me arts ed

Maine Support Network awarded ARRA grant

The Maine Support Network (now a division of Syntiro), in collaboration with the Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE), was awarded a NCLB American Recovery and Reinvestment Act competitive grant to provide professional development (PD) to educators. The project requires the use of technology and will provide a co-teaching model that can be replicated throughout the state.

Six teams of educators from a large application pool were selected to develop units aligned to the Maine Learning Results that integrate two content areas, one of which is the Visual and Performing Arts.

The teams met in Readfield last Thursday and Friday to learn more about arts integration and co-teaching, and to begin development of the PD models they will pilot in their schools.

The professional development days were led by Department of Education Visual and Performing Arts Specialist Argy Nestor, MAAE Executive Director Carol Trimble, and Project Director Therese Bernier Burns. Also participating was Catherine Ring presenting on work that she did with the Kennedy Foundation that included statistics that demonstrated the importance of keeping the arts in schools.

Stay tuned for more exciting information about this project, including a Winter Retreat Conference on January 28 and 29, 2011, that will showcase the models each team develops.

Congratulations to the team members for being selected and good luck with your task that has the potential to impact Maine arts education classrooms throughout the state.

• Sally Gilbride and Kate Smith, Central Elementary School/SAD 35
• Lisa Roux and Jodie Dupuy, Morse Memorial School/SAD 3
• Aimee Sutherland and Miranda Casey, Shapleigh Middle School, Kittery
• Lisa Marin and Lee Rose, Jonesport-Beals High School
• Sarah Sutter and Mary Ellen Bell, Wiscasset High School
• Katharine Ayer and Mary O’Brien, Manchester Elementary School

Thank you to Therese Bernier-Burns for contributing this blog post.