May 14, 2010

Contact:

Will Fessenden, Encompass Marketing

will@encompassmarketing.com

(207) 755-9445 ext 101

(207) 632-8926 (day of event)

Celebrating Learning That Matters:

Students and Educators Convene at Regional Summit at UNH, Durham Campus

Focus on Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues

• Hundreds of New England students share community problem-solving experiences
• Cameron Wake, UNH, keynotes the Summit at 1:35 pm Tuesday, May 25
• Great photo ops of K-12 students start at 2 pm Tuesday, Memorial Union Building

Durham, NH—Hundreds of K-12 students from across New England will gather at the University of New Hampshire, Durham Campus, May 25-26, 2010, for the 10th annual KIDS Consortium Student Summit on Service-Learning. They will celebrate their work solving real problems faced by their schools and communities through service-learning, a teaching method that links community projects with academic studies. The event’s theme, “Green Thumbs” Up for Green Schools, is part of a Green Schools initiative that also funded 35 mini-grants awarded to New England schools.

Attendees will come from more than 30 schools across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont to this unique event to share their results and ideas for future work. The Summit’s reach expands each year. The 2010 Summit will mark the first time that New York schools have participated.

From elementary students who established a school-wide composting program, to middle school students who worked to reduce invasive species in a local wetland, to high school students who started a school garden, youth teams throughout New England have made their schools and communities more environmentally sustainable. These student teams will all give oral presentations and display exhibits at the Green Schools Student Summit this year.

Through these service-learning projects and the opportunity to present at the Student Summit, youth learn to be communicators, problem-solvers and active members of their community. This year, major corporate sponsors are State Farm Insurance and Downeast Energy.

“It’s exciting to see so many young people thinking about the environment and engaged in driving positive action to make their schools greener. These young leaders are not just our future—they’re also our present,” said Marvin Rosenblum, founder of KIDS Consortium.

Seventh and eighth grade students at Lisbon Central School in Lisbon, Conn., have been planning the Summit throughout the school year as one of their own service-learning projects, with KIDS Consortium as their community partner.

The event’s Green Schools theme encourages participants to work together to make their schools and communities more environmentally friendly. The keynote speaker, Cameron Wake, is a research associate professor with the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at UNH. He will speak about climate and environmental change and how the actions of individuals can make a difference. Using this theme, students and educators at the Summit will have fun showcasing their work, reflecting on their experiences and learning new skills.

KIDS Consortium, based in Auburn, Me., works with teachers, administrators and students to involve students in addressing real challenges faced by their communities. Through service-learning, students identify, research and work to address local community needs. With guidance from KIDS, teachers match those projects to school curricula, providing a powerful hands-on learning experience that improves the community and brings academics to life. For more information, visit www.kidsconsortium.org.

In addition to State Farm and Downeast Energy, grants from Hannaford, Wheelabrator, Walmart, Kennebunk Savings Bank, UBS, Poland Spring Water, the Horizon Foundation, the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, L.L. Bean, United Way of York County, Lee Auto Malls, R. H. Reny, Inc., and the Learn and Serve America Program at the Corporation for National and Community Service make this year’s Green Schools Summit possible

The Maine Community Action Association (MCAA) has unveiled their new website, www.mainecommunityaction.org.  According to Matt Smith, Executive Director of MCAA, the timing of the web site launch is perfect.  “May is National Community Action month and the new website will assist us in reaching out to supporters, partners and the general public.  The 10 community action agencies with which we work with have made an incredible difference in the lives of so many people.

The Maine Community Action Association represents Community Action Programs (CAPs) that provide services to low income people in all 16 counties in Maine. Fuel assistance, subsided childcare through Head Start, transportation programs, baby formula and food support through WIC (Women, Infants & Children), and home weatherization are just some of the programs provided through Maine CAPs.

Agencies throughout the state and around the country will celebrate their history of partnering with other organizations to address poverty-related issues in their communities.  Since their inception in 1964, CAPs have established and maintained a variety of partnerships with other community-based organizations.  During these challenging economic times, partnerships have been the key for Community Action Programs to keep helping low-income individuals weather the storm.

The new website www.mainecommunityaction.org is part of an educational outreach campaign to better educate the public about CAPs and how they support Maine residents.

Lowe’s Foundation Donates Money For Campus Improvement

Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Lewiston Regional Technical Center (www.lewiston.mainecte.org), to assist in the creation of a school based career center.  The grant money will be used to develop a space at LRTC for employment based instruction, career research, employer meeting & interviews as well as student leadership meetings for SkillsUSA, FLBA and DECA groups.

“The grant for LRTC represents Lowe’s commitment to education,” said Larry D. Stone, chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation.  “By supporting local schools like LRTC and its sending schools,  we believe we are not only investing in community projects that are important to our customers and employees, but we’re also helping schools build a stronger foundation for the students who will be tomorrow’s employees, homeowners and community leaders.”

ABOUT SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability skills such as communication, problem solving and leadership in conjunction with their trade, technical and service occupations skills. The association’s annual membership exceeds 305,000 students and instructors in more than 3,700 schools and colleges in every state, three territories and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.

ABOUT LOWE’S

Lowe’s is a proud supporter of SkillsUSA and SkillsCanada, Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, and The Nature Conservancy, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities in North America. In 2009, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million to support community and education projects in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Lowe’s also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe’s Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative. Lowe’s is a FORTUNE® 50 company with fiscal year 2009 sales of $47.2 billion and has more than 1,700 stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico.  For more information, visit Lowes.com/community.

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For Release:      Immediate
Contact:            Will Fessenden

Encompass Marketing & Design

will@encompassmarketing.com

(207) 755-9445 ext. 101

(207) 632-8926

Career and Technical Educators Wrap Up 3-day Conference

For the first time, Maine played host to over 100 Career and Technical educators from 11 states at the 2010 ACTE (Association for Career & Technical Education) Region I conference.  Held April 29 – May 1, the conference was hosted by the Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education (MACTE – www.mainecte.org), along with United Technologies Center (UTC) in Bangor.  The purpose of the conference was to reinforce the need for career and technical education in the changing workplace.

The theme of this year’s conference: “Catching the Waves, from Green Energy to Composites.  What does the Future Hold for CTE?” Participants toured the UTC campus, participated in workshops and visited the University of Maine Advanced Composites Center.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Habib Dagher, Director of the Advanced Composites Center, said Maine’s Career and Technical Education students are poised to be leaders in emerging technologies.  “The ability of these schools to respond to industry needs and requirements sets them apart.  Hands on teaching and the professional knowledge of Career and Technical educators means the students have a strong advantage.”

Gary Moore, President-Elect for ACTE’s Region I, couldn’t agree more with Dagher’s assessment.  “We are continuously aligning our curriculum to industry standards. For those interested in nursing, welding, home building, composites or any number of professions, Career and Technical Education schools have the ability to respond to regional interests, professional demands and the job market.”

Why the focus of green energy and composite materials? Dr. Don Cannan, Executive Director of MACTE,  believes these industries will lead the State of Maine into the next generation of jobs that will help preserve Maine’s pristine environment.  “Maine’s CTE schools are prepared and ready to teach and train Maine students for jobs in composites and in Green Energy. Program development is ongoing, and we have a half-dozen new programs aligned to these industries within our CTE Schools.” Dr. Cannan says that employment forecasts suggest these will be well paying jobs requiring new skills.

MACTE is the official organization for Maine’s network of 27 Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools. The mission of Career and Technical Education, as part of the educational system in Maine, is to ensure that students acquire the high-quality technical skills that will prepare them for post-secondary education and entry into an ever-changing workplace and society.

Region I of the Association for Career and Technical Education includes states in the Northeast, as far south as Maryland, and west including Michigan and Ohio. For more information on MACTE, visit them on line at www.mainecte.org.

CONTACT:      Fran Rudoff,

KIDS Consortium, 223 Main Street, Auburn, ME  04210

(207) 784-0956, frudoff@kidsconsortium.org, www.kidsconsortium.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Students Changing Policy:
Students from across Maine Convene at State House, May 7

Students showcase public policy projects in Hall of Flags from12:45-1:00 pm and Gov. Baldacci to honor students at 1:00pm ceremony.

Students from across Maine will share their public policy projects at the 2010 We the People: Project Citizen Maine showcase on Friday, May 7, at the State House in Augusta. The event is hosted by KIDS Consortium (www.kidsconsortium.org), which coordinates the Project Citizen program in Maine.

More than 500 students from the Boothbay area, the Calais area, Cape Elizabeth, the Holden area, Portland, and Windham have worked on public policy projects on current topics such as underage drinking, schools going “green,” childhood obesity, and high school dropouts. Friday morning, they will participate in oral hearings to share their ideas and solutions with one another and with adult policy-makers. From 12:30-1:30 pm, there will be a public viewing of student projects in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta, with students present discuss their portfolios 12:45-1:00 pm. At 1:00 pm, Governor John Baldacci will honor the participants and one exemplary portfolio, which will be sent to the National Showcase.

We the People: Project Citizen is a federally funded civic education program for middle grade students. The program promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government and enables young people to monitor and influence public policy.

Each participating class has worked for several weeks, first examining a local public policy issue by studying the impact of the problem on the community with the assistance of local governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Each team of students then evaluated alternative solutions to the problem, proposed an agreed-upon public policy solution, and, finally, created a political action plan to enlist local or state authorities in adopting their proposed policy. Following a local showcase, participating schools select two projects to send to the State Showcase.

During the public viewing of projects at the State Showcase, students will display portfolios and binders they have prepared highlighting their work and containing thorough documentation of their research. One portfolio from each state will be sent to the Annual Project Citizen National Showcase that is held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Project Citizen is the most extensive education program in the country of its kind that teaches young people how to examine and influence the public policymaking process. The program aims to give students a hands-on understanding of their responsibilities as American citizens. Project Citizen is administered nationally by the Center for Civic Education in cooperation with the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan organization dedicated to serving the lawmakers and staffs of the nation’s states, commonwealths and territories. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education by an act of Congress.

Based in Auburn, KIDS (Kids Involved Doing Service-Learning) Consortium helps transform classrooms and communities through an award-winning educational model that has engaged more than 300,000 students across New England and New York. The mission of KIDS Consortium is to prepare young people to be active and responsible citizens by training and supporting educators, community organizations, and youth in best practices for service-learning. Through service-learning, K-12 students identify, research and address real community challenges, using knowledge and skills learned in the classroom.

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