CAMDEN — Twelve high school teachers from across the state participated in the Camden Conference’s third annual global affairs teachers’ workshop Sept. 16, according to a news release from the Camden Conference. During the day-long session, the teachers worked with conference facilitators to learn about this coming year’s area of international focus and how it could be introduced into their classrooms.

The Camden Conference in the Classroom nine-month program helps build relationships and resource-sharing among Maine high school teachers who bring foreign affairs or global issues to their classrooms.

Emily Gribben, a participating teacher from the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, said, “The conference brings important global issues to light and challenges us teachers with ways to incorporate international events into our lesson plans. The teacher workshops, sponsored by the Camden Conference, are informative and inspirational,” according to the release.

The 2018 conference weekend program is the “New World Disorder and America’s Future.” Speakers will explore the shifts in global power and the ramifications for major players, particularly China, the US and the nations of Europe.

Participating schools include Edward Little High School, Auburn; Gould Academy, Bethel; Watershed School, Camden; Lincoln Academy, Damariscotta; Foxcroft Academy, Dover-Foxcroft; Piscataquis Community High School, Guilford; Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, Hinckley; Deering High School and Portland High School, Portland; Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport; and Medomak Valley High School, Waldoboro.

Joe Hennessey, a participating teacher from Piscataquis Community High School, said, “The interdisciplinary study associated with the Camden Conference help us augment our students’ world. After an introduction to international affairs in the classroom through various case studies and media, the students find attending the conference in February a profound broadening of their social and intellectual horizons,” according to the release.

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The workshop’s agenda included an introduction of Brown University’s Choices Programs, presentations by conference facilitators and opportunities for teachers’ exchanges on curricula thoughts and ideas for the coming year.

Bruce Cole, Camden Conference Board President, said, “We’re grateful for the partnership that we have with Maine high school educators as we continue to pursue our mission of providing opportunities to foster knowledgeable and engaged future global citizens,” according to the release.

The CCC program starts in the fall with this teachers’ workshop organized for enrolled teachers by the volunteers of the Conference’s Education Committee and the conference director. With input from this workshop, the teachers each deliver a course linked to the 2018 Camden Conference theme. These for-credit courses range from a full year’s course to a theme or topic within an AP course to mentored independent study. In February 2018 teachers will accompany their students to the conference and participate in the full set of three-day speaker presentations, evening events and activities. The events include an educator-led luncheon on Saturday and a peer-led World Café evening discussion. Schools participating in the CCC program each receive five subsidized tickets for the conference. In the spring of 2018, teachers will enter their top student essays into the Camden Conference’s Student Essay contest. In May 2018, teachers participate in a wrap-up workshop with oral and written reports and evaluations of the 2018 CCC program.

The Camden Conference will be held Feb. 16-18, 2018. It originates at the Camden Opera House and is live-streamed to the USM campus, Portland; to Rockland’s Strand Theatre and Univ. of Maine’s Hutchinson Center in Belfast. A 501(c) 3 organization, The Camden Conference’s mission is to foster informed discourse on world issues. For more information, go to wwwcamdenconference.org.


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