Friday December 13, 2024 10:00am - 10:50am EST
Massachusetts

Strong Student Outcomes, Early Childhood

11:10am EST

Building Collaborative Networks Between Schools, Non-Profits, and Businesses

Friday December 13, 2024 11:10am - 12:00pm EST

Massachusetts

A dynamic panel discussion featuring non-profit and business leaders, educators, and students exploring how forging strong relationships can transform CS education by aligning curriculum with industry needs, integrating critical CS skills, and enhancing experiential learning. We will discuss innovative ideas for integrating relevant CS skills into K-12 programs to better prepare students for future career opportunities, and take questions from the audience. Participants will also learn actionable strategies for developing sustainable partnerships.

Speakers

Angela Oechslie

Program Director, Educate Maine

I direct the Project>Login program at Educate Maine and love to support CS teachers as they implement computer science in their schools. I am a trained CSforALL SCRIPT facilitator, the community partner for Girls Who Code, and the regional partner, along with MMSA, for Code.org's... Read More →

Friday December 13, 2024 11:10am - 12:00pm EST
Massachusetts

Postsecondary Pathways, STEM

1:50pm EST

The Maine Solutionaries Project: Engaged Learning to Informed Action

Friday December 13, 2024 1:50pm - 2:40pm EST

Massachusetts

Presenters will share examples, video and pictures to show how the Maine Solutionaries Project provides innovative answers to three key questions:
--How do we engage today’s students in meaningful deeper learning and help them develop key transferable skills?
--How do we empower students to address issues they care about in their schools and communities?
--How do we train teachers across Maine so they can confidently design and facilitate solutionary inquiry to action projects?

Participants will be able to ask questions about how the highly successful Maine Solutionaries Project has already engaged 200+ teachers across all counties in the state and will affect >4000 students statewide in the 2024-2025 school year and how teachers can get involved. The project is a collaboration between the Institute for Humane Education and the Office of Innovation’s Interdisciplinary Instruction Team at the Maine DOE.

Speakers

Kathy Bertini

Interdisciplinary Instruction Coordinator, Maine Department of Education

Rene Neuner

Solutionary Teaching and Learning Facilitator, Institute for Humane Education

Julie Meltzer

Director of K-12 and Teacher Education, Institute for Humane Education

I am passionate about supporting others to design and facilitate meaningful inquiry to action projects with students. I believe that all students should have multiple opportunities throughout their time in school to work on addressing issues they care about in their schools and communities... Read More →

Friday December 13, 2024 1:50pm - 2:40pm EST
Massachusetts

Strong Student Outcomes

3:00pm EST

Clean Energy Career Pathways: Innovative Workforce Development Strategies and Partnerships

Friday December 13, 2024 3:00pm - 3:50pm EST

Massachusetts

The Clean Energy Career Pathways panel will be hosted by the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) within the Governor’s Energy Office. Since 2022, the CEP has invested $4.9 million in clean energy workforce development initiatives across the state. The panel will begin with a presentation on the growing clean energy economy, the range of career opportunities and skills required, and a high- level overview of statewide clean energy workforce development initiatives. Following the presentation, the CEP Program Manager will lead a panel of 2-4 Clean Energy Partnership grantees who can speak to their innovative workforce development programs. Examples would include successful pre-apprenticeship, short term training and registered apprenticeships engaging diverse adult populations, youth and rural communities in clean energy career pathways and employment with clean energy businesses. Learning objectives: Greater understanding of career pathways in clean energy and innovative strategies and partnerships to support diverse learners, youth and rural communities.

Speakers

Kelly Sandman

Board President & Instructor, We Built This

I love building things, all kinds of things: houses, furniture, meals, clothes, gardens, relationships, to name a few. I love sharing my enthusiasm for life in general with others. I love learning new things. I love telling stories, singing, rowing, monkeying up and down staging... Read More →