Region 8, Mid-Coast School of Technology

The staff at MCST try to participate in a variety of professional development activities. While it's not always easy to get away from the shop area during the school day, we look for opportunities for our teachers where they can learn new instructional strategies and build professional relationships outside of school.

Below are projects that we are currently or have recently been involved in:

MCST Book Club - In January 2010, MCST held its first ever voluntary Book Club gathering.  This is an opportunity for teachers to select and read a book that focuses on both personal and professional development.  The first book the teachers read was Shop Class As Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford.  While this book proved to be a challenging read, the teachers appreciated the nod this author gave to the value and importance of working with ones hands.  The next book the teachers selected is Mindset - How We Can Learn To Fulfill Our Potential by Carol Dweck.  The value of this book is that it provides insight not only for the teacher personally, but offers examples and instances where we as educators can have an impact on our students' mindsets.  The participants will select the third and final book in late March, stay tuned to find out what it is!

Building Bridges - Building Bridges for high school educators is a career awareness program sponsored by Maine's North Star Alliance Initiative (NSAI) and the Maine Department of Labor. The program is designed to connect educators with key sectors of local businesses in order to learn more about currently used technology and skills needed for some locally available careers. In the Midcoast region educators from MCST and sending schools met numerous times during the Spring 2009 semester. With a focus on the marine and composites industry they toured a number of local businesses including Lyman Morse Boatbuilders, Pope Sails and Rigging, Back Cove Yachts, Atlantic Challenge, and Journey's End Marina. The program came to a finale in April with a tour and introduction to the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, located at the University of Maine Orono campus. The NSAI sponsored program covered travel costs and CEU fees for the participants.

CNECT Math II - Creating a Network of Educators to Communicate about Teaching Math (Year 2) is a grant from the Maine Department of Education that partners the Mid-Coast School of Technology, Thomaston Grammar School, Georges Valley High School, Medomak Valley High School, Rockland Middle School, University of Maine Farmington (UMF), and Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA). The goals of CNECT are to:

1. refine a model of professional development to improve teachers' knowledge and instructional skills in the area of data analysis and statistics;
2. build capacity for collaboration in a Regional Learning Community; and
3. improve student achievement in the areas of data analysis and statistics.

Professional Learning Communities of the participating schools will meet to pursue ideas and conversation around how students learn and common misconceptions. The PLC sessions will be used to connect content knowledge, standards, research, and classroom practice with teachers developing a lesson plan or activity.

Math-in-CTE Jumpstart - As a result of our work with CNECT Math II and with the encouragement of Maine DOE and MACTE we will be sending a team of seven to the workshop in November 2009. Our team of seven consists of three CTE teachers, three academic math teachers, and a team leader. The Math-in-CTE Jump-Start Initiative is an introductory program for states considering implementing the Math-in-CTE model. Designed to inform participants, increase leadership capacity for implementation, and offer hands-on practice under the guidance of national Math-in-CTE facilitators, the Jump-Start workshop will run as a pre-session to the 2009 ACTE Annual Convention and Career Tech Expo, November 17 and 18, in Nashville, TN.

Maine CTE Promising Practices - The Maine CTE Promising Practices Project is sponsored by the Maine Department of Education and Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education (MACTE). The purpose of the project is to deepen and showcase how CTE centers throughout Maine are working to increase rigor (academic integration and literacy development) and engagement with program area teaching and learning. MCST had several teachers participate in literacy workshops. We were also a case study school.

International Center for Leadership in Education - The Mid-Coast School of Technology has been a member of the ICLE Successful Practices Network since 2005. The 2009/10 school year is our fifth and final year of participation as a Model School in this initiative. We have received many benefits from being a part of this network including professional development resource kits, conference opportunities, and support and coaching from an internationally known group. While it is never easy to collaborate with an entity that is not local or even regional, MCST has gained much as an institution from learning how to create rigorous and relevant coursework to understanding and having a strong awareness of the importance of literacy in our everyday instruction.