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Add some socializing, learning, and fun to your day by joining a free Portland Public Schools wellness group:
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Friday Pickleball with Bob Carroll: CLICK HERE
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Friday Walking Group with Melissa Blanchard: CLICK HERE
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Monday Walking Group with Mary Khula: CLICK HERE
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Monday/Thursday Book Group with Isabelle Weyl: CLICK HERE
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Tuesday/Thursday Mindfulness/Meditation with Jake Kulaw: CLICK HERE
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Mindfulness Yoga with Kay Kerina: CLICK HERE
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Cardio HIIT Yoga sessions Kay Kerina: CLICK HERE
Read more about each of these activities below.
Pickleball with Bob
Come join the fun of pickleball! Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country and has become very popular in Portland. A cross between tennis, badminton, and ping pong, pickleball is a blast, and once you play, you’ll be hooked. Come join the fun on Fridays at 4:00 at the Lyman Moore Middle School courts. Nets and paddles will be available.
Contact group leader Bob Carroll with any questions at: carrob@portlandschools.org
⇒ Sign up for Pickleball with Bob: CLICK HERE
Friday Walking Group with Melissa
Welcome to the district’s Friday walking group! I’m Melissa Blanchard, and I’m excited to be leading this group. I’ve been working for Portland Public Schools for 28 years and am looking forward to meeting all of you.
We will meet every Friday at 6:00 PM at the Back Bay (a.k.a. Back Cove) in the parking lot across Preble Street from the big Hannaford Supermarket. Look for my Hyundai Tucson mid-size SUV, silver/grey color with animal adopt license plates.
I’ve created signup slots for 100 people, but if we need more, I can add more. Wishful thinking! Looking forward to walking with you after work, starting on Friday, May 14.
⇒ Sign up for Friday Walking Group with Melissa: CLICK HERE
Monday Walking Group with Mary
Do you need to get healthier, but don’t like to exercise? Are you looking for a gradual start that builds to greater physical strength, stamina, and a healthy habit? This group may be right for you. I started exercising recently after a (20 year!) break (from anything consistent) and used the Mayo Clinic 12-week walking program as my guide. To investigate, please go to this link: Mayo Clinic 12-Week Walking Program. At last, an exercise plan has worked and has helped me to make very necessary changes. It has inspired me to offer this option to others. I will be walking about 40 minutes on Mondays from about 3:30 to 4:30, but you can set your own time. Please meet me in front of Deering High School at 3:30, starting on Monday, May 17. Any questions or concerns, please call or text me at 207-321-1355. Let's support each other!
⇒ Sign up for Monday Walking Group with Mary: CLICK HERE
Book Group with Isabelle
The book I have selected to share is Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. It’s an Oprah's Book Selection, the Penn Faulkner Award Winner, and a New York Times notable book of the year.
A compulsively listenable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American dream - the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy. Named one of BuzzFeed's "Incredible New Books You Need to Read This Summer."
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty - and Jende is eager to please. Clark's wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses' summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future.
However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers' façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende's job - even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
⇒ Sign up for Book Group with Isabelle: CLICK HERE
Mindfulness and Meditation with Jake
Join Jake Kulaw to learn about how you can incorporate mindfulness / meditation into your classroom or use for yourself. We will meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 to 4:00.
⇒ Sign up for Mindfulness / Meditation sessions: CLICK HERE
Yoga with Kay
Who wouldn’t want to make new connections with colleagues across the school district while starting to feel better and healthier at the same time?
⇒ Sign up for Mindfulness Yoga sessions: CLICK HERE
⇒ Sign up for Cardio HIIT Yoga sessions: CLICK HERE
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The 2021 County Teachers of the Year have put together a special “End of Year Message” to their colleagues, students and their communities who all worked together for the greater good of education across Maine this year. These outstanding teachers share a message of gratitude for coming together to ensure our children had every opportunity to continue learning and growing this year. Learn more and view message 
As a reminder, on the final day of school for students this year, Tuesday, June 15, all schools will follow their current bell schedule. In other words, Tuesday will NOT be a half day. Wednesday, June 16, is the last day for teachers. That day will be a normal teacher workday.
Maine Environmental Education Association is organizing the first statewide Climate Education Summit! On the leading edge of aligning state climate education with upcoming national guidelines, MEEA, our Changemakers Network, JustME for JustUS, the Nature Based Education Consortium, and Maine Climate Action Now identified the need for a convening event where organizations working on intersectional climate and climate justice education can learn about the work of one another, build a shared vision about climate education and literacy in Maine, and start to identify strategies that will support the advancement of critical climate and climate justice education statewide.
Educating in our Reality: Building Community is a space for educators to build a supportive community of fellow educators to learn from, connect with, practice dialogue, share tools, build community, and support youth voices in an inclusive and welcoming environment (& learn more about Seeds)! In addition, it's an opportunity to have fun and take an outbreath from the intensity of this year of teaching – by spending 2 weeks on a lake, while others cook! You can learn more and register 
