Maine Educator February 2016

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Educator Make Way Love in the Lunch Room

Meet Maine’s newest educators & the future of the MEA

also Reboot Your PD p.24 MEA Candidates for Election p. 26 Facebook “f” Logo

February 2016 Vol. 76 • Number 4

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The University of Maine announces the start of a new master’s cohort for fall 2016

Educational Leadership Master’s Cohort The Educational Leadership master’s cohort provides: • Instruction that values working professionals • Hybrid courses combining face-to-face meetings on evenings and weekends, as well as online components • Career-centered learning that bridges theory and practice • A focus on school leadership for all educators • Completion in as little as three years For more information, contact JoEllen Carr, 207.581.2455; joellen.carr@umit.maine.edu

umaine.edu/graduate/apply The University of Maine is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

Educating for life.

It’s your assocIatIon. read all about It. contents 5 6 18 29 30

Editor’s Note President’s Message Fast Facts Events & Deadlines Just for Fun

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Say Good-Bye to NCLB

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The era of No Child Left Behind is over and new federal mandates are in place. Learn what the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is and what it means for your students and the future of testing in school.

Students First - Teacher Led Take an inside look at one of the few teacherled schools in the entire country. Learn how the teachers from the small town of Athens took control of their school after years of shifts in administration, what the change has meant both for student learning and morale, and how you too can flip the script.

11 Bowling Bonds on the cover: (l-r): colby roy (lewiston ea), lauren roy (Kittery ea), Melissa Howard (Megunticook ta)

MEA member King Pins took to the lanes in an across the river bowling battle to strengthen their associations by building bonds over bowling. How the simple strategy of gathering people to bowl changed the dynamic of the locals.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

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News You Can Use r Youice Vo

15

7 10 12 13 14 16 18

12 Your studen t’s ar two rk could be here!

Volume 76 Number 4 - Copyright 2016

Q:

What would you sing at karaoke night?

Your Association 24 25 26

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Maine Educator • February 2016

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How to Reboot Your PD Bowling Battle Builds Bonds MEA Candidates for Election

MEA Leadership President - lois Kilby-chesley Vice President - Grace leavitt treasurer - denise simoneau nea director - Michael thurston

“reach out” or any Motown, or naturally, “la bamba”

Board of Directors “china cat sunflower/I Know you rider”

by Grateful dead or “blue ridge Mountain sky” by the Marshall tucker band

Editorial Staff Managing editor - Robert Walker, Executive Director editor - Giovanna Bechard, Communications Director layout/ad Manager - Allison Coombs, Communications Assistant

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19 With Passage of Every Student Succeeds Act, Life After NCLB Begins 20 Faculty Fall Out 21 When Teachers are In Charge 22 Love in the Lunch Room

13 Educator

Talking with Teens New Year, New You Set MEA’s Course Blogging with Students Perspectives: Should students evaluate teachers?

Make Way - Meet MEA’s Future Fast Facts: Who are young educators?

Advocacy

Student Blogging

MAINE

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My singing could clear the room—loud and very off key.

Phyllis Hunter I don’t usually steven Knowles sing, but in a Jesse Hargrove large group cyndy Fish I might go Ken Williams up, the song Jill Watson wouldn’t robin colby matter.

Jim thornton samantha Garnett sias terry Martin bob Mccully amanda cooper Jill Kehoe deborah butler John Messier neil Greenberg crystal Ward bob calderwood

Maine Educator (ISSN #1069-1235) is published by: Maine Education Association 35 Community Drive, Augusta, ME 04330-8005 207-622-4418; fax 207-623-2129 POSTMASTER: send address changes to: Maine Educator 35 Community Drive, Augusta, Maine 04330-8005 Non-Profit US Postage paid at Augusta, Maine and additional mailing offices.

For advertising rates and information please contact: Allison Coombs, 35 Community Dr., Augusta, ME 04330, acoombs@maineea.org 207-622-4418 ext. 2206

Send letters to the editor, questions, and comments to gbechard@maineea.org

Editor’s Note

I don’t exercise. I know—it’s not good. but I feel I just don’t have time. I count chasing my two kids around as exercise and call it good. and then I eat ice cream. I’m not proud of this lifestyle, nor do I recommend it. as I get older I do find myself thinking more about what others tell me all the time—the “it’s going to catch up with you” comments that are constantly playing in my head when I pour on the chocolate syrup and whipped cream. then I read an article about yoga, how it’s helping students, and how it relieves stress. I’ve always dismissed yoga as “not exercise” because it’s a whole lot easier to mock things you don’t know about than it is to actually try something new. In the spirit of realizing I’m not getting any younger, I decided I’d meet my exercise issues half way and write an article for this magazine about yoga and its ability to relieve stress. seemed like a good fit for educators with so much to keep track of—new essa rules (pg 19) health insurance updates (pg 31), new Pd offerings to try (pg 30) —there are just so many things to juggle and so little time. In the process of setting the story up to talk to a yoga instructor, I was told I wouldn’t really understand how it relieved stress unless I took the class. that was a condition of the interview. Well, before I knew it I was sweating and standing in positions I didn’t even know my body could contort into, and my mind wasn’t thinking about anything except what I was doing in that moment.

It was a full hour where I didn’t worry if the chicken would be defrosted in time for dinner or if I remembered to pay the school lunch bill because my kid was secretly buying chocolate milk each day even though I gave him milk in his lunch box. all those little things that seem to creep into your mind and pile on to everything else you’re dealing with went away when I was doing something I quickly learned was a whole lot of exercise.

to read more about yoga for the stressed educator and how it can help you, head to page 11. after the soreness wore off, and I really started to feel like I’m not 25 anymore, I surrounded myself with a group of 20-somethings—because, hey, why not pile on and feel even older. but again, my perceptions were way off…this too was the exact opposite experience you might think you’d have when you’re older and hanging out with younger people.

While I felt ancient in the beginning, this group of young educators, was inspiring, eager to learn and filled with enthusiasm for both education and learning about the Mea, which brought new life to the room during a recent conference, held specifically to engage younger Mea members. the Mea lacks members in this age group even though they make up the largest segment of the workforce. to increase the voice of those who are new to the profession and encourage other early career educators to join the Mea, a new initiative is now underway. to read more about the new group, young education Professionals of the Mea, turn to page 16.

While I know trying new things is difficult, it seems like the new year is a good time to be open-minded, giving and thoughtful. so, try something outside your comfort zone, share that great lesson plan with a younger teacher or give the custodian, bus driver, secretary or food service worker a special thank you for the work they do each day. a little bit of kindness and open-mindedness always goes a long way—and then have some ice cream.

Giovanna Bechard Editor

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

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President’s Message

Lois Kilby-Chesley MEA President

Do you have a question for Lois? Send it in an e-mail to lkilby-chesley@ maineea.org

LoIS KILBY-CHESLEY PRESIDENT

MAINE’S HUNGER CRISIS What is food insecurity? It is the crisis of limited or insufficient food for all family members each day and may fluctuate during the month depending on when paychecks and services are received.

We know that hunger and learning don’t mix whether it is a K-12 student or a college student.

As cuts to food programs by politicians increase, food insecurity increases as well, and our students are the ones who are impacted. Maine now has the third highest rate of hunger in the country. Statewide more than 47% of students qualify for free or reduced school lunch.

More than 40,000 Mainers have been cut from the SNAP program causing even more hunger statewide, while dropping us 17 places to last in the nation for program administration. Hidden in Maine are the 35% of us who are food insecure and who do not qualify for public assistance, depending instead on food charities to fill cupboards.

To support hungry students, our members put together weekend food backpacks, collect for community food pantries, organize classroom snack donations, and reach into their pockets to purchase food items for the classroom. And we thank you for all you do.

As educators it is nothing new to help our students in need. But the food insecurity crisis is big and it is growing. Since hungry students are with educators so much of the day, it becomes part of our jobs, and ultimately part of the school day, to be sure children are fed and ready to learn.

The recent Task Force to End Student Hunger came up with a blueprint for solving hunger for our students, at least during school hours. Some outcomes of the task force are: 1. Improve and increase participation in child nutrition programs at the state level, 2. Increase Breakfast Programs and reach 100% of those eligible, 3. Reach 100% of those eligible for Lunch Programs, and 4. Increase Summer and After-school Nutrition Programs.

Senator Justin Alfond (D-Portland) has two bills for the current session—one that would give schools tools to make sure qualified students receive free meals. The second would streamline the application for qualified after-school facilities to participate in federal programs.

MEA as an organization takes this crisis seriously. We continue to participate in activities to help our communities deal with food insecurity. This year MEA partnered with WABI in Bangor to gather non-perishable food for local food banks. During the 201415 school year students at the MEA/WGME School Spirit Challenge schools provided 300,000 meals to Good Shepherd Food Bank, in addition to MEA’s check for $2,000. During December’s holiday period in both 2014 and 2015, the MEA Board of Directors contributed food and cash to Good Shepherd, and we donated to the Augusta Food Pantry as well.

But we still don’t reach every hungry student.

We encourage you to talk to your administrators, in support of your Food Service colleagues, to build an infrastructure that will provide necessary nutrition to every student, every day. We know that for many kids the meals at school are the only food they eat, and weekends are 60 hours without food. The food insecurity crisis must be solved with a seamless set of options for students and families to access. Partnerships, information and education will increase access to healthy, nutritional meals for our kids.

References: Annie Casey Foundation, Portland Press Herald, Feeding America, Bangor Daily News, and Task Force to End School Hunger final report.

In Unity,

In Memoriam

Nancy Randall Clark - MTA President 1974 Nancy Randall Clark, Maine Teachers' Association president in 1974 passed away on Mon. Dec. 28, 2015, at the age of 77 at her home in South Freeport. She attended Freeport Public Schools, the University of Maine and Husson College. Nancy taught school for 40 years, encouraging generations of young students to reach for their best. Concurrently she was a Maine Legislator for 20 years serving in the House and Senate, becoming the first woman to serve as Maine's Senate Majority leader.

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Maine Educator • December 2015 February 2016

u News Yo

Talking with Teens

Can U se

Honest advice from teenagers on how to better connect

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

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News You Can Use

When it comes to talking, Brian Dodge knows his stuff.

He’s the teacher behind Portland’s Deering High School Debate Team which recently beat 22 competing high schools to win first place in a statewide debate tournament. It seems like an odd place for Dodge to excel, considering he teaches high school Calculus.

The key to Dodge’s success appears to lie less in his ability to coach debate and more in his ability to connect.

“I don’t want to say be their friend, but you want to find some sort of link,” which isn’t hard for Dodge to do…he’s been a carpenter, a musician, worked in a book store, likes sports, movies, and cars…you get the idea. “I'm a really diverse person every once in a while I throw in a joke,” said Dodge who never seems to stop smiling.

So what’s in the secret sauce? Five of Brian Dodge’s high school students shared their thoughts on how educators can better talk and connect with teenagers.

Alex Smith, 17 “When teachers talk about their home life it gives us a connection. One of my teachers walks his cat and it makes them seem more like a person rather than someone who sleeps at school at night. Teachers should work to find a shared interest with us. I have a teacher who plays fantasy football and I play, and it connects me to him and makes learning more than just a teacher trying to stuff things into my brain—that way then, when teachers do try and stuff stuff into our brains, it sticks better because we’re connected and paying attention more to what they’re saying.”

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Maine Educator • February 2016

“I think a lot of teachers are nervous to make a mistake in terms of planning or content knowledge that they're afraid to connect with a student on a personal level. I have a self-deprecating sense of humor and I’m not afraid to make a mistake—but that's how they learn. I frequently, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not, make a mistake. I'm not afraid to show them I make mistakes.”

- Brian Dodge, Portland EA

News You Can Use

Chris Sheehy, 15 “Don’t be so formal when you talk with us. Teenagers are never formal. Don't be afraid of getting into discussions and getting off topic. I find that when we’re off topic it’s more educational than the class itself because the subject we’re talking about is being related to the modern world. I learn more from the discussions that happen with the opinions shared when we're off topic.”

Dylantha Musonerwa, 16 “Don't treat us like we're just children because we're more intellectually in tune than teachers or adults will give us credit for.

I love Mr. Dodge because he was not just a coach, he was more a peer and he treats us more like equals. When we need him he is there, he is extremely understanding, and I don't want to let him down.”

Zaeda Blotner, 16 “A lot of times educators think they should speak to teenagers in a way where they dumb things down or speak about things they think we like, but I like when teachers speak about things I don’t know because I like to expand my own interests. Teenagers’ interests are often underestimated. I want to be treated like a young adult and teachers should recognize that some topics are not above what I can learn.”

On January 23, the debate team finished 3rd overall in the state debate tournament.

Arija Forsythe became the Maine State Champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Alex Smith finished 3rd in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas. Congratulations to the team!

Spencer Todd, 16 “I think it’s important for teachers to reach out to us not only on the education level but on an emotional level. This is one of the most important times in our lives—teenagers feel we need to be able to turn to someone to trust and Mr. Dodge does that, and other teachers need to be able to do that too.

Most teenagers, they feel if they don’t like a teacher, they don’t want to do well in their class based on the sole reason they don’t like that teacher. The teenager doesn’t want the teacher to think they’re doing a good job, so they won’t do well in the class and try hard.

But, if a student likes their teacher, we feel like we have an obligation to that teacher to do better in their class; I’m motivated to do better and thrive in the class because I don’t want to let the teacher down.”

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

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News You Can Use

, r a e New Y u! o Y New Mid-Year Survival Tips

2016

You’re headed into the back end of the school year—so how will you make it through? The mid-year survival tips below have been collected from NEA members from around the country to help you manage what’s ahead.

Encourage Staff Bonding and Collaboration

Become friends with your school’s secretary and custodian-they’re key to running the school effectively.

Stay low and

ZIG ZAG

Learn to say

“NO” Provide relevant professional development that you organize.

How? See page 24.

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Maine Educator • February 2016

Keep your sense of humor

GO HOME

GET SOME ZZ SLEEP Z

?

Read your Association contract.

Know what it says.

Ask for help

Have a problem? Survey members to see what’s going on and work to fix it together.

Get involved in the Association— knowledge is power

News You Can Use

for the Stressed Educator By definition, yoga is a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being. So, by definition it would seem that practicing yoga could help relieve some of the pressures in your daily life—the pressure to perform well and receive a good evaluation. The pressure of standardized tests. The pressure of dealing with parents and so on.

Before you doubt if a series of poses with seemingly strange names (eye of the needle and the like) could really relieve stress, Julie Kiger with Portland Power Yoga says it’s important to really understand what yoga is, beyond the definition.

“It's an hour of peace a day, and that's mindfulness. Our mind gets overly involved in other things and that's when stress happens. The more you do yoga you'll be able to be more present in the moment, being mindful. So that when you’re with your kids you won’t worry about work, and when you’re at work you won’t worry about your kids. Overall yoga will help you reduce stress,” said Kiger.

An hour of peace sounds great, but what’s the secret to yoga that brings on the peace the rest of the day? Kiger says it’s all in the breathing. Who knew something so simple as the required breath we all take just to live could make such a big difference? Kiger says it’s one of the most important things about yoga, even more so than the physical benefits (you can burn up to 1,000 calories in an hour).

“Breath is one of the only bodily functions that is either completely unconscious or deliberate. When you are managing your breath, it's a small enough task that your brain has to be completely absorbed in it, so if a thought comes up you would then choose to go back to your breath. So, the small task of counting the length of your inhale and exhale is enough to give your brain a break, reducing your overall stress,” said Kiger.

Perhaps you’re thinking—”I don’t have time to take a yoga class.” Kiger says in just 5 to 10 minutes you can de-stress at home or at work, offering this simple plan: 1. Set the timer on your phone for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Close your eyes, lie on your back, put your feet up on your chair, and turn your attention to your breath.

Can’t lie down? Just sit with your eyes closed.

3. Take deep breaths. Inhale and exhale while you count the length of your breath, 5 in and 7 out.

4. Don’t do anything except breathe and count until the timer goes off.

Schools in Maine and across the country are also using yoga to refocus students’ energy and create a peaceful environment where students are engaged. At Reiche Elementary in Portland, Kindergarten and 1st graders practice yoga as an enrichment activity. “For a high-poverty school, we have really happy, engaged kids, and I think it’s because we understand that kids are more than test scores. We want them to be engaged in art, in music, in more,” teacher-leader Kevin Brewster told NEA Today, during a recent school visit.

That’s the proof there’s more to yoga than the downward dog.

Reiche Elementary School, Portland - (Photo: Jeff Stevenson)

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

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SEt MEA’S CourSE How? What?

Examples of a Resolution (belief statement) include:

Resolved that the MEA supports the use of technology as a supplement to the educational process when prescribed by a properly trained educator.

Example of a New Business Item (action item) include:

That the MEA will work with the legislature to create fair and equitable assessment system for all K-12 schools that is based on multiple measures.

Where?

Forms are found online at www.maineea.org and submit to: MEA RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE Maine Education Association 35 Community Drive Augusta, ME 04330

FMI and SUBMISSION FORMS:

Contact your local Association President or call Tammy Simpson at 622-4418 x2221 or e-mail tsimpson@maineea.org

Submit a Resolution and/or New Business Item to be discussed at MEA’s annual Representative Assembly.

"Sometimes it’s easy to feel isolated and alone, but we’re not. Being a delegate renews my hope and gives me the strength to get up each day and ‘go for it’ again. Being a delegate at the MEA RA allows me to ‘touch base’ with other educators that can truly relate to my everyday life, the good parts and the struggles." - Tavia Lunt, Gardiner TA

When?

DEADLINE: FEb. 27

It’s your Association.

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MEA wants your opinion on issues that affect your profession, public education, and local association.

Maine Educator • February 2016

Tech T@lk

with Students Nowadays it seems like everyone has a blog. There are mommy bloggers, political bloggers, teacher bloggers, Disney bloggers…the list goes on and on. The group no longer left off the list of bloggers are students. In Mauri Dufour’s class at Fairview Elementary in Auburn students as young as five are eager to type away and share their writing with the world.

Dufour uses Kidblog.org to encourage students to write and learn instead of using picture prompts like she was taught 15 years ago in college. Below, in Dufour’s words, are her three reasons to encourage student blogging.

Authentic Audience When students blog, they’re not just writing for me they’re expanding beyond the four walls of the classroom they can reach out to anyone around the world and share their stories and ideas. The Superintendent responds, other teachers in the building, and parents all respond. They go home and ask to use their parent’s computers or iPads and they ask to read their friends writing and then respond to them. The blogs make them want to write more on their own time and respond to their friends’ writing. Author Jan Brett even responded to almost all the kids’ questions about the book they were reading that they wrote about in their blogs.

Feedback Once their words are posted online their writing is public. For my students, they get to read and see what kids outside of our classroom are learning. The students’ world is expanded with our blog—there is an opportunity for anyone in the world who is willing to log on and see your work. I sent out a couple of tweets and emails and asked people to respond to my students’ blogs. The next day people were coming in and responding to them, and you should have seen how happy they were they had responses. The kids that didn’t have responses got up and said I’m going to do better today…so it turned into more than just sharing our experiences, but how am I going to improve to make people understand my writing.

School-Home Connection—Parent Connections The blog is something their parents can see and understand what they’re doing—students are sharing and they’re learning. With the blog parents get a glimpse into the classroom. The parents can see—this is what my kid is able to do—this is their work. It’s a glimpse into what they’re learning. It’s not just information they would get in a parent newsletter, but the blog is from the kids’ perspectives, through their eyes. The blog becomes a portfolio for the students and parents can see their writing from the beginning of the year and then the progress to the end of the year. This is in a permanent place where you can see what you’ve done and where you’ve been.

To see Dufour’s class blog, which has built-in protections for student privacy log on to: https://kidblog.org/class/mrs-dufour/posts February 2016 • www.maineea.org

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PE

S

C RSPE TIVE

Should students evaluate teachers?

YES As districts across the state work to construct educator effectiveness plans, teams of administrators and teachers are considering the components of their programs. State guidelines require the following components: professional practice, professional growth, and student growth data. Other pieces that can be added to the plans include student feedback, as well as parental feedback. Student feedback is an essential part of any educator effectiveness plan.

When making decisions about constructing educator effectiveness plans, our primary consideration should be our students. An effective educator will always put students first. Just like any other industry, we need feedback from our clientele to ensure we are doing the best possible job. For instance, many restaurants, grocery stores, insurance companies and online sales companies request feedback, as they put their customers first. Our students are our customers, so to speak, so in order to make sure we are meeting their needs, their feedback is essential.

Many educator effectiveness plans will require an administrator to complete one or two observations. Peer observations can also be a part of the feedback process. We need to keep in mind that these observations are simply snapshots of one period, or maybe even half a period, completed on a few random occasions.

Our students are with us every day, so they know what we are doing, what works for them, and they are best qualified to let us know how we can better meet their needs. They are our best resource for feedback, and it would be negligent to omit their input as part of an educator effectiveness plan.

Lorie Voisine Northern Aroostook EA, President

No With new teacher evaluation laws and websites like ratemyteachers.com, students are increasingly sharing their input online and beyond for the world to see...which leads to the question, should students evaluate teachers?

To evaluate something means to assess and rate its worth in some way. To be able to do such a thing, the evaluator must have first-hand knowledge and experience in doing the thing being evaluated. In most aspects of life, we expect evaluation and assessment for things to come from experts in the field. For example, if I am going to buy a house, I want an inspection to be done by a professional who understands what to look for in the structure of that building. They know what signs indicate leaks, foundational issues or other structural damage that would indicate the ultimate value of the house. It might be well appointed and aesthetically pleasing, but that doesn’t guarantee its structure is sound. The same should be true for education. The only persons who should evaluate teachers should be experts in teaching.

Truly, the experience a student has with the teacher is very limited in depth and breadth compared to the actual art and science of teaching. And while students directly experience only a few pieces of the entire puzzle that is their education, and therefore, should not evaluate teachers, that does not mean that their input cannot be valuable in the form of feedback. While evaluation is a judgement that should be done by experts in the field, feedback is a communication tool that should be used often in the classroom, ideally as a dialogue between teachers and students surrounding expectations, perceptions, quality of work and the like. Students will not always like what we do in the classroom, (*cough* *cough* teaches public speaking), but for a teacher to be able to give students a voice, an opportunity to be heard, also means the teacher has an opportunity to listen to that feedback and determine in their professional opinion its significance and make changes (or not). Yet perhaps more importantly, feedback, unlike evaluation, lends opportunity to engage in important discussions with students about their education, the culpability of both student and teacher in that learning process, and in the end, improve the quality of education for all students.

Stacie Cocola Quamphegan EA

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Maine Educator • February 2016

Submit your entries for the Maine Educator “What I Love About Maine” cover contest All art teachers are encouraged to share this opportunity with students. Art submissions should display the theme “What I Love About Maine.” Submissions must be 8.5" x 11" in dimension to fit the cover or able to be photographed for the cover and may be any form of art, including electronic. Please advise students the title of the magazine will also appear across the cover of the magazine toward the top (approximately 2.5" in height), as it appears on each issue. Three finalists from each of the following categories will be selected: K-4, 5-8, 9-12 and electronic art. One winner will be chosen from the above categories with his or her artwork featured on the magazine cover.

Submit artwork to: Giovanna Bechard 35 Community Drive Augusta, ME 04330 or Email: gbechard@maineea.org

Your student’s artwork could be here!

Submission Deadline: March 4, 2016

Nominate a Colleague for an MEA Award Each year the Maine Education Association sponsors awards to recognize individuals, groups, and companies for their commitment to public education. We encourage each local association to participate fully in acknowledging those MEA members whose commitments to the ideals of our Association serve as models for each of us. Deadline for award nominations is March 1, 2016. Awardees are recognized at an awards banquet at the MEA Representative Assembly in May. The awards are: • Award for Teaching Excellence • Joan McGovern ESP Award • Anne Sheehan Political Action Award • Corporate Award • Friend of Education Award • Golden Apple Award • Honor Medal Award • Human and Civil Rights Award • John H. Marvin Local Association Award Current members of the MEA Board of Directors should not be considered for MEA awards during the time that they are serving on the Board.

If you need further information, please contact the Office of the President by emailing lheaney@maineea.org.

2015-2016 Pre-Retirement Days Pre-Retirement Days are sponsored by the Maine Education Association in conjunction with the Maine Education Association - Retired. The purpose of these informational meetings is to inform MEA members, who intend to retire within five years, of the retirement options available to them through ANTHEM of Maine (MEABT ANTHEM plan), the Maine Public Employees Retirement System and the Maine Education Association. Information will be provided that should help those who participate in these pre-retirement days in doing the necessary planning to prepare for a smooth transition from school employment to retirement.

To register for one of the pre-retirement days, please go to the MEA Web page at www.maineea.org/preretirement and complete the registration form with all the requested information. Registrations will be taken on a first-registration basis and will cease ten (10) days prior to each seminar.

Skowhegan area* Saturday, March 5: 9:00-12:00 Rockland area* Wednesday, March 16: 4:00-7:00 Auburn area* Wednesday, March 23: 4:00-7:00 Ellsworth area* Wednesday, March 30: 4:00-7:00 MUST PRE-REGISTER IN oRDER To ATTEND Enrollment is limited to 75 at each session so be sure to register early. (NoTE: must be an MEA member to attend.) * Exact sites will be announced at a later date via emaill. If you have registered please check your Junk/Spam folder for your location.

Make Way Meet Maine’s newest educators & the future of the MEA

By the Numbers

45% of MEA members are 52 or older.

In the next five years, Maine schools will lose 18% of all staff to retirement.

9%

of MEA members are 33 and younger.

22% 16

of educators currently employed in Maine schools who are NOT MEA members and are 36 and younger.

Maine Educator • February 2016

“As the daughter of a union teacher, I was always told that when I became a teacher I should join the union as well. I, of course, obliged, but didn't really know why I was doing it. I just knew that all good people listen to their mothers,” confessed Lauren Roy, a 27-year-old 6th grade teacher at Shapleigh School in Kittery.

Roy is part of the growing number of younger educators the MEA is working to engage in the Association as the landscape of America’s workforce and population dramatically change. According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, 1 in every 3 American workers is between the age of 18 and 34; they’re known as the Millennial Generation.

Millennials are expected to surpass Baby Boomers this year as the nation’s largest living generation, according to the Census Bureau. Millennials are also the largest group of potential members that exist for the MEA, but they make up the smallest percentage of actual members. Perhaps it gets back to Lauren Roy’s question of “why join?” The answer for Roy and more than a dozen other Millennial members came during a conference developed just for younger members, as part of a new group called Young Education Professionals of the MEA (YEP-MEA).

“The Sunday River YEP-MEA conference that I attended this past November finally answered the "why" for me. It was a fun-filled weekend that served as a meet and greet with all things union. We learned the structure of the NEA, MEA, and our local associations, how the union can help out young adult members, the importance of bargaining for and protecting our contracts, and so much more. I left Sunday River feeling empowered. Realizing that I had unknowingly entered such a wonderful and influential group of educators filled me with gratitude. The weekend lit a ‘union spark’ in all of us and I can't wait to see the fire that this group ignites for the MEA,” said Roy.

That spark will be needed as more MEA members and educators retire. “The future of the profession lies in the hands of those who are just starting out in schools across the state,” said Dan Allen, Training and Professional Development Director for the MEA. “The hope is to introduce our younger members to what we can offer in terms of helping them in their career, giving them a voice in their work while building connections with other educators across the state. These younger educators will shape the future of the profession and the MEA. It is our job to invite them in with open arms, and share the great work of the MEA with them, and then make them part of that work,” added Allen.

YEP-MEA is new to the Association and the founding members are from all over the state.

They work with students at all grade levels, with a shared excitement for their students and being part of shaping the lives of children. The YEPMEA group is very positive and eager to solve problems, working with new technology and ideas to deliver to their students an education which works for them. The group is optimistic, ready to work toward a greater good, and ready to learn from each other.

“I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed and benefited from my experience at the YEP-MEA conference. I greatly enjoyed simply connecting with, and being in a room full of young educators in Maine. As we are in a similar place in life, it was easy to connect about shared experiences despite teaching different levels, subjects, and at different schools. It was also great to learn more about the union because I didn’t know much about it at all before that weekend,” said Sarah Hirschfeld, Yarmouth EA. The inception of YEP-MEA came at just the right time for Janelle Jundt, a special education teacher in RSU 19 who was trying to manage all the new expectations surrounding her work, feeling like she had no outlet to turn to for help.

“I was overwhelmed by the support I received at this event. It was nice to know there were people who cared about me and my students.

I learned a lot of practical things I could do to improve my situation, and that was so appreciated,” said Jundt RSU 19 EA. The YEP-MEA conference will continue in years to come with other events already scheduled.

Want to know more about YEP-MEA? Head to the group’s new website www.yepmea.org.

YEPMEA Young Education Professionals of the Maine Education Association

2015 YEP Weekend - Sunday River

LEarN morE at www.yEpmEa.orG. February 2016 • www.maineea.org

17

News You Can Use

Fast Facts

Interesting facts and quotes about Association membership and public education in Maine and beyond.

Have an idea or stat you want shared? Send it along with your name and local to gbechard@maineea.org

{

Who are the young educators?

Millennials are now the

largest, most diverse

generation in the US population.

Millennials made up

1/3

of the total US population in 2013

On Employment

On Education More Millennials have a college degree than any other generation of young adults.

47% 18%

of 25-34 year olds received a post-secondary degree and have completed some postsecondary education.

Source: Council of Economic Advisers calculations based on current population survey

Working Millennials are staying with their early-career employers for longer.

On Homeownership Entering adulthood during the Great Recession:

31%

of 18-34 year-olds in 2014 lived with their parents and the share of those who have jobs and still live with their parents has increased as well.

Rising student loan debt decreases prospect of homeownership, with total student outstanding loan debt nationwide surpassing $1 trillion in 2014.

Sourcea: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council of Economic Advisers calculations College Board; Dept. of Education

18

Maine Educator • February 2016

On Finance and Family

$

19,200

median income of Millennials in Maine—which ties with New Mexico for the 4th lowest in the nation.

67%

of those younger than 30 have a credit score below 680—a lower score on the 300 to 850 spectrum

Millennials tend to get married later than previous generations 30% of 20-34 year-olds in 2013 vs. 77% in 1960, but College-educated Millennials are more likely to be marrieD.

Sourcea: Business Insider analysis of data from the “American Community Survey” Decennial Census (1960); American Community Survey (2013) Current Population Census; Council of Economic Advisers calculations Federal Reserve Bank of New York

On December 10, President Obama, with a stroke of a pen, made it official: the No Child Left Behind era is over. Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The Every Student Succeeds Act is the seventh reauthorization of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act, first passed in 1965, and the first since 2002 when NCLB became law. This reauthorization has been years in the making and suffered through several false starts, but it picked up steam in 2015 as opposition to the rigid and punitive “test and punish” regimen imposed by NCLB intensified and several education groups, including the NEA, lobbied Congress to get the job done.

“Students can’t afford to live another year under No Child Left Behind,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said repeatedly this year.

Critical to this entire effort was the unprecedented mobilization and advocacy of public school educators across the country.

Their hard work, says Eskelsen García, was worth it.

“This is a deserved victory for public education because the Every Student Succeeds

Act will ensure all students have equal opportunity to a high-quality public education regardless of ZIP code,” Eskelsen García said.

Every Student Succeeds Act: The Basics What ESSA sets out to do is strike the right balance between the respective roles of the federal, state and local governments in formulating education policy. The Every Student Succeeds Act goes a long way in defanging NCLB’s grinding test and punish regime, lays a path for new flexible pillars of school accountability and reaffirms the original law’s vision that ZIP code shouldn’t determine the quality of a child’s education.

Throughout the reauthorization process, MEA/NEA’s focus has been threefold: decouple standardized testing from high-stakes decisions, create an “opportunity dashboard” to help close opportunity gaps in needy schools and elevate the voices of educators in the policymaking process. Based on these measures, ESSA has the potential to be a game-changer.

Opportunity Gaps in Focus. For the first time, state-designed accountability systems must include at least one indicator of school

cac y

o

By Tim Walker NEA Today

Adv

With Passage of Every Student Succeeds Act, Life After NCLB Begins

success or student support to determine where holes should be filled. These indicators might include lack of school counselors, or inadequate access to advanced coursework or a richer curriculum.

Less High-Stakes Testing. ESSA will still require annual tests in grades 3-8 and once in high school. However one of the linchpins of NCLB, the so-called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) mandate, is history. ESSA provides funding for states to audit and streamline assessment systems, eliminate redundant and inefficient assessments and improve them.

The new law also creates a pilot program for state-designed assessment systems that are driven by teaching and learning, rather than accountability, that best inform instruction.

And where states allow, ESSA maintains the right of parents to opt their children out of statewide academic assessments and allows states to limit the amount of time students spend taking annual tests. The new ESSA law goes into effect in the 2017-2018 school year.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

19

Advocacy

Faculty Fall Out When the University of Maine System cut 157 faculty positions last year it made the 6 o’clock news. The elimination of programs and majors were headlines in the newspapers for weeks, as were the student and faculty protests against the cuts. While the reporters have moved on to other news, faculty say the pain from the cuts are in full effect at the UMaine System campuses across the state.

“We’re becoming a less attractive place to offer an education,” said Jim McClymer, Associate Professor of Physics and Graduate Coordinator at UMaine.

To date, the loss in full-time faculty is larger as a percentage of payroll than any other group including administration, and larger than student credit hours, according to MyClymer. (see chart below) The reduction in faculty at the UMaine System is on trend with what’s happening at colleges and universities across the country. According to a report from the Campaign for Future of Higher Education, faculty are consistently being replaced with parttime staff with less experience and knowledge in respective fields of study.

Full-Time Faculty (tenured/tenure eligible)* 576 UMaine 101 UMA

Part-time/ Adjunct Faculty** (not tenure eligible) 356

Part-time as % of Full-time Faculty 62%

222

219%

UMF

123

68

55%

UMFK

31

63

203%

UMM

31

50

161%

UMPI

47

59

125%

USM

369

396

93%

* Source: 2014 data (pre-faculty cuts), http://www.maine.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2013/09/Tenure-Report-Maine-2014.pdf?6d3d12 ** Source: UMaine System Human Resources, October 2015

The decline of faculty at the UMaine System campuses also continues to reduce the number and variety of courses offered to current and prospective students. “We can’t really prepare students for the workplace because the reduction in courses doesn’t allow for students to reach their potential— they don’t have the options to see what they may excel at, right now we’re just pushing them through,” said McClymer.

“This whole idea of life-long learning—it doesn’t exist now,” added Sabine Klein, Assistant Professor of English, UMaine in Farmington.

“Students are just forced to take classes to graduate.”

Meeting graduation requirements are also more difficult now since the reduction in faculty, according to UMaine Professor George Markowsky.

Many courses that are required for students to take in any given major are no longer offered each semester.

“We used to offer all the required courses to complete a major every semester. Now we only offer certain required courses once a year so students will have to wait until the next year if they miss a course or can’t take it because the schedule conflicts with another course they need to take—that puts their education behind, and it’s causing lots of problems 20

Maine Educator • February 2016

all because we don’t have enough faculty to teach the courses,” said Markowsky, Professor and Chair of Computer Science and Cooperating Professor in the School of Policy and International Affairs at UMaine.

University of Southern Maine Economics Professor Susan Feiner just experienced this problem with a student looking for help, sending her the following email perplexed as to what to do. “I am trying to enroll in the ‘ABU 190’ class that I need as a prerequisite for future classes but I am not able to as it does not exist. I need certain classes to graduate, but they are not available. Is there something else I can do? I need 28 credits to fulfill my BS in Economics.”

While the Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine (AFUM), MEA’s higher education unit, continues to fight the faculty cuts and how the UMaine System handled the elimination of programs, the continued concern is for the students and the impact the faculty reductions will have in years to come.

“There’s a big difference between a faculty member and a part-timer— we’re not all interchangeable and students are now feeling the pain the most. Oftentimes part-time staff have no university phone, no university support staff, no university email, and worse, no office in which to meet with students to offer help, advice and encouragement. After graduation there’s no way to stay in touch with the part-time instructors: who will write letters of recommendation for employment? For further study? The University System is in trouble, and it’s all because the Board of Trustees thought it could cut its way to success,” said Feiner, Professor of Economics and Women and Gender Studies at USM.

Instructional Faculty Nationwide

By Rank 2013 51% Key Graduate Teaching Assistant Part-TIme Instructional Staff Full-Time Non-Tenure Track

14%

16%

14%

Full-Time Tenure Track Full-Time Tenured

6%

Exclusive content: Closer look at UMaine System Funding in the Maine Educator Online @ www.maineea.org

A deeper look at the University of Maine System funding 157 positions eliminated

Programs/Majors cut at USM • Undergraduate academic programs in elementary education • Applied technology education • Technology education • Two graduate programs in school psychology and classroom teaching • American and New England studies graduate program • Geosciences major • Arts and humanities major at Lewiston-Auburn College • French major University of Maine System Budget: State funding-34% Tuition-42% Over past 3 decades: State funding-as much as 72.5% Tuition-22.9% Decline in State Funding per fulltime student: 15% over past five years (adjusted for inflation)* *Source: State Higher Education Executive Officer Association

A deeper look at the University of Maine System funding

Advocacy

When Teachers are in Charge

At Athens Community School, with 109 children, there is no “go to the principal’s office” because there is no principal. Here, none of the educators in the building ever seem to worry about those in charge, mostly because they’re all in charge in one way or another. The school, in Somerset County, is entirely led by teachers and is in its first full year as one of only 70 plus teacher-led schools in the nation.

“This school is the heart of this community,” said Marian Spalding one of the three lead teachers.

“We want to be teacher-led. We don’t want to be principals. We want everyone’s voice to be heard,” added Spalding who stepped up as teacher leader along with Edward Ellis and Beverly Foss. The school had seen a shift in administration several times in recent years and with each shift came changes in how the teachers, many who have been in the same building for decades, would have to do their jobs.

“We were looking for stability in our building,” said Ellis. The stability came when some of the most experienced teachers in the building took over when the school board approved the new model in July 2015. Now, as a group they make the decisions they know are best for their students. Recently, the team chose its own science curriculum, decided what standardized tests to give and when, wrote their own school handbook, developed their own teacher evaluation model with help from MEA, and

developed their own reading benchmarks while creating a summer reading program for those who are a little behind.

“Morale is higher than before. Teaching is my passion and this model makes us all part of the process,” said teacher-leader Bev Foss, who’s worked at the Athens school for more than 40 years.

While there is no traditional administration in the building, each of the three teacher leaders serve their own individual administrative roles from discipline to financial, and are taking classes to achieve administrative certification requirements. Spalding works on the budget and is sure to involve the staff in how money is spent.

“Prioritize what you need the most,” Spalding recently told the staff. “I’m not saying you’re going to get it, but any books, periodicals you’d like to have, include all of that on there.”

For the teachers and support staff who have been around a while, simply being asked for input was a major step in the right direction.

“Really, teachers are the ones who know what’s best for kids so instead of a layperson dictating what we have to do, we have a say—we have the vision we are not following someone else’s vision,” said 8th grade teacher Tammy Moulton. From field trips to the water bottles students use in the school to promote a healthier lifestyle, all the decisions come from collaborative work by different committees—there’s everything from professional development to student wellness. Decisions are made in a democratic way after much thought and research. The Can’t flip the script? investment in time and energy from those in the You can still change the dynamic in your building with building is huge—all for the some simple advice from the team in Athens who went benefit of the student. from teachers to leaders in less than a year.

“With all our heads “Get involved. Work on what interests you. Get on a together, we can do it,” said professional development committee that will help give Foss. you a voice and make connections with the MEA—that helped us a lot. When we came to this decision, we had to start our own union. The MEA has been very helpful to start that, the Association helped with the evaluation model and offers professional development while also making the connection with the NEA.” Marian Spalding on how educators who are not in a teacher-led school can take better control of their professional environment.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

21

Love in the Lunch Room Sometimes cupid strikes when you least expect it—a long glance over the final countdown of the microwave in the lounge, a quick chat at a meeting that turns into something more, the moment you realize you both are eating peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches for lunch. Those love in the lunchroom moments were very real for these cupid-stuck couples who shared their MEA love stories with us this Valentine’s Day.

Ela e v a D ie & JaAm D #74 MS

Jamie and Dave Ela bring new meaning to the words union meeting. It was at a priority schools local association meeting at Carrabec High School where, over Chicken Divan, MEA UniServ Director Rose Mahoney suspected there was love in the air. The newlywed couple, just married this past August, admits they kept their relationship a secret for about a month but there was just something about the way they communicated that tipped off MEA’s UD, turned love detective that fateful night.

“He was smiling like a fool (you can say from ear-to-ear) and was practically falling over himself to be near her. It wasn't hard to pick up on,” said Rose.

While the secret romance didn’t last long, their relationship seemed inevitable. Jamie and Dave both attended the same high school, he was a senior, she a freshman. At the time, their lives didn’t cross paths but all these years later, it was kismet when Jamie took a teaching job in MSAD 74, the same district where they once walked the halls together as teenagers. The couple can now easily say they knew they were meant to be together, forever.

“I realized Dave was the one when I had stopped trying to play matchmaker with any of my single friends,” said Jamie. For Dave, the “a-ha” moment about his now wife was just as obvious.

“When Jamie saw my messy apartment and didn't immediately leave, I knew,” said Dave.

And who knows…maybe it was their love of cream of mushroom soup in the Chicken Divan that pushed things over the edge.

22

Maine Educator • February 2016

Jamie & Brent Watson South Portland TA and Portland EA

In what may have been one of the first ever chat rooms, Jamie and Brent Watson exchanged a mutual love of football. Brent spent a lot of time in the computer lab during college in order to avoid a difficult roommate and Jamie was enrolled in a computer class learning about what everyone in 1996 referred to as the World Wide Web. The two were at separate colleges, hundreds of miles away from each other, connected only through the Internet.

“My teacher had us go to a site where you could chat with other people, and I chose to chat with Brent because we both used our first names instead of creating a screen name. We chatted over email and the phone, and the next month I drove with my roommate to meet him in Washington, D.C.,” said Jamie.

It was a risky move Jamie kept a secret from her family for a year but one Brent is more than glad she was willing to make. “I fell hard pretty quickly. As Jamie was leaving to go back to Alabama after we had

met for the first time, the pain of seeing her leave made it easy to say, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’ She was unlike anyone I had ever met before, or since, for that matter. It was that quick. I just knew,” said Brent.

The teaching duo have been together for 20 years and married for 14 of those years. At one point they both coached softball at Deering High School in Portland—Brent JV and Jamie 9th grade.

(Jamie claims she won every scrimmage). The couple now work in different districts, Jamie in South Portland and Brent in Portland, and have two school-aged children they enjoy spending summers with—which is one of the best things Jamie says about being married to another educator. “Now we have the summers off with our kiddos, and we cherish those times as they are going by way too fast.”

Beth & Gerry French RSU 71 EA

Theirs is a love story you think only exists in the movies. Gerry and Beth French have been friends since they were pre-school aged. While the pair lived in neighboring towns, through the years they would run into each other, eventually becoming high school sweethearts. As teenagers, they went to the prom together, graduated and eventually got married. The couple is now raising children in a home where cocoa stations in the winter and trips to the beach in the summer are the norm.

Day to day, while Gerry and Beth work in the same district, their lives don’t cross paths, she teaches 3rd grade and he’s a school bus driver. However, when the final bell rings, the two begin to work for a greater good, and have a strong passion for their local associations.

“We are both Union Leaders in our RSU—we are VP’s of our units (Teachers/ESP) and this has offered us the opportunity to work together as colleagues,” said Beth who says she had a feeling at a pretty young age she and Gerry would have a lifetime of working together.

“I knew that he was "the one" on our first date, and I was right, because we had the pleasure of celebrating our 20-year wedding anniversary with our MEA family during the week of the NEA Representative Assembly in Orlando last summer. That was a very special memory!” said Beth.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

23

so ciation

Your As

Reboot Your PD By: Becca Redman, Career Prep, Wells High School, Wells-Ogunquit TA

How might we redefine teacher professional development? What possibilities exist beyond the standard “sit and get” workshop or weekly faculty meeting? The best PD is rooted in teacher empowerment & trust. For professional development to be effective, teachers must be engaged as learners, using the same strategies we accept as best practice in our classroom: appeal to interests, differentiate, allow time for hands-on application and encourage reflection.

Try an EdCamp

The popular EdCamp “unconference” model has inspired some of the most highly-attended and positively reviewed voluntary PD events in the state. From the formation of EdCampME five years ago, similar educator-designed, organic days of learning have been established from Bangor to Farmington and OOB. What makes EdCamp unique is the focus on attendee interests: the schedule is fluid, designed collectively. The EdCamp model can reinvigorate a district-level workshop day and empower teachers and support staff. Educators yearn to learn.

By default, we also want to share our professional passions with colleagues. A district or buildinglevel EdCamp day enables teachers to collaborate and engage in dialogue regarding relevant issues (without an agenda or protocol). See page 12 for info on an upcoming EdCamp you can attend for free.

Build a PLN

Sit & Get

Social media is powerful. Consider designating a district or building hashtag on Twitter, where you can share resources and discuss practice. Not on Twitter (yet)? Use the security and convenience of Google Apps for Education to establish Google+ communities to facilitate dialogue and resource sharing. Circles can be interest-based, ranging from content interests to education policy.

The old school direct instruction model is sometimes necessary, especially when communicating essential policy changes or legal information. Sit and Get doesn’t need to conjure the same emotions of going to the dentist: mix it up!

Provide content (a video, presentation, reading) and check for group understanding with an engaging app such as Kahoot! or Socrative. This serves as a measure of understanding and presents a tech tool to a broad audience.

Tinker Time

Let teachers play with new technology! While some teachers need detailed, step-by-step instructions to navigate new tools; others may learn best with the opportunity to try it out! Assess competencies before tech PD, and utilize experienced app users as additional facilitators!

Regardless of what model is used for professional development sessions, the key is in classroom application and reflection. Establish clear timelines to revisit professional learning, share classroom hits and misses, provide needed educator supports and support emerging leaders accordingly. What’s that cliche? “Teamwork makes the dream work?” No better proof than in an educational environment where all learners—students and adults—feel supported, trusted and empowered.

24

Maine Educator • February 2016

Your Association

Bowling Battle Builds Bonds Out of the gutter and acting like King Pins, almost 100 educators laced up smelly bowling shoes to duke it out in a battle of the Longley Bridge. It was the Auburn Red Eddies versus the Lewiston Blue Devils— the showdown was weeks in the making. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but there was bowling and the shoes were less than fresh.

“We just wanted to get people together, have some fun and show them being part of the Association has value beyond what’s expected. Like with anything, people are engaged in things when they have personal relationships, it’s no different when it comes to people being engaged in the union so we want to build and strengthen those personal relationships, and the bowling event was a perfect way to build those connections,” said Samantha Garnett Sias, President of the Lewiston Education Association.

The bowling event between two of the largest local associations in the state drew more than 100 people from both districts—all members were invited, no major issues were discussed, no problems debated—it was just a few hours of fun and networking with other members to give people a chance to get to know each other better.

“We’ve realized for a while that our local associations, while larger than most in the state, still had a lot of potential to grow, and the larger we are the more influence we can have over issues that impact our work and the daily lives of our students,” said Carl Bucciantini, President of the Auburn Education Association. With the idea of strengthening both locals, the two associations came together for the friendly bowling competition.

Members received extra points for

their team if they brought non-members as both locals saw the opportunity to both build bonds and grow membership at the same time.

“We know people will come to us when they have a problem—but our association is so much more than dealing with contracts and grievances.

At the local, state and national level there are opportunities to learn and grow in the profession to better help our students, and have influence in the profession as a whole.

It’s critical for our members to see that together we have a better chance of impacting the change we want to see for our students,” said Garnett Sias.

Since the success of the bowling night in L/A, other local associations in the Bangor area are getting together to host their own event. The MEA can help offset the cost of any event you wish to host which is aimed at increasing awareness and capacity of the local association. If you would like to host an event in your local you can apply for an organizing grant through your UniServ Director. Contact your local MEA office for more information.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

25

Your Association

MEA Candidates for Election 2016 This is YOUR Association. Members set the course for the MEA by deciding the issues the Association supports and the ways to achieve success for every Maine student. While the MEA has 24,000 members statewide, there are dozens who hold an elected office who speak for those in their districts both locally and nationally.

According to rules set by MEA members, those running for an elected office may publish a biographical sketch in the Maine Educator. Candidates for the MEA Board of Directors and the

Board of Directors Suzen polk-Hoffses – mEa Board of Directors – District B I became an educator, due to the fact education allowed me to escape living in poverty. I had educators who understood that my being poor and growing up in public housing didn’t have to define my future. those caring and motivating educators allowed me to see that through education, I could have a future of a better life. as an educator, I do my best to show stakeholders in my community that educators do have the power to inspire and change the lives of their students. since 2000, I have been an active Mea member and early childhood educator at Milbridge elementary. I currently serve as my building representative and on my local association’s negotiation team. I am currently serving as a local delegate to the Mea representative assembly, am a member of the ace program and serve on the Human & civil rights committee. In october 2015 I was one of three Mea educators sent by Mea to attend the nea east coast Minority leadership and Women’s leadership training conference.

Beth French – mEa Board of Directors – District D My name is beth French and I have been an active Mea member and passionate public school educator for thirteen years. I am a full-time wife, mother of three sons, and third grade teacher in my hometown community. It has been my honor and privilege to serve my community as a distinguished member of my east belfast school leadership team, an active member of delta Kappa Gamma, and local union Vice President in rsu 71 education association. I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge and experience on committees for: tePG (teacher Principal evaluation Models), standards based report card Writing, ccss 26

Maine Educator • February 2016

NEA Representative Assembly (RA) appear on the following pages.

Election information and forms are available online at www. maineea.org in the “Members Only” area under Elections.

Certificates of Election for local MEA RA delegates must be received by March 2.

Questions about elections should be directed to the office of the Executive Director at 1-800-622-4418 ext. 2218 or e-mail lheaney@maineea.org.

curriculum alignment, and Writing committee. In 2014 I was appointed by Mea President to serve on Mea resolutions committee, where I continue to serve. Most recently, I was appointed to the doe task Force for Maine’s school report card Grades a-F. In 2015 I served as an Mea/nea representative assembly delegate, and eagerly await the opportunity to serve my colleagues around the state in this capacity once again. I would be most honored to represent my professional perspective and experience on the issues that most effect public education, as a member of our Mea board of directors.

aaron Greene – mEa Board of Directors – District G since 2009, I have been an ed tech 1 and an employee of Msad 49. during this time, I have worked in multiple schools within the district, and for 4 years specialized in the behavioral support program.

I have been a member of the local union since day one. Within one year of joining, I was asked to be co-President of the ed tech 1 union. a year later, I gladly stepped up as President.

I have held a position on the Government relations committee and now am co-chairman of the esP committee. I was fortunate to attend the 2014 and 2015 Mea representative assembly. during the winter of 2015 I was nominated to attend the national esP conference. this was an honor to learn aside many professionals from across the country. this winter I was again nominated to attend. I am excited and look forward to proudly representing the Mea.

Jim thornton – mEa Board of Directors – District H I have been educating elementary students in the oxford Hills school district for 24 years.

I’ve taught fourth, fifth and sixth grade. I’ve served as oHea President from 2008 through 2012. For the last three years I have been a member of the Mea board of directors

representing western Maine’s district H. I have enjoyed serving Mea members of districts from rsu 10 in the rumford area, to rsu 16 in the Poland region, and east to the turner school district.

I’ve gotten to know the issues these locals face and have tried to represent you to the best of my ability. since my first term ends this summer, I’m asking for the support of district H members for a second term.

I continue to be energized by the challenges Mea members face and want to continue advocating for you and the students you teach and influence.

Western Maine school districts face unique challenges. My experience will help in forcefully advocating for the needs of members in a second term. Please consider my experience and energy for the future work. I humbly ask for your vote to continue my service as district H board member. thank you.

terry martin – mEa Board of Directors – District J three years is a long time, right? but my three years as a member of the board of directors have flown by. It just seems like yesterday that I attended my first retreat and met Matthew Mcdade, who taught me to speak my mind and not back down from what I believe in. over these three years I have learned a great deal from lois, Grace, Mike thurston, Phyllis, roger, John, linda and countless others. I have attended many board and act/dbc meetings, as well as dozens of local association meetings, spent a week in rhode Island training to do one on ones with association members, helped the association campaign for Mike Michaud, worked on our childhood Poverty and our stand up For student’s campaigns. I spent time at the capitol in augusta lobbying for the restraint law and against charters and helping to protect public education from Governor lePage’s attacks.

We have done a lot of work the past three years and accomplished much, but I feel that the most important thing that I do as a member of the board of directors at these meetings and conferences is listening to the stories of individual teachers, like you.

Your Association Gerald morey – mEa Board of Directors – District ESp I was born in Houlton, Maine March 23, 1970 and have spent my whole life here, except for almost four years in the army. returning from Germany married with two children, I spent 13 years at a manufacturing facility, hired for heavy lifting and endurance. realizing I wanted to do something different and as I only had my high school diploma for two weeks or so before reporting to Fort Knox, Kentucky, I needed to find some education. I took courses at nMcc in Presque Isle and found I enjoyed data. Go figure. because I was the only applicant that was proficient in Microsoft access, I was hired as the special education secretary at rsu 29. I will be doing that for 10 years in april 2016. being an esP with diverse blue collar experiences closely working with administrators and teachers has taught me to better be able to bridge the different perspectives and needs of the different professions. advocating for esP became a passion when I joined the Mea. that led me to serve on multiple committees, including the esP adHoc and to be a current co-chair of the esP committee of the Mea.

Gerry French – mEa Board of Directors – District ESp My name is Gerry French. I am an association member from rsu #71, located in the belfast area. as an esP member, I have dedicated many years to furthering the endeavors of our esP members through my local, state and national affiliations.

I became a vice president of my local at the age of 23. at that time, at the local level, I successfully bargained employment contracts that consistently brought more full-time employment, more hours and more income for my coworkers.

I also initiated the esP sick bank, and maintained 100% insurance coverage for the employees under our contract. at the age of 26, I was elected to the Mea board of directors. I was the only director tasked with dual representation – district d and esP. although challenging at times, I welcomed that challenge and successfully represented both districts. throughout my affiliation with Mea, I have also been a delegate at the Mea ra numerous times, an active member of multiple Mea committees, and a two-time delegate to the nea ra.

I would welcome the opportunity to represent the statewide members of esP as your next esP representative on the Mea board of directors. I will represent you effectively.

NEA RA District Seats Donna Longley – Delegate - NEa ra District 20

I am donna longley and I have been teaching since 1980 when I graduated from Fitchburg state college in Massachusetts. I taught behavior disordered students from Preschool through age 22 in public schools as well as residential treatment schools. I came to Maine in 1989 and began teaching in Wells. I eventually switched to teaching 3rd grade, looping 3rd to 4th and now 4th grade. currently I teach 4th grade mathematics. during college I was active in the student chapter of the Mass. teachers association and have continued to be an active association member throughout my career. at the local level I have held many positions in our local associations; building rep, vice president, president, negotiator, and chief negotiator. at the state level I have been a delegate to the Mea ra for the past 6 years, been a member of the statewide bargaining committee and currently sit as one of the co-chairs of the committee. I have been the nea district 20 representative for the last 4 years. this year I was also named as a trustee on the Mea benefits trust.

I live in saco and have three grown children and a grandson.

rebecca manchester – Delegate - NEa ra District 21 My name is rebecca Manchester and I would like to serve as our district’s representative to the nea-ra.

For many years I have served as my local’s representative and now I would like to do the same for our district. I bring experience, enthusiasm, and a strong sense of commitment. I would like to have your support. thank you and I hope the remainder of your school year goes great!

Ina (Indriani) Demers – Delegate - NEa ra District 22

Ina demers, Mea member since 2003, taught 4-5th grade esl and in 2005 earned my Masters degree. currently an ed. tech. in special education serving at reiche elementary.

In 1974 moved from Indonesia, without any union experience becoming active at the Mea and nea, and served as President of the Portland ed. tech. unit. My activity in grassroots organizations is not limited to the southern Maine Workers’ center, working closely with the southern Maine labor council, aFl-cIo and naacP. I attended Mea and nea ras, public hearings and lobbying in augusta. at nea ra I attended the asian Pacific Islander, educational support Professional, GlbtQ and soGI caucuses. I attended all Mea dbc meetings/conferences and many of nea leadership, Minority and ell trainings/conferences.

Mea appointed me co-chair to the Human and civil rights and cultural affairs committee. as an active Mea ace member, I also collected signatures for Mea stand uP For students petition.

Please, allow me to continue representing educators at the nea ra.

Bob mcCully – Delegate NEa ra District 23

I am a veteran mathematics teacher, athletic coach, and student council advisor from Falmouth High school. throughout my long teaching career I have been very active in professional associations. I have consistently served as an Fea President or chief negotiator, and as an Mea-ra and nea-ra delegate for district 23. I served on the Mea board of directors for a maximum term of seven years from 2004-2012. I am currently in the second year of another three-year term. I am a member of the statewide bargaining committee, and have served on several Mea committees and sub-committees. I have served on both the Mea and nea resolutions committees. I previously chaired the Mea Policy review committee.

I serve on a board for the cumberland county teachers Federal credit union. I regularly present talks and workshops at state and regional teacher conferences, and publish in mathematical journals.

I have been an nea-ra delegate for the past eleven years, and take the responsibility of representing district 23 very seriously. I have a great deal of experience in representation at the local, regional, and state level, and have found it fascinating and rewarding to contribute at the national level.

terry martin – Delegate - NEa ra District 23

I clearly remember my first couple of Mea ra’s. My confusion, my frustration, my incomprehension. so many rules, so many people, so many different ways of organizing the same people. It felt like my first day as a teacher. so much to learn.

How to understand it all? but what I have learned since those days, is learning anything new, there are always those moments of feeling like you are swimming upstream. but rather than giving up, I found that, like anything, learning how to “ra” is a process and it takes time. you can’t possibly figure it all out at once, but slowly, each year, you absorb a little more. so last year, when I attended my first nea ra, I was a bit overwhelmed, but not like those first couple of ra’s. It was bigger after all (200 to 10,000!!!), but otherwise I felt confident and our morning state sessions gave me the understanding I needed to follow the debates. It was a wonderful experience working with my colleagues from Maine and rewarding and instructive meeting teachers from other states. last year, I attended as an alternate, but this year I would like to represent my district.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

27

Your Association Samantha Garnett Sias – Delegate - NEa ra District 24

I teach upperclassmen mathematics at lewiston High school. this is my tenth year in the profession and lewiston has been my professional home for a majority of that time.

I have been a member of my local, lewiston education association (lea), since my return to the district in 2013. over the last three years I have become increasingly involved in the association at both the local and state level. I am currently serving as president of lea for my first year. through the Mea I have been lucky enough to be a part of take the lead and have participated in some fantastic professional and leadership development opportunities. I have also served on the Mea board of directors since september 2014. I have served on the Instruction and Professional development committee and most recently, the audit committee.

I look forward to many more years of hard work with my local and the state associations for the benefit of our great profession and am excited to represent district 24 as a delegate to nea ra in 2016 if elected.

Sally martin – Delegate - NEa ra District 25

I have always loved being a student! I even remember from an early age (6 years old), that I had already decided on a teaching career. since that innocent age, I have taught kindergarten, grades 1 through 5 and numerous years in gifted and talented education. besides serving on many district committees (including all curricula, the teacher certification committee, and the Professional Growth and evaluation committee), I have been active in my local association for years as a building representative and a member of the executive committee.

I have had the privilege to represent district 25 for the past three years at the nea representative assembly. It has been my privilege to attend the nea representative assembly to advocate for our profession with the thousands of educators across the country. every year I learn more about our profession and the strong commitment educators have for all children and young people.

I ask for your support once again to be a district representative so that I can continue to stand up for your voices at the nea ra.

Jill watson – Delegate - NEa ra District 26 My name is Jill Watson and I have been a special education teacher for 15 years. I currently teach at Maranacook community High school where I have been since 2002.

I have been a member of the Mea/nea for 15 years and am currently serving as the district F board of director. For the past 3 years, I have also served as co-chair for the Instruction & Professional development committee.

Within my local association, I am currently serving 28

Maine Educator • February 2016

as VP and Grievance chair and local delegate to the Mea ra. In the past, I have served as President, treasurer and chief negotiator. In addition, I have held numerous leadership roles within my school district, including leadership team, master advisor, new teacher mentor and co-chair neasc committee.

I have attended the nea ra in the past and was honored to be your voice at the national level. While an nea delegate, I was on the floor during all the votes and participated in multiple caucuses, which allowed me to represent Maine and the ideals we hold true. I ask for your support as a delegate for district 26 so that I can continue to be your voice at the nea ra.

Jesse Hargrove – Delegate - NEa ra District 27

It has been an honor to serve the educators from the greater bangor area as a member of the board of director’s for region c and nea ra delegate these past two years. I’m also the treasurer for my local association and sit on the school board for my hometown. I am committed to public education as a teacher, association Member, school board director and most importantly, a father of two boys.

Gerry French – Delegate - NEa ra District 28

My name is Gerry French. I am an association member from rsu #71, located in the belfast area. as an esP member, I have dedicated many years to furthering the endeavors of our esP members through my local, state and national affiliations.

I became a vice president of my local at the age of 23. at that time, at the local level, I successfully bargained employment contracts that consistently brought more full-time employment, more hours and more income for my coworkers. I also initiated the esP sick bank, and maintained 100% insurance coverage for the employees under our contract. at the age of 26, I was elected to the Mea board of directors. I was the only director tasked with dual representation—district d and esP. although challenging at times, I welcomed that challenge and successfully represented both districts. throughout my affiliation with Mea, I have also been a delegate at the Mea ra numerous times, an active member of multiple Mea committees, and a two-time delegate to the nea ra.

I would welcome the opportunity to represent the Mea once again as your Mea district 28 delegate to the nea ra. I will represent you effectively.

phyllis Hunter – Delegate - NEa ra District 29 When I entered public education, as a second career, I quickly understood the importance of membership in my association and became an active member right away. soon after joining I assumed the role of VicePresident, and currently serve as

local President and chief negotiator.

I also serve Mea members on both the Policy and Government relations committees, as well as continuing a three-year term on the Mea board of directors.

In 2011 the Mea President asked me to serve on the Mea Government relations committee. as a result of my hard work with members, state legislators, and Political candidates, the Mea board of directors awarded me the prestigious anne sheehan Political action award in 2013. I continue to meet regularly with state representatives as a member of ace. I have organized and facilitated town hall meetings with our state representatives and members so that many of your voices could be heard.

It is such a pleasure to work for all Mea members at the national education association representative assembly. the important work of our national association needs to hear from you. your vote will allow me to continue representing you and the important work we do in Maine’s public schools.

John messier – Delegate - NEa ra District 30 John Messier is an associate professor of economics at the university of Maine at Farmington, a position he has held for 9 years. a long time advocate for social justice issues, John has worked on such diverse topics as credit access for women in developing countries, fair trade, market access, childhood nutrition and financial literacy. during his time at uMF, John has been an active member of the associated Faculties of the universities of Maine (aFuM) serving on the local executive board, the state executive board and the negotiating team. a graduate of the nea’s emerging leader academy, John currently serves as a member of the Mea’s board of directors, a leadership trainer for the nea and on the aFuM negotiating team.

Neil Greenberg – Delegate - NEa ra District 31

I joined uMPsa about 12 years ago when, like many employees who are not members, I realized that I might need the protection that the union had to offer. as I am not one who likes to sit back and let others do all of the work, I quickly found myself volunteering to be on our contract negotiating team. It turned out to be quite a learning experience, and made me want more. since that time, I have been a delegate at our annual delegates’ assembly, the Mea representative assembly, and, for the last six years, the nea representative assembly representing uMPsa, acsuM, and MPbn. I am currently president of uMPsa, grievance and campus rep for the university of Maine in orono, and was elected to serve on the board of the Mea representing uMPsa, acsuM and MPbn.

Calendar Feb.

27

MEA-R Sheehan Honor Grant Application Deadline

Application deadline for Maine Education Association-Retired Anne Sheehan Honor Grant worth $1,500 to help defray costs for continuing education.

March

5

EdCamp Maine

MEA is a proud sponsor, for the second year in a row, of EdCamp Maine. Sign up for a full day of free PD—by teachers, for teachers.

See more information below.

FMI: www.maineea.org/grants

March

11

“My Hero Works at School” Essay Contest

Contest deadline for the MEA’s 3rd annual MEA-Portland Sea Dogs essay contest for all Maine students. Prizes include Sea Dogs tickets. Essays should be no more than 300 words.

FMI: www.maineea.org/grants

April

2

MEA Spring Conference

Mark your calendars for this free day of professional development where you’ll learn practical skills for your everyday work.

Open to all members, all job classifications.

Email registration coming soon.

Cat Saturday, March 5, 2016 8:30 am - 3:30 pm Waynflete School, Portland FMI: www.edcampmaine.org What Is EdCampME? • • • • •

An interest driven, purely organic, professional development opportunity that encourages true professional dialogue A gathering of motivated and intelligent educators from a range of content areas and grade levels A series of sessions that may explore a technology tool, a discussion of best practices, or a collaborative presentation focused on current issues An opportunity to engage in peer-to-peer sharing, and to make professional connections A focus on how we use technology to enhance learning experiences

Proud Sponsor:

Tracks Tour

Calling all 1st Grade Teachers!

MEA is proud to announce the 2016 Cat Tracks Tour. Have MEA President Lois Kilby-Chesley visit your class to read to your students and provide them all with a book to take home! There may even be a surprise appearance from the Cat in the Hat! (Costume worn by someone in your school.)

If you would like to request a visit please e-mail gbechard@maineea.org. All visits will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis.

February 2016 • www.maineea.org

29

13

NUMBER BLoCK

3

Instructions:

6 7

Try to fill in the missing numbers.

The missing numbers are integers between 0 and 8.

0

3

3

2

15

3

21

1

18

The numbers in each row add up to totals to the right.

The numbers in each column add up to the totals along the bottom.

The diagonal lines also add up the totals to the right.

Stuck? Find the answer on page 30

MEA Benefits Trust

3

5

3

2

25 20 16 17 16

18 22 25

Important Announcement

New Benefits Addition: Comprehensive Vision Plan

Effective July 1, 2016, the MEABT is pleased to announce that it will provide a comprehensive vision plan to all members enrolled with the MEABT medical plan. As a result of the Trust’s bargaining power with Anthem, the Trust is able to provide a stand-alone vision plan at no additional cost to the school district or the member. Additionally, the Trust will also be able to provide retirees on the Group Companion Plan product with a voluntary vision product offering that they can purchase if they so choose.

Alan Tweedie

$500 Quarterly Drawing!

Congratulations to Sarah Pickell, Alan Tweedie and Lynn Dorr-Garrity for winning $500 just for being healthy! You can win too! Each quarter though MEABT’s Online Health wellness program you can win one of three $500 gift cards. All you have to do is earn 50 points and you gain one entry into the raffle. Earning points is easy: • • •

Fill out your online Health Assessment and complete a self-directed course to earn 60 points.

Read coach-recommended content, complete a coaching program goal, and get your annual physical to earn 50 points.

Complete a preventive MD visit, track your progress at least three times each week, and complete a Milestone Assessment to earn 66 points.

FMI: Linda Welch at MEABT, 207.622.4418 x2510 or visit www.onlifehealth.com.

Lynn Dorr-Garrity with Linda Welch, MEABT

Sarah Pickell with Lynn Andreasen, MEABT

Page 1 of 4

Web Version

LiveHealth Online

Monthly MAP Webinar Available on demand starting February 16th

LiveHealth Online is a great resource provided by Anthem. From the middle of the night, when your away from home, or the weather traps you inside, you can visit with a live doctor. You can have face-to-face conversations on your computer or mobile device.

It's also a great resource for your kids away at school. They can visit with health professionals even when the campus health center is closed.

In addition to providing you with a doctor right at the push of a button, LiveHealth is also a great resource for medical and wellness tips. From help losing weight to what you need to know about the Zika virus, LiveHealth has answers. LiveHealth also offers mental health professionals. Visit LiveHealth to set up an appointment with a doctor. To sign up or to see what's new, visit LiveHealth Online.

Walk-in Centers Don't have a high speed internet connection, or want to see someone in person? Visit a walk-in center.

Walk-in centers don't require an appointment, and are often times cheaper than a visit to the ER. When your life isn't in danger but you need care quickly visit your local walk-in center.

Can't get in to see your doctor about that sore throat? Got a sprained ankle? Stop by your local walk-in center. Walk-in centers (sometimes

Keeping Your Love Alive Learn the 10 relationship essentials, how to cope with challenges and conflict, and how to balance communication styles while keeping your relationship fresh. To view a seminar on demand go to anthemeap.com, and enter MEA Benefits Trust. You find this and other seminars in the "Online Seminars" section.

Consumer Reports On Health March 2016 Women with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely as diabetic men to develop coronary heart disease--with early and more deadly heart attacks. At least 2 hours of weekly exercise--and medication, when needed--may lower the risk.

Help is just a phone call away.

Call the 24/7 NurseLine to talk with a registered nurse about your health concern. Whether it's a question about allergies, fever, types of preventive care or any other topic, nurses are always there to provide support and peace of mind. And, if you want, a nurse will call you later to see how you're doing.

Call the 24/7 NurseLine Call toll free at 1-888-607-3262.

Board of Trustees Susan Grondin, Chair Sally Plourde, Vice Chair

http://view.email.nea.org/?j=fe9910737d67047d71&m=fe8c15737c6501757d&ls=fdea167... 2/24/2016

Page 2 of 4

called Urgent Care or Express Care) offer the same doctors, nurses and support staff you find at your primary care provider. Walk-in centers are located all around the state from Presque Isle to Kittery. To find a walk-in center near you visit MEABT.org.

Mary Kay Dyer, Secretary Robin Colby Larry Given Grace Leavitt Donna Longley Barbara Williams

Come Find Us on Facebook!

Like us on Facebook and stay current on programs and events. Join us and bring your insight to the conversation.

Registration for the MEABT HealthTrails Spring Challenge is now open and the challenge begins February 29th. This 12-week challenge consists of tracking your steps and produce servings. Two NEW trail choices have been added for you to discover!

• If you complete this challenge by recording steps and/or produce servings at least five days/week for 12 weeks (or 60 days), you will earn 35 points!

• Log on to www.OnlifeHealth.com and click MY CHALLENGES (under the MENU link) to register for the challenge. If you have not registered at www.OnlifeHealth.com , do so by clicking GET STARTED and using the keycode MEABT. Call Onlife at 1-877-806-9379 or Linda Welch, MEABT at 888-622-4418 x2510 if you have any questions.

• New this challenge - we're awarding prizes to the top team and individual participant! The team who earns the most points (based on average miles) will win a healthy lunch delivered to their school, and the individual participant (based on average miles/day) will win their choice of a FitBit Zip or iPod Shuffle!

• Sync your Fitbit during registration! If you don't have a Fitbit, not to worry, you can still track using a pedometer or the Activity to Step Conversion Chart.

• HealthTrails Is Mobile! Access HealthTrails from your smartphone by downloading the HealthTrails app for iPhone® or Android™.

Encourage your family to join in on the fun! Employees, retirees, spouses/domestic partners and dependents age 18 or older who are covered under the MEABT health insurance plan are eligible to participate in the challenge, earn points, and redeem for prepaid cards.

Seven Ways to Combat Sitting at Work International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

http://view.email.nea.org/?j=fe9910737d67047d71&m=fe8c15737c6501757d&ls=fdea167... 2/24/2016

Page 3 of 4

Most adults spend too much time sitting, shortening their life span and increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. But today's lifestyle is not conducive to being physically active. People may have a long commute, a desk job or a nightly TV-watching habit-or all three, explained Avinash Maniram, a senior consultant at PBI Actuarial Consultants in Vancouver. "Sedentary living is something we all need to be aware of, and it's something we need to change in our day-to-day life," Maniram said in his presentation "Is Sitting the New Smoking? Coping With Sedentary Lifestyles" at the Canadian Health and Wellness Innovations Conference . About one-third of adult Canadians get some physical activity each week but spend most of their time in a sedentary state. Another one-third spend most of their day sitting and fail to get the recommended 150 minutes of activity per week. Although one group gets some exercise, both groups are at increased risk of ill health, he said.

"It's not only necessary to be physically active for at least 150 minutes a week, but it is also important to limit the number of waking hours being sedentary," he said. "One hour at the gym doesn't undo eight hours of sitting."

One of the challenges is that work has become increasingly sedentary. For example, in the United States, jobs requiring some moderate activity declined from about 50% to 15%, while jobs that are sedentary or required only light activity increased.

At the same time, people are watching more television, which means more sitting. The number of hours spent watching TV in Canada increased from 22 to 27 hours per person weekly between 1998 and 2008.

And that's before the explosion in television-streaming services, Maniram noted.

The good news is that a recent study showed reducing sitting time by 10% had a greater impact on improving mortality than 10% increases in both leisure-time physical activity and walking for errands and commutes.

How can we increase activity when our jobs require us to sit all day? "What we need to do is at the end of every hour, ideally every 30 minutes, we need to get up out of the chair. Periodic breaks throughout the day are what undoes the damage of the sitting," he said.

Maniram offered tips for increasing movement every day: 1.Walk up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

2.Stand up and walk around while talking on the phone. "I take all my phone calls standing up now."

3.Limit the amount of time watching TV when you get home from work.

4.Have walk-and-talk meetings. Instead of sending an e-mail or calling, walk over to a co-worker's desk to deliver the information.

5.Get a walking buddy. "I got into walking and running by having someone to keep me honest and accountable and keeping it social."

6.Walk or ride your bike to work if it's practical.

7.Do desk exercises every hour or half hour-not desk push-ups or squats, but sitting up straight and doing some simple stretches. "Little discreet things that you can do to sort of break the monotony of sitting there and correcting that posture."

"The combination of reducing the amount of time that we're sedentary and increasing our physical activity will hopefully ensure that 20, 30 or 40 years from now we can all stand here and talk about how well we have become," he said.

@theMEABT

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Page 4 of 4

This email was sent by: The Maine Education Association Benefits Trust 35 Community Dr Augusta, ME 04330

Working with you to make your life healthier! www.meabt.org

Privacy Policy | Manage Subscriptions | Update Profile One-Click Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend |Contact Us Please do not reply to this message as the "reply to" function does not allow us to receive your email.

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Page 1 of 4

Web Version

LiveHealth Online

Monthly MAP Webinar Available on demand starting February 16th

LiveHealth Online is a great resource provided by Anthem. From the middle of the night, when your away from home, or the weather traps you inside, you can visit with a live doctor. You can have face-to-face conversations on your computer or mobile device.

It's also a great resource for your kids away at school. They can visit with health professionals even when the campus health center is closed.

In addition to providing you with a doctor right at the push of a button, LiveHealth is also a great resource for medical and wellness tips. From help losing weight to what you need to know about the Zika virus, LiveHealth has answers. LiveHealth also offers mental health professionals. Visit LiveHealth to set up an appointment with a doctor. To sign up or to see what's new, visit LiveHealth Online.

Walk-in Centers Don't have a high speed internet connection, or want to see someone in person? Visit a walk-in center.

Walk-in centers don't require an appointment, and are often times cheaper than a visit to the ER. When your life isn't in danger but you need care quickly visit your local walk-in center.

Can't get in to see your doctor about that sore throat? Got a sprained ankle? Stop by your local walk-in center. Walk-in centers (sometimes

Keeping Your Love Alive Learn the 10 relationship essentials, how to cope with challenges and conflict, and how to balance communication styles while keeping your relationship fresh. To view a seminar on demand go to anthemeap.com, and enter MEA Benefits Trust. You find this and other seminars in the "Online Seminars" section.

Consumer Reports On Health March 2016 Women with type 2 diabetes are twice as likely as diabetic men to develop coronary heart disease--with early and more deadly heart attacks. At least 2 hours of weekly exercise--and medication, when needed--may lower the risk.

Help is just a phone call away.

Call the 24/7 NurseLine to talk with a registered nurse about your health concern. Whether it's a question about allergies, fever, types of preventive care or any other topic, nurses are always there to provide support and peace of mind. And, if you want, a nurse will call you later to see how you're doing.

Call the 24/7 NurseLine Call toll free at 1-888-607-3262.

Board of Trustees Susan Grondin, Chair Sally Plourde, Vice Chair

http://view.email.nea.org/?j=fe9910737d67047d71&m=fe8c15737c6501757d&ls=fdea167... 2/24/2016

Page 2 of 4

called Urgent Care or Express Care) offer the same doctors, nurses and support staff you find at your primary care provider. Walk-in centers are located all around the state from Presque Isle to Kittery. To find a walk-in center near you visit MEABT.org.

Mary Kay Dyer, Secretary Robin Colby Larry Given Grace Leavitt Donna Longley Barbara Williams

Come Find Us on Facebook!

Like us on Facebook and stay current on programs and events. Join us and bring your insight to the conversation.

Registration for the MEABT HealthTrails Spring Challenge is now open and the challenge begins February 29th. This 12-week challenge consists of tracking your steps and produce servings. Two NEW trail choices have been added for you to discover!

• If you complete this challenge by recording steps and/or produce servings at least five days/week for 12 weeks (or 60 days), you will earn 35 points!

• Log on to www.OnlifeHealth.com and click MY CHALLENGES (under the MENU link) to register for the challenge. If you have not registered at www.OnlifeHealth.com , do so by clicking GET STARTED and using the keycode MEABT. Call Onlife at 1-877-806-9379 or Linda Welch, MEABT at 888-622-4418 x2510 if you have any questions.

• New this challenge - we're awarding prizes to the top team and individual participant! The team who earns the most points (based on average miles) will win a healthy lunch delivered to their school, and the individual participant (based on average miles/day) will win their choice of a FitBit Zip or iPod Shuffle!

• Sync your Fitbit during registration! If you don't have a Fitbit, not to worry, you can still track using a pedometer or the Activity to Step Conversion Chart.

• HealthTrails Is Mobile! Access HealthTrails from your smartphone by downloading the HealthTrails app for iPhone® or Android™.

Encourage your family to join in on the fun! Employees, retirees, spouses/domestic partners and dependents age 18 or older who are covered under the MEABT health insurance plan are eligible to participate in the challenge, earn points, and redeem for prepaid cards.

Seven Ways to Combat Sitting at Work International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

http://view.email.nea.org/?j=fe9910737d67047d71&m=fe8c15737c6501757d&ls=fdea167... 2/24/2016

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Most adults spend too much time sitting, shortening their life span and increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. But today's lifestyle is not conducive to being physically active. People may have a long commute, a desk job or a nightly TV-watching habit-or all three, explained Avinash Maniram, a senior consultant at PBI Actuarial Consultants in Vancouver. "Sedentary living is something we all need to be aware of, and it's something we need to change in our day-to-day life," Maniram said in his presentation "Is Sitting the New Smoking? Coping With Sedentary Lifestyles" at the Canadian Health and Wellness Innovations Conference . About one-third of adult Canadians get some physical activity each week but spend most of their time in a sedentary state. Another one-third spend most of their day sitting and fail to get the recommended 150 minutes of activity per week. Although one group gets some exercise, both groups are at increased risk of ill health, he said.

"It's not only necessary to be physically active for at least 150 minutes a week, but it is also important to limit the number of waking hours being sedentary," he said. "One hour at the gym doesn't undo eight hours of sitting."

One of the challenges is that work has become increasingly sedentary. For example, in the United States, jobs requiring some moderate activity declined from about 50% to 15%, while jobs that are sedentary or required only light activity increased.

At the same time, people are watching more television, which means more sitting. The number of hours spent watching TV in Canada increased from 22 to 27 hours per person weekly between 1998 and 2008.

And that's before the explosion in television-streaming services, Maniram noted.

The good news is that a recent study showed reducing sitting time by 10% had a greater impact on improving mortality than 10% increases in both leisure-time physical activity and walking for errands and commutes.

How can we increase activity when our jobs require us to sit all day? "What we need to do is at the end of every hour, ideally every 30 minutes, we need to get up out of the chair. Periodic breaks throughout the day are what undoes the damage of the sitting," he said.

Maniram offered tips for increasing movement every day: 1.Walk up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

2.Stand up and walk around while talking on the phone. "I take all my phone calls standing up now."

3.Limit the amount of time watching TV when you get home from work.

4.Have walk-and-talk meetings. Instead of sending an e-mail or calling, walk over to a co-worker's desk to deliver the information.

5.Get a walking buddy. "I got into walking and running by having someone to keep me honest and accountable and keeping it social."

6.Walk or ride your bike to work if it's practical.

7.Do desk exercises every hour or half hour-not desk push-ups or squats, but sitting up straight and doing some simple stretches. "Little discreet things that you can do to sort of break the monotony of sitting there and correcting that posture."

"The combination of reducing the amount of time that we're sedentary and increasing our physical activity will hopefully ensure that 20, 30 or 40 years from now we can all stand here and talk about how well we have become," he said.

@theMEABT

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