University of Maine, Presque Isle

2013 Summer Teachers’ Institute University of Maine, Presque Isle July 29 – August 2 Agenda

Monday, July 29 th

2:00 – 3:00 Registration/Check in – UMPI Campus Center – Get your room keys, meal passes, etc. Pre Conference Surveys & FUN AGtivities – Everyone should attend, overnight or day participants

4:00 – Fiber Maine-ia, Dr. Mary Bird - University of Maine – Author of Fiber Maine-ia: Exploring Maine’s Textile History will model her curriculum and the group will participate in lessons and activities.

5:45 – Dinner Kelley Commons

7:00 – Fiber Maine-ia (continues)

Tuesday, July 30 th 7:15 – 7:45 Breakfast in Kelley Commons

8:00- Room 204, Folsom Hall Introduction to the Featured Materials and programs--- Project Food, Land & People – Maine Wild Blueberry curriculum supplements, and other resources for your classrooms! Experience lessons! Willie Sawyer Grenier – MAITCA Executive Director

9:30 Introduction to: Maine FoodCorps, UMCE Cooperative Extension & Maine Farm to School Initiatives! Ellie Libby, University of Maine Cooperative Extension

10:00 Kimberly R. Sebold, Ph.D. Associate Professor of History, University of Maine at Presque Isle. participants to experience the ways to teach students about Maine's agricultural and land-use history through the use of the Agricultural Census, historic maps and Maine Registers. I will also explain how to connect the agricultural history of a specific area to larger state and national historic trends and events.

10:45 Break 11:00 – Exploring the River Valley – Sharon Hathaway, Leavitt High School, 2013 MAITC Teacher of the Year!

11:30 - Allyson White – Hydroponics for your classroom – the session leader holds a Master of Education in Technology Ed and has for the past 5 years taught a project based middle school class called STEM Lab. Ms. White will continue to promote integrated learning in her new position teaching mathematics and biology at Winslow High School. Each participant will build a hydroponics unit for their window to take home.

12:30 Lunch in Kelley Commons - 1:30 Window sill farm Window farms provide the opportunity to study agriculture in the classroom du ring the cold winter months. The farms are ideal for integrating scientific modeling, mathematics, and tec hnical reading while teaching students about urban gardening and hydroponics. Window farms can be us ed to grow herbs, peas, or add a touch of color with edible flowers. Detailed information on the evolution of the window farm can be found at windowfarm.org.

3:00 Turning your Students into Voracious Veggie-Eaters! Ellie Libby - Online garden/nutrition education curricula will be shared. We will highlight crops that can be grown in school gardens, participate in making recipes with fresh produce and do a sample taste test for our afternoon snack!

4:30 Soils Activity - Jared Grenier – MAITC Summer Intern

5:45 Dinner – Kelley Commons

7:00 Online Resource Tour – PLEASE BRING YOUR LAPTOP - Building your own Ag Literacy Unit for professional development credit. Participants will choose a curriculum focus, grade level and using the resources they have gained this week, build a model unit that could be used to gain online professional development credits. Educators may work alone or in pairs. The final projects will be showcased on Friday. Each project should model at least one lesson and have developed a venue of their choice that would be used for reflections of the project and submitted to evaluators.

Wednesday, July 31 st 7:15 – 7:45 Breakfast in Kelley Commons

8:00 Depart on Agricultural Tour – Bus leaves the parking lot behind the library across from Emerson Hall. Please bring all items you need for the day with you. The bus is with us all day and items can be left on the bus.

8:30 – 9:30 Caribou HS Agriculture program -

10:30 - 12:00 – Fish Hatchery – Mountain Springs Trout Farm, Gary Picard, Owner, Frenchville Fish hatcheries are regulated facilities that fertilize fish eggs and produce fry to increase the fish population in Maine freshwater ponds, lakes, and streams. Fish hatcheries or farms, provide food and a healthy, clean environment for the fish to grow properly.

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch - Robin’s Restaurant - 52 Main St, Van Buren, ME 04785 (207) 868-3044 Sebastian Belle from Maine Aquaculture Association presentation

2:00- 2:45 - Deena Albert-Parks Farm – Caribou – Chops Ahoy Farm, Barrett and Deena Parks, Woodland. Pasture organic-fed pork and direct market, Presque Isle farmer’s market, and to a German restaurant in Canada. Also using a USDA high tunnel grant received last summer and have started the 4 year research study with many successes, failures, and learning experiences.

3:15 – Northern Maine Fair – Jessica Blackstone – will show us the fair’s newest addition for Ag Literacy. Her brainchild “Little Farmers at the Fair” has been a huge hit for young children with learning and fun happening at once! Jess will also be our guide to other Ag Ed opportunities at an Agricultural Maine Fair including FFA, 4-H, cattle, horses, an educational museum, and MORE!

6:30 Dinner - 4-H Diner – After dinner educators can enjoy the fair. The bus will make more than one trip back to the college. Thursday, August 1 st 7:15 – 7:45 Breakfast in Kelley Commons

8:00 Depart for Tour – Bus leaves the parking lot behind the library across from Emerson Hall. Please bring all items you need for the day with you. The bus is with us all day and items can be left on the bus. 8:15 – 11:30 Aroostook Crops Tour – Barbara Blackstone will be our tour guide. The group will see the Broccoli harvest and ice filled fresh pack for shipping at Smith Farms in Presque Isle. Potato fields and storage at Porter Farms, and grains (which may include canola and barley) and other Aroostook County crop lands.

12:00 – Lunch- The Crow’s Nest – Presque Isle 1:30 – 3:30 McCain processing plant Tour – Must be 18 years old, close toed shoes required. McCain Foods, Easton - McCain acquired the Easton plant in 1976. Currently one of the largest frozen potato operations on the east coast, they employ approximately 550 employees.

4:00 – Maine School for Math & Science – STEM workshop visit & hydroponic greenhouse 5:00 –Return to Campus - 6:30 - Depart for Banquet -

7:00 – Dinner Banquet – Presque Isle Inn – In celebration of our week and the 2013 MAITC Grant winners.

Friday, August 2nd 7:15 – 7:45 Breakfast in Kelley Commons

8:00- Kristen Wescott – Line School, Limerick (2009 National AITC Excellence teacher. This workshop includes the use of complex reasoning skills (comparing, classifying, etc.) to teach agricultural informatio n, while enhancing writing skills. Participants will use graphic organizers that will allow students to create detailed comparisons of agricultural materials. The group will review student pieces in which students us ed organizers to create written pieces, taken through the writing process (self-edit, peer edit, teacher edi t). After this we will explore how students used abstracting techniques to make generalizations, which w ere used to strengthen the conclusions of their written work.

9:00 - Teacher Driven Professional Development Units – finish unit development, lesson models, and reflection pieces by groups

9:30 Participants Share Units – time allotments will be assigned after the number of groups is decided on Tuesday

11:30 Adjourn – Evaluations – Certificates

12:15 Adjourn – Check Out! Thank you all for coming! Have a safe drive home!