Latest News

Gorham Principal Takes New Leadership Role at Educate Maine

A Gorham elementary school principal will wield her 20-plus years of experience in schools in a new leadership role at Educate Maine. Jodi Mezzanotte, the principal of Village Elementary School, will become Educate Maine’s new Director of Educator Engagement in June.  Meanwhile, she will join our organization as a consultant while finishing the school year. Educate Maine is delighted to welcome Mezzanotte, who brings years of experience and insight to the role. “Jodi is a vocal advocate… READ MORE

Bill in Augusta Would Support Before and After School Care

There’s a critical need in Maine for something called “out of school care”—also known as before and after school care. It’s not just important for the thousands of Maine parents who work longer than the traditional school day; for the hundreds of businesses who employ those parents, out of school care is necessary to sustain a workforce. How necessary? According to data from the National Afterschool Alliance, we know that for every Maine child enrolled in an afterschool program, there… READ MORE

Head of the Class: Dolly Sullivan Retires

After a career leading, promoting and supporting Maine educators, most notably in the Teacher of the Year program, Dolly Sullivan has retired to focus on her next chapter. Her statewide influence and the projects and programs she built during several decades as Maine’s top teacher advocate will persist indefinitely, according to her colleagues at Educate Maine, where her last day on the job was March 31. Sullivan, of Orono, served as director of Maine Teacher of the Year for 27 years, and led… READ MORE

Collab With Boston Museum of Science Yields Cool New Tool for Biolab

A collaboration with the Boston Museum of Science has resulted in a cool (and warm!) new tool for the Maine Mobile Biolab. Working with Biolab educators Anna Stehlik and Heather Carlisle, fabricators in the museum's exhibit workshop created custom-made temperature plates--an interactive tool that helps Biolab visitors explore how humans perceive temperature.  Carlisle and Stehlik traveled to Boston to pick up the plates, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the museum's fabrication workshop and… READ MORE

Legislators Hear Support for Aquaculture Pioneers, Workforce Programs

This week Maine legislators heard important testimony from EM's Workforce Development Specialist Meg Krieger, who spoke in favor of LD1023, a bill to support workforce development such as the Aquaculture Pioneers program. Krieger told the lawmakers that this valuable annual program has more than three times as many applicants this summer than it has slots to fill--a sure sign of the program's value and popularity. Through this program, we provide participants with on-the-job training at farms… READ MORE

IACE seeks schools to participate in PROACT CS Longitudinal Study

Do you want evidence that your students are learning computer science? Do you want to learn how students' perspectives about computer science are changing? Do you want to receive an annual report that provides this information with recommendations at no cost?   In collaboration with a broader consortium of non-profits, departments of education, industry, and researchers, the Institute for Advancing Computing Education (IACE) is currently recruiting high schools and… READ MORE

Child Care in Maine Is a Business Issue

This week the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce heard from a panel of experts about the critical need for high quality, accessible child care in Maine. Turns out, it's a business issue that is everybody's business--families, employers and educators. Panelist Kim Russell, Educate Maine's Director of Special Projects, explained how caring for and educating Maine's youngest citizens is foundational for a robust workforce. Here are two media reports of Thursday's "Eggs and Issues"… READ MORE

Childcare in Maine is Everybody's Business

Join the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce for Eggs & Issues on Thursday, March 13th from 7:00 - 9:00AM for a vital discussion panel on child care, the workforce behind the workforce. Maine’s childcare industry is at a breaking point—providers struggle to retain staff without driving up costs for families, creating one of the biggest barriers to workforce recruitment and retention.As the Legislature consider changes to Maine’s childcare system, businesses have a unique opportunity to… READ MORE

Honoring Maine Teachers

If Maine's recent high winds hadn't been howling so loudly Saturday night, you might have heard the cheers and applause erupting in Bangor as Educate Maine and the state Department of Education celebrated Maine's 2024 county teachers of the year.  The 11th annual Education Gala on March 8 was a time not only to recognize last year's incredible cohort of top teachers (including 2024 state Teacher of the Year Joshua Chard and 2025 TOY Becky Hallowell) but to honor the professional and personal… READ MORE

Celebrating National Women in Construction Week

Happy Women in Construction Week! Did you know that many employers in Maine's building trades sector are actively recruiting women to join this critical workforce? The annual WICW celebration is led by the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and shines a spotlight on the contributions of women in the building trades, including leadership, mentors, apprentices, and pre-apprentices. For more information on these programs and how you can be part of building Maine's robust future… READ MORE