The very first Island Teachers Conference took place on North Haven in 1985. Ten attendees from that very first conference were back for this year’s event. This year’s Island Teacher Conference was extremely well attended with over 120 island teachers, administrators, educational technicians and school board members. It was held on October 8 and 9 at the Belfast Hutchinson Center.
Since this conference only happens once every two years, the Island Teachers Conference provides a much-needed opportunity for island teachers to network, share, and just talk about what it means to be an island teacher. One- and two-room schoolhouses are still very alive and well on the islands of Maine!
A wide variety of topics were covered in more than 20 workshops led by island teachers, the real experts in island education. Workshops ranged from “Using Technology to do Cross-Level Course Sharing”; to “Incorporating Yoga in the Arts Curriculum”; to “Using Island Resources and History: A Fisheries Unit.”
The Island Teachers Conference is supported by the Maine Community Foundation, the Mainstream Foundation, and The Emily & William Muir Community Fund.
Ruth Kermish-Allen is the education director at the Island Institute.