MaineEducationLeaders2021

Some of us were lucky enough to arrive at the Schoodic Peninsula in time to catch sunset before dinner.   We headed to dinner at the Pickled Wrinkle in Birch Harbor.  Fortunately, Dolly Sullivan from Educate Maine, was back in her old stomping grounds in Hancock County.  She had a friend come by the restaurant with a jar of pickled wrinkles (snails) so the brave members of our group could try them. Later in the evening Dolly had a few additional wrinkles which just confirmed that she was a local in case any group members had doubts! We had a fabulous dinner and were happy to be with the rest of the group again.  That night we were staying in apartments at the Schoodic Institute later and had fun discovering who are apartment mates were for the evening. We spent our Friday at the gorgeous Schoodic Institute.  The first session covered a long standing partnership with the Institute, the Town of Gouldsboro and Sumner Memorial high School (RSU 24) to reseed the...

In October we head way North to Washington County and arrive at the International Motel in Calais, across the river we can see Canada.  An observant member of the group pointed out the incredible resemblance to the Rosebud Motel for all the Schitt's Creek fans among us! We began at Washington County Community College and learned about all the programs available for area students and learned that they even have housing available on campus for their students.  We started the next morning with a boat ride to the salmon farm run by Cooke Aquaculture.   The salmon pens were impressive to see and our group had many questions about the feed, the nets, the process to change the nets and harvest the fish.  It was interesting to learn how the business grew and changed over time. Next, we hopped on a school bus and bumped our way out the dirt roads to the blueberry fields operated by Cherryfield Foods.  Here we gained an appreciation for the sheer amount of land that ...

Living in Maine you see Sugarloaf bumper stickers everywhere, and I was excited for my first visit!  It was August so no snow or crowds, but it was nice to get the opportunity to come for a few days and meet a group of passionate educators doing great things throughout Maine. We were introduced to the team at Educate Maine and they explained the history of the Education Leaders Experience (ELE) program and some of the key players that started it more than ten years ago.  The program was created by Unum and it is administered by Educate Maine, Thomas College and the Maine Principals Association.   Our group is called the "Kappa" class as we are the tenth group to go through the program.  Joining on the adventure are 30 "classmates".  They gave us a class directory which gave us some insight into all the various roles in education that the group has covered which includes: early childhood, K-12, Higher Ed.   We have two days of fascinating presentat...