Parent Involvement and Leadership Sought

Our Parent Advisory Group (PAG) is meeting NEXT Tuesday (9/9) – 5:30 to 7pm. All are welcome. We will be looking at the year ahead, getting to know one another, filling vacant leadership positions and setting budget priorities. Please come if you can.

 The following positions are open. They are described in a bit more detail here:PAG Open Leadership Positions (9:14)

. Please let me know if you are interested. Thanks! (And thanks to everyone who has already volunteered to serve.)

 PAG Chair or Co-Chair

Freshmen PAG Liason

Junior Journey Parent Co-Chairs

Annual Appeal Chair or Co-Chair

10^th Anniversary Chair

O’Toole Award Communication Lead  (First Strategy Session is Wednesday 9/3 at 4pm) – See below…

Parent Volunteers Sought to Help CBHS Win $100,000 Prize

CBHS is the Maine nominee for the Larry O’Toole Award from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation (the largest philanthropic education foundation in New England). The award recognizes our leadership and innovation for student-centered learning, and we are honored by the nomination. There are six nominated leaders and organizations (one from each New England state).

The winning organization receives $100,000. We were asked within a few days (and with a few words) to explain how we would use the money to further student-centered learning. Here is what we submitted:

• $50,000 would be allocated to scholarships that ensure that all CBHS students, regardless of family income, can continue to participate in our most transformative educational experiences – the Freshmen Quest, the Junior Journey and the Senior Quest- even as we expand.
• $25,000 would be dedicated to supplies and equipment for a nascent “Maker Lab” so CBHS students would have more opportunity to explore, design, invent, experiment, create, tinker, fail and try again through STEM
• $15,000 would be reserved for micro-grants to help students actualize promising plans for addressing local needs.
• $10,000 would be set aside to expand our capacity for hosting visiting educators and leading workshops on student-centered learning.

The winner of this award will be chosen on the basis of online voting between September 9^th and 30^th. Watch for more details soon. Admittedly, we are not big fans of online voting competitions, and we know this is an especially busy time of year. But, in a time of scarce resources, the one-in-six chance for $100,000 to further student-center learning is too good to pass up.

And so, we are looking for a small cohort of parent volunteers with time during September as well as skills in communication, graphic design, PR and/or social media to take on aspects of getting the word out. We our hoping to have a team of students, parents, staff and alumni (and alumni parents) spearhead a manageable, ethical effort that deepens school pride without generating too much cyber pollution.