UMaine News

Coles Celebrated for Being Driving Force for Reading Recovery

Twenty years of Reading Recovery in the state, led by the University of Maine, will be celebrated May 3 at the Cole Land Transportation Museum on 405 Perry Road in Bangor.

Suzanne Cole and the Galen Cole Family Foundation will be honored for their support of the program’s teachers and students at the 1–3 p.m. event, which will also include readings, reflections and refreshments.

The Galen Cole Family Foundation provides grants to schools in Maine to provide Reading Recovery training and professional development.

Reading Recovery is an early intervention, prevention initiative for first-grade students experiencing difficulty reading and writing. A trained teacher works one-on-one with students for 30 minutes weekdays for 12 to 20 weeks to help them attain grade-level proficiency.

Under the leadership of Mary Rosser, director of the University Training Center for Reading Recovery, the University of Maine provides instruction for Reading Recovery teacher leaders around the state. In Maine, nearly 200 trained Reading Recovery teachers are providing early intervention to 5,000 first-graders. Since its inception 20 years ago in Maine, more than 32,400 youth have benefited from the initiative.

It is broadly recognized that teacher quality is the single-best predictor of student learning. Thus, the support of the Galen Cole Family Foundation for teacher training and professional development directly influences the quality of teaching that children receive and ensures continued success for children, according to the “Impact of Galen Cole Family Foundation Funding for Reading Recovery 2001–2012 Report.”

Contact: Beth Staples, 207.581.3777

Two UMaine Sophomores Win George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship

Two University of Maine sophomores have been named winners of the George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship and will study abroad in Ireland as part of the student exchange program.

George J. Mitchell Scholars Gwendolyn Beacham and Lorna Harriman will each spend a semester at the University College Cork in Ireland. The scholarship honors the 1998 Northern Ireland peace accord brokered by Sen. Mitchell between Ireland and the United Kingdom and is open to full-time undergraduate students in the University of Maine system.

The scholarship allows one student to study for a year in Ireland or two students to study for a semester each with all expenses paid, including airfare. This year, for the first time, both winners are from the Orono campus.

Harriman, an elementary education major from Troy, Maine, will study in Ireland during the fall 2013 semester. Beacham, a molecular and cellular biology major and Honors College student from Farmington, Maine, will make the trip in spring 2014. Neither Harriman or Beacham have been to Ireland before, and they are both looking forward to the experience.

Along with attending school full time, Harriman is a member of and teacher at the Robinson Ballet Co. in Bangor, and employee of the Family Dog restaurant in Orono. She also volunteers with the Black Bear Mentor Program and makes time every week to visit with her 10-year-old mentee at the Old Town Recreation Department.

Harriman, who has a concentration in English and is working on a minor in psychology, hopes to teach English abroad after she graduates, earn a master’s degree in literacy education and then return to Maine to teach middle-level language arts.

Harriman, who is on the Dean’s List and is a UMaine Merit Award winner, says she chose UMaine because of its financial flexibility and wide range of academic and campus opportunities.

“There are so many opportunities for success at UMaine. If you’re willing to work hard and explore, there is a place for everyone,” Harriman says. UMaine’s College of Education and Human Development “has really encouraged me toward my career goals and made me certain I am on the right path.”

Harriman says the academic atmosphere at UMaine is supportive and many people had a positive effect on her undergraduate experience.

She credits education professor Phyllis Brazee and her class, Teaching in a Multicultural Society, for making her realize she was on the right career path, and honors and English professor Kathleen Ellis for challenging her and helping her become a better student.

“As a student, you really get the feeling that your professors want you to succeed,” she says.

Harriman calls the scholarship an opportunity of a lifetime and looks forward to learning in a new culture.

“My biggest goal is to absorb as much of the culture as possible while I am there, but I also hope to learn about different education styles they may employ that can help me in the future as a teacher,” Harriman says.

Harriman says the scholarship has also given her confidence.

“It has made me realize what I am capable of if I put my mind to it,” she says. “I feel confident and excited about the direction my life is going in.  I am incredibly grateful for the people and opportunities that have brought me to where I am.”

Beacham, who is on the Dean’s List and is a Presidential Scholar has won several scholarships, including the Lamey Wellehan Maine Difference Scholarship and the Pine Tree Section ASQ Sumner K. Wiley Jr. Scholarship.

Last summer she was awarded an IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence fellowship and spent eight weeks at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine, where she studied the differentiation of primary mesenchyme cells, or cells that form the skeleton, in echinoderm embryos.

During the academic year, Beacham has been researching bacteriophages,  or viruses that infect bacteria, and has been focusing her research on the repressor protein.

Beyond academics, Beacham is the secretary of the UMaine student chapter of Engineers Without Borders and will be president of the chapter next year. She traveled with the group to Honduras during Spring Break to install a septic system to improve water quality in a rural community. She is also a member of the Sophomore Eagles, a UMaine traditions group and honor society, and participates in campus dance clubs.

Beacham credits UMaine with challenging her as a student and providing opportunities for personal growth in an open, friendly atmosphere.

“UMaine is a great place,” Beacham says. “The academic courses, my activities, and my research experiences have been nothing but positive. I have learned that I am extremely passionate about science and scientific research, as well as about being involved in a community and helping others.”

Beacham says she considers herself lucky to be a student at a large research university and to have been exposed to research since her first year at the school. Leadership positions in UMaine clubs have also helped her gain confidence in her abilities as a leader.

“I never before imagined I would be able to work with a community in Honduras to help improve their sanitation, or that I would have my own independent research project while only being a sophomore in college,” she says.

Although she says she has worked with many UMaine professors and have had positive experiences with all of them, she has worked the most with assistant research professor Sally Molloy, both in the classroom and in the lab. Beacham says she appreciates the support Molloy has given her.

Beacham says she is honored to be able to study in Ireland as a representative of Sen. Mitchell.

“I admire his work very much, and am so appreciative of the support from him and the Mitchell Institute that will assist me in reaching my educational and career goals,” Beacham says. “I am also excited about being able to study in Ireland and experience another culture for a semester, and I am very appreciative of the financial support that will make this possible.”

After graduation, Beacham plans to obtain her Ph.D. in a microbiology-related field and pursue research in microbial ecology or astrobiology.

Madden, Hazing Study Cited in Article

The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently published the Chicago Tribune article “Students hazy on the dangers of hazing.” Mary Madden, a University of Maine education professor, and her 2008 study on hazing were cited in the article. Her study found nearly half of high school students have been hazed.

Marnik Interviewed About Principal Turnover

George Marnik, a University of Maine educational leadership lecturer, was interviewed for the Portland Press Herald article “Principal turnover creates ripple effect for Maine schools.” The article also cited a UMaine study released last fall that found the average Maine principal was responsible for 69 more students, had 53 more staff members and worked 12 more hours a week in 2011 than in 2005.

Press Herald Publishes Op-Ed by Brinkley, Lukens

The Portland Press Herald published an opinion piece by Tony Brinkley, senior faculty associate at the University of Maine’s Franco-American Centre, and Margaret Lukens, academic director of UMaine’s Innovation Engineering program. The article argues for adding a fifth year after high school.

Susan Gardner New Director of ADVANCE Rising Tide Center

Susan Gardner has been appointed director of the ADVANCE Rising Tide Center at the University of Maine, effective April 1, according to Susan Hunter, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. Hunter is the principal investigator for the five-year, $3.3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that funds the Rising Tide Center.

Gardner, an associate professor of higher education and co-principal investigator of the grant, replaces Mary Madden, who has served as the center’s director since July 2011. Madden has rejoined the College of Education and Human Development, where she will lead a consortium of colleges and universities in a hazing prevention project.

The NSF ADVANCE program seeks to develop systemic approaches that can be institutionalized at higher education institutions to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and social-behavioral science careers. Programs sponsored through the Rising Tide Center include monthly workshops on topics such as promotion and tenure, annual department chair training workshops and a statewide networking conference, and the professional development grant program that supports new collaborations and activities to improve campus or departmental climate.

Other personnel changes at ADVANCE include the November 2012 appointment of Devon DeMarco as the ADVANCE faculty liaison. DeMarco is available to improve problem resolution by directing faculty to the proper university office, serving as a bridge between faculty and administrators to ensure that problems are resolved, and enhancing materials that explain resolution processes.

Now fully staffed, the ADVANCE Rising Tide Center is well poised to sustain the positive effects realized in the first two years of the project.

UMaine Study Cited in Press Herald Report on School Principals

A story by the Portland Press Herald on the demands facing Maine high school principals cited a University of Maine study that came out last fall. The Press Herald spoke to George Marnik, an author of the Maine Principal Study and a lecturer in UMaine’s educational leadership program. Marnik said the study found almost 40 percent of Maine principals reported they felt overworked. The study also found that in 2011 the average Maine principal was responsible for 69 more students, had 53 more staff members and worked 12 more hours a week than in 2005.

News Media Cover UMaine Career Fair

Channel 5 (WABI) interviewed University of Maine Career Center Director Patty Counihan, students and exhibitors at the annual UMaine Career Fair Jan. 30 at the New Balance Student Recreation Center. Channel 7 (WVII) also covered the event, which was attended by an estimated 1,000 UMaine students.

Fall 2012 Deans List

Recently the University of Maine recognized 2,035 students for achieving Deans List honors in the Fall 2012 semester. Of the students who made the Deans List, 1,696 are from Maine, 277 are from out of state, and 62 are from foreign countries.

Listed below are students who received Deans List honors for the 2012 Fall Semester:

Please note that some students have requested that their information not be released; therefore, their names are not included.