A gift from Maine for all the N.S.T.o.Ys

My family and I went to the Saco Renys store to pick up the 60 adorable canvas tote bags gifted to me for my trip to Dallas, Texas for the National Teacher of the Year Convention. I’m going to fill these totes with products from Maine and give them out as gifts to the other State Teacher of the Year recipients as well as the U.S. common wealth territories. All the items have been generously donated by amazing companies and small businesses. A special thank you goes out to Renys, Village Candle Company, Nash Valley Farm (maple and natural beef farm in Windham, Maine), Scholastic (book company) www.scholastic.com, Geiger Brothers http://www.geiger.com/, and the Maine Travel and Tourism Bureau, for your thoughtfulness and support of teachers and education. When I get the bags all put together, I’ll take a picture and show you the final result.

ASCD Board of Directors meeting in Topsham ~ How lucky am I? The board has decided to travel to Alexandria, VA, for training and insight from the National ASCD headquarters. We are leaving on November 14th and returning on the 15th.

The Westbrook Drop Out Prevention Committee asked me to speak about some of the successes I’ve witnessed with my past and present students during this morning’s meeting. The committee also wanted to ask my opinion and feelings on important issues that our junior high and high school students are facing. It was a wonderful experience for me, because I firmly believe that we as educators need to offer our students a variety of ways to learn and to also nurture them throughout their educational years, not just at the primary and grammar levels. It was a heart warming experience hearing how much everyone on this committee wanted to help these at-risk students. I’m very proud to know that there are steps being taken to assure our students in Westbrook do not fall through the cracks.