County Crown Jewel > New educational partnership to bring teachers, university instructors together

PRESQUE ISLE — A new organization of educators in Aroostook County will offer teachers and administrative staff a chance to learn from each other.

Fashioned along the lines of southern Maine counterparts, the Northern Educational Partnership is getting ready to open its doors and hire an executive director to organize exchanges between public school teachers and university-level instructors.

“It’s something logically that we should have been doing for a long, long time,” said Jeannette Condon, a Fort Fairfield principal and chairman of the new group. “But the public school culture is so different than the university culture.”

Initially, the new group is expected to offer “reflective practice groups,” where teachers come together regularly to discuss innovative teaching methods such as in-teaching reading, new ways of assessing student performance or teaching writing.

“Somebody may take one idea and go back to their site in another school system and adapt it into something that’s really profitable,” Condon said.

In addition to professional development, the organization also can offer support to teachers.

“Teaching is a very lonely profession,” Condon said. “I don’t think that the average parent who works with other adults all day recognizes that you’re tied to a classroom, although willingly so.

“Many a day goes by (that) these people don’t have an opportunity to sit down and say, `I tried something in my classroom…”‘

The Northern Educational Partnership has received a state grant of $25,000 to get the organization started. A job description for the director has been written and the possibility of becoming incorporated is being explored. A reflective practice group has been established on English education. The group was organized by Dr. Sue Johnson and other English instructors and has met at the Univerity of Maine at Presque Isle.

In addition, school districts may be asked to contribute a one-time membership fee to allow all teachers to participate in any discussion group.

The organization has been given office space on the Presque Isle campus.

The group is open to all public school districts in Aroostook County, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, the University of Maine at Fort Kent and Northern Maine Technical College in Presque Isle. Schools in the western part of New Brunswick also are part of the group.

Talk of forming a partnership began last year when county schools were applying for Beacon grants, federal funds that promote science and math programs in public schools and require partnerships with other educational organizations.

“If these are good ideas and this is the wave of education, we should be doing this regardless of whether or not somebody else gives us money to do this,” Condon said.

School districts and institutions of higher education should begin working more together, especially in times of financial uncertainty, Condon said.

According to the partnership’s mission statement, the organization is to develop a network of professional development opportunities to improve education for all students.

The partnership believes “the education of all students is the responsibility of all educators.” In addition, professional growth occurs when people work together in planning and have the power to make development decisions.

According to the mission statement, “everyone in the partnership is viewed as a teacher and learner.”