Rapid response has become a recurring theme during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Community Learning for ME (CL4ME) platform is no exception. Korah Soll, founding director of Rural Aspirations Project, responded to the sudden lack of access to in-person education for educators and the new position that parents and caregivers found themselves in, by assembling a team of educators to create the website Community Learning for ME in a matter of weeks.
CL4ME launched in April with just over 15 organizations and a handful of live sessions and anytime resources for educators and parents. It has since become a professionally maintained website with over 100 organizations sharing countless resources to educators and parents. While the site actively curates a wide variety of amazing resources the team is in a position to connect, collaborate and listen to the needs of education stakeholders across the state. In June we held a virtual meeting focused on understanding the summer PD needs for educators. As we continued to scan and listen, we recognized the time to act and quickly created 1 Plan: 3 Falls, a virtual conference, to help to meet the needs of Maine’s educators
1 Plan: 3 Falls was a whirlwind of planning that led to three days of morning and afternoon sessions filled with a wide selection of two-hour virtual workshops to attend, keynote speakers to start off each day. Over 20 organizations and Maine educators came together to offer over 30 workshops and presentations which had over 400 registrations! The biggest success of the three-day virtual conference was the connections formed between Maine organizations and Maine educators working with students throughout the state. We’ve received positive and constructive feedback from participants and presenters alike with requests coming in for more live sessions and another potential conference this coming later this fall. Here are a few takeaways from the conference:
