Registration for the 2021 Maine English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Meeting is now open! All educators and community partners are welcome to attend this free virtual event on Friday May 7th, which will feature a variety of speakers and presentations on topics related to ESOL.

We are excited to hear from Elena Sullivan, Maine’s 2021 ESOL Teacher of the Year, the Department’s Family Engagement/Cultural Responsiveness Specialist Deqa Dhalac, and Dr. Laurene Christensen from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, who will be speaking on identification and services of students who are English learners and students with disabilities. Details on the breakout sessions, facilitated by outstanding ESOL educators from around Maine, will be available in the Professional Learning section of the Maine DOE English learners webpage in early April.

Register here to receive Zoom links to all the day’s events (to be emailed to you on 5/3/21). Participants may attend the full day or specific sessions, as their interests and schedules allow. Sessions will be recorded and shared on the Maine DOE YouTube channel after the event concludes.  See the tentative schedule below, and contact April Perkins at april.perkins@maine.gov if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!

Tentative Schedule of Events

10:00-10:20       Opening Remarks: April Perkins, World Languages & ESOL/Bilingual Programs Specialist

10:20-10:30       A Message from our 2021 ESOL Teacher of the Year: Elena Sullivan

10:30-10:50       Plenary Speaker: Deqa Dhalac, Family Engagement & Cultural Responsiveness Specialist

10:50-11:00       Break

11:00-12:00       Keynote Speaker: Dr. Laurene Christensen

12:00-12:45       Social Time/Lunch

Breakout Presentations

12:45-1:15          Session A

1:20-2:05            Session B

2:10-2:55            Session C