Portland Public Schools are bulking up their book collections thanks to a $25,000 check from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. According to a release from the school district, the money will be used to buy books that benefit students learning English and represent culturally diverse perspectives. Four hundred books will be purchased for the city’s three middle schools: Lyman Moore, King and Lincoln. “The library, to me, is the heart of the school,” said Court Caywood, a library media specialist. “We want every school to be able to see themselves reflected in the books that are available to them, so having a wide set of diverse titles is really important to us.”Four-hundred books will be purchased for the city’s three middle schools: Lyman Moore, King and Lincoln. Meredith Doyle, a multilingual teacher at Lyman Moore, worries the books available to her students now are inadequate. She said, “Some of those low-level literacy books look like baby books. They have cartoon characters. Yes, they can teach literacy, but that’s not what middle school or high school students learning English, or even if you’re below grade level, want to be reading. You want to read cool books.”James Ford, a former educator who worked part-time at Lyman Moore last year shares Doyle’s concern. “If students aren’t engaged in their work, they won’t do it,” he explained. Doyle told Maine’s Total Coverage 200 newcomers are studying at Lyman Moore. Fifty languages are represented throughout the entire district, which has approximately 6,600 students.Caywood explained, “They have different cultural identities. They have different gender identities sexual orientation; they need to see themselves reflected so they can see that their experience is validated through literature.”A new statewide initiative is hoping to validate those experiences, too. Welcoming Libraries, a collection of picture books exploring themes of belonging, are now available for every public school in the state.That project was co-sponsored by the Maine Department of Education and the non-profit I’m Your Neighbor Books. Literacy isn’t the only way Maine’s kids are getting a taste of other cultures. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), Portland-area schools, and local chefs teamed up to create multicultural recipes. Kyle Foley, GMRI’s sustainable seafood director, said, “Food is a way we can all connect. Food is such an important part of culture wherever you are from.”Foley explained that people living in the United States typically eat less seafood than people in other countries and that many of Maine’s immigrant and refugee students grew up in those cultures.She said, “We were interested in creating some more relevant, culturally diverse recipes that could show up with seafood in the cafeteria and be a little bit more familiar to kids who are coming from other parts of the world – or maybe whose parents and families came from other parts of the world.”Maine schools are also seeing a push to support cultural diets. Westbrook, Portland and South Portland started the Halal School Meals Network. Westbrook’s school nutrition director, Mary Emerson, explained, “It’s an inclusion for everyone, and it’s important to have the education for all of our students to understand what Halal meals mean.”The current goal for those Portland-area schools and GMRI is to connect even more cafeterias in the state with their multicultural resources and recipes.
Portland Public Schools are bulking up their book collections thanks to a $25,000 check from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.
According to a release from the school district, the money will be used to buy books that benefit students learning English and represent culturally diverse perspectives. Four hundred books will be purchased for the city’s three middle schools: Lyman Moore, King and Lincoln.
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“The library, to me, is the heart of the school,” said Court Caywood, a library media specialist. “We want every school to be able to see themselves reflected in the books that are available to them, so having a wide set of diverse titles is really important to us.”
Four-hundred books will be purchased for the city’s three middle schools: Lyman Moore, King and Lincoln. Meredith Doyle, a multilingual teacher at Lyman Moore, worries the books available to her students now are inadequate.
She said, “Some of those low-level literacy books look like baby books. They have cartoon characters. Yes, they can teach literacy, but that’s not what middle school or high school students learning English, or even if you’re below grade level, want to be reading. You want to read cool books.”
James Ford, a former educator who worked part-time at Lyman Moore last year shares Doyle’s concern. “If students aren’t engaged in their work, they won’t do it,” he explained.
Doyle told Maine’s Total Coverage 200 newcomers are studying at Lyman Moore. Fifty languages are represented throughout the entire district, which has approximately 6,600 students.
Caywood explained, “They have different cultural identities. They have different gender identities sexual orientation; they need to see themselves reflected so they can see that their experience is validated through literature.”
A new statewide initiative is hoping to validate those experiences, too. Welcoming Libraries, a collection of picture books exploring themes of belonging, are now available for every public school in the state.
That project was co-sponsored by the Maine Department of Education and the non-profit I’m Your Neighbor Books.
Literacy isn’t the only way Maine’s kids are getting a taste of other cultures. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), Portland-area schools, and local chefs teamed up to create multicultural recipes.
Kyle Foley, GMRI’s sustainable seafood director, said, “Food is a way we can all connect. Food is such an important part of culture wherever you are from.”
Foley explained that people living in the United States typically eat less seafood than people in other countries and that many of Maine’s immigrant and refugee students grew up in those cultures.
She said, “We were interested in creating some more relevant, culturally diverse recipes that could show up with seafood in the cafeteria and be a little bit more familiar to kids who are coming from other parts of the world – or maybe whose parents and families came from other parts of the world.”
Maine schools are also seeing a push to support cultural diets. Westbrook, Portland and South Portland started the Halal School Meals Network.
Westbrook’s school nutrition director, Mary Emerson, explained, “It’s an inclusion for everyone, and it’s important to have the education for all of our students to understand what Halal meals mean.”
The current goal for those Portland-area schools and GMRI is to connect even more cafeterias in the state with their multicultural resources and recipes.
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