The University of Maine at Presque Isle and the Central Aroostook Council on Education (CACE) are working to increase teacher retention in the region through a unique new program, the New Teacher Mentor Program, which is designed to support new teachers during their first years in the classroom and connect them with veteran educators.
CACE and UMPI welcomed the first-ever cohort—nine teachers from school districts in Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Woodland, and Limestone—to UMPI in January for an evening of activities and discussions. The session focused on potential strategies these teachers could use to better support their students and care for themselves as they navigate the challenges and rewards of being an educator.
“The Central Aroostook Council on Education is so excited to partner with the University of Maine at Presque Isle on this program,” Mark Stanley, CACE Executive Director, said. “Aroostook County is proud to have some of the most exciting young teachers in the state, and supporting these professionals through the early years of their career helps provide a platform for success, and successful teachers produce successful students. We look forward to fostering this program for years to come.”
Retaining quality teachers has become an issue for school districts across Maine as more teachers retire but fewer young educators enter the field. According to Educate Maine’s Educator Workforce Data Landscape, published in 2024, the turnover rate was 7.7 percent for teachers with four years of experience or less and 6 percent for teachers with more than four years of experience during the 2015-2016 school year, which the study used as a baseline year.
While teachers have different reasons for leaving the profession, many are feeling more pressure to help their students succeed both academically and emotionally, said Wendi Malenfant, director of UMPI’s Education program: “Students today are struggling much more with social and emotional health and I think many teachers get ‘compassion fatigue.’ They’re trying to be there for their students and help them develop adequate coping strategies and social skills but also make sure all their students show adequate academic progress during the school year. That’s a lot of pressure.”
A longtime Aroostook educator and member of CACE’s Professional Development Committee, Malenfant has seen firsthand how mentorship can be crucial to helping young teachers succeed and stay in the profession long term. After hearing from many former UMPI students about challenges that they have faced in the classroom, Malenfant reached out to Stanley about establishing a program to address issues surrounding teacher retention.
The resulting new teacher cohort is composed mostly of UMPI Education program graduates; many are still in their first year of teaching while others have two to four years of post-college experience in the classroom.
During the cohort’s first meeting at UMPI, the group listened to a presentation from Caribou Community School eighth grade teachers Heather Anderson and Kim Barnes, titled From Rookie to Rock Star, that gave advice on navigating the early years of teaching.
Anderson and Barnes then led the teachers through a team activity called “hexagonal thinking,” during which they split into small groups and placed hexagons representing different aspects of teaching (such as assessment and self-care) in relation to one another. The teachers explained how the “hexagons” connect to their professional and personal lives and compared theirs with those of other small groups.
The cohort then listened to a panel discussion featuring Malenfant, Stanley, and Charlotte Ala, a kindergarten teacher at Pine Street Elementary School in Presque Isle, and took part in a question-and-answer session.
UMPI Education program graduate Kristen West is in her fourth year of teaching kindergarten at Caribou Community School. She said that attending the first cohort meeting helped her forge stronger connections with teachers from other school districts and discuss similar challenges that the group might be facing, including issues surrounding classroom and behavioral management.
“I remember how isolating your first few years as a teacher can be, as someone who had to learn the hard way,” West said. “It’s hard to teach behavioral management in college, so I often compare my initial attempts to throwing pasta on the wall to see what stuck. Fortunately, I had a team to help guide me and find strategies that worked for me.”
Another cohort member, Kacie Chapman, began her first year of teaching sixth grade at Presque Isle Middle School in 2024 soon after graduating from UMPI’s Education program. With Chapman being so new in her career, she saw the mentorship program as a great networking opportunity.
“I think what enticed me most about attending the cohort at UMPI was being able to communicate and network with other new teachers around the area, as well as some veteran teachers,” Chapman said. “I walked away feeling like I had a plethora of new strategies in my teacher toolbox. At the end of the day, all teachers sail their own ship, but we need to stick together.”
CACE and UMPI are hoping to host another cohort session in April and then two gatherings every college semester. For more information about the New Teacher Mentor Program or to join the next cohort, please contact Mark Stanley at umpi-cace@maine.edu or Dr. Malenfant at wendi.malenfant@maine.edu.