Teacher mentoring from UMaine’s Rural Thrive Program receives boost from Nellie Mae Foundation 

When first-year teacher Finn Wardwell logs off his weekly mentoring call, the classroom feels a little less overwhelming and a lot more hopeful. He’s one of hundreds of rural educators across Maine getting targeted support at critical moments in their careers through Rural Thrive: The Rural Educator Resilience Project.

To expand that support for new teachers, the University of Maine-led program is receiving $75,000 from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation to boost mentoring for early-career teachers.

“The biggest thing it’s helped me with is gaining confidence in myself,” said Wardwell, who graduated from UMaine in May with a degree in kinesiology and physical education.

Now in his first year teaching grades 5-8 science and social studies at Dedham School, Wardwell is participating in Rural Thrive, an innovative professional development program for Maine’s rural schools. Rural districts face unique socio-economic and geographic challenges in recruiting and retaining educators. Research shows mentoring early in a teacher’s career can strengthen resilience and job satisfaction.

Once a week, Wardwell meets virtually with a mentor teacher from another school, who offers advice, encouragement and feedback. 

“There are certain things where I feel like I’m not meeting expectations, or setting expectations too high. Then when I meet with my mentor, it really helps to hear, yeah, those things I need to work on, but also those compliments and things that I’m doing well, and that maybe it’s not as chaotic as it seems,” Wardwell said.

Support for new teachers is just one aspect of Rural Thrive, which also facilitates communities-of-practice and professional support networks for mid-career teachers and educators in building or district leadership positions. More than 480 educators have participated in the project across all career-levels. That includes preservice teachers from UMaine and other educator preparation programs in the state, who are able to gain experience as paid substitute teachers for in-service educators who attend in-person Rural Thrive events. 

About 60 teachers from across the state recently gathered for a Rural Thrive Foundations Fall Retreat at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where Thrive Fellows (early-career teachers like Wardwell) and Thrive Guides (mentor teachers) attended workshops, training sessions and one-on-one meetings. Most fellow-guide pairs are not in the same district or school, so they usually meet virtually. The retreat was the first opportunity for some fellows and guides to interact with each other in-person.

Wardwell’s mentor teacher, Heather Anderson, is a grade 8 English/language arts and social studies teacher at Caribou High School. Anderson, who was the 2022 Aroostook County Teacher of the Year, says she thinks she’s learning as much from Wardwell as he’s learning from her.

“I’ve learned about reflection. It’s such an important part of the teaching process, and unfortunately a lot of times we’re so busy and bogged down with the day-to-day that we don’t take time to reflect on our practice and what we’re doing that’s positive,” said Anderson. “By working with Finn, I’ve been able to listen to how he reflects and I’ve learned a lot about his reflective practice and that’s helped me an awful lot.”

Rural thrive was launched with $3.3 million in Congressionally Designated Spending secured in Fiscal Year 2024 for the University of Maine System by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Sen. Angus King. It is also supported in part by a $25,000 grant from the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC). UMaine associate professor of educational leadership Catharine Biddle is the contact for the RSC’s New England Rural Education Hub, which is housed at UMaine, and project lead for Rural Thrive. 

“Rural Thrive is built in collaboration with rural teachers, for rural teachers. We want every teacher to feel like they can reach out to connect with other knowledgeable professionals to get the support they need and deserve,” said Biddle, who is the recipient of the Nellie Mae Foundation grant.

Rural Thrive held another recent retreat at Woodland Jr./Sr. High School in Baileyville and Princeton Elementary School in Washington County. About 25 mid-career teachers attended the all-day event, which focused on ways that classroom teachers can develop leadership roles — whether formal or informal — that serve their students, schools and communities.

Additional in-person Rural Thrive professional development events are planned for spring 2026. 
Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu