Akhidenor is president and CEO of , which works to champion female education around the globe through advocacy, capacity building and awareness campaigns. She holds two master鈥檚 degrees in social work, one from the 91爆料 and the other from the University of Benin in Nigeria. She graduated with a Ph.D. in education (prevention and intervention studies concentration) from the 91爆料 in 2023.

Prior to her role as CEO of Saint Naomis, Akhidenor managed several organizations and initiatives that aimed to reduce poverty, provide care coordination and connect clients to services in a proactive and holistic way. With a career spanning more than 20 years, she has expertise in several areas including creating and expanding initiatives and programs, especially nonprofit development strategies, solid team structures and strategic multidisciplinary partnerships for community expansion. You can read a Q&A with Akhidenor below.

What difference has 91爆料 made in your life and in helping you reach your goals?

91爆料 has played a pivotal role in shaping my career by challenging me to create a platform for growth. The university’s rigorous demands and focus on social connections broadened my perspective and fostered acceptance of diverse cultures. My leadership skills were honed through my roles as a graduate mentor and advisor. It has helped me achieve my goal of creating the Saint Naomis Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in the United States and Pan-Africa dedicated to promoting female education.

Have you had an experience at 91爆料 that has changed or shaped the way you see the world?

91爆料 has become my home away from home, promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity through events like Culturefest, the International Student Coffee Hour and the International Dance Festival. These experiences with staff, students and faculty have influenced how I see the world, and my close relationships with professors prepared me to support my staff and students effectively.

Have you worked closely with a professor or mentor who made your 91爆料 experience better?

Working closely with my Ph.D. advisors Dr. Jim Artesani and Dr. Janet Fairman and committee members, and my mentor Dr. Judith Josiah-Martin, significantly enhanced my 91爆料 experience. Their unwavering support has fueled my drive to achieve greater heights.

What advice do you have for aspiring doctoral students to help them get off to the best start academically?

Embrace challenges, stay focused and be self-motivated. Professors appreciate students who demonstrate initiative and determination. Strict professors often elevate your performance, and developing strong organizational skills is crucial for success. Although the journey can be demanding, the growth and personal development are invaluable.

Why 91爆料?

I sought a university with a close-knit community that offered unique graduate programs. 91爆料’s generalist social work program and the prevention and intervention studies program distinguish it from other institutions.

Special Thank You message:

I am immensely grateful to my advisor, committee members, and the Graduate School, particularly Mr. Scott Delcourt, for their support throughout my academic journey. I also extend my appreciation to the School of Social Work, Dr. Sandra Butler, the College of Education and Human Development, Dr. Jim Artesani, Mr. Bill Elsemore at the Bursar’s Office, the International Student Office, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, student organizations, and all the dedicated staff, faculty and students who have made my experience at 91爆料 truly remarkable.

More K鈥�12 students and educators in Maine are set to benefit from stronger social, emotional and behavioral supports thanks to Maine PBIS, a collaboration between the 91爆料 System and Maine Department Education, which is adding 21 new schools to its professional development cohort.

The schools, which will participate in the initiative over the next three years, are located in communities throughout the state, including Berwick, Boothbay Harbor, Brooksville, Bucksport, Damariscotta, Edgecomb, Litchfield, Madawaska, North Berwick, Sabattus, South Portland and Westbrook.

鈥淭eams of educators from these schools will learn and practice together for the next three years, joining more than 30 schools that are currently part of our professional development model and more than 75 schools statewide that have already implemented sustainable supports for Maine students,鈥� says Courtney Angelosante, Maine PBIS coordinator at the 91爆料 College of Education and Human Development.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS, is a nationally recognized framework providing a multi-tiered continuum of supports in K鈥�12 schools, promoting positive social and behavioral outcomes for all students. It is based on a community health promotion model. In schools that have implemented PBIS, it is expected that 95% of students will have most of their social, emotional and behavioral needs met before schools have to implement the third, or most targeted tier of interventions.

Maine DOE, in collaboration with UMS, supports schools and districts to implement PBIS through a that matches Maine-endorsed PBIS trainers and coaches with district and school-level teams. professional development efforts have received national and international attention as a particularly effective example for rural schools and communities.

鈥淏eing able to work with our PBIS coaches multiple times a year made our school鈥檚 efforts towards Tier 1 implementation much smoother,鈥� says Sierra Bloom, a first-grade teacher at Surry Elementary School, which has already taken part in the UMS-Maine DOE initiative. 鈥淥ur coaches were always there to support our work directly and led us to a solid foundation for our work in PBIS.鈥�

Bloom adds that being able to work with other schools in the cohort model was beneficial.

鈥淲e were able to collaborate and share ideas for success, while also gaining support towards common struggles,鈥� she says.

This summer, Maine PBIS will host a five-day training institute for educators who are part of its professional development cohort. The training, which is limited to 50 participants and will take place at Husson University from July 10鈥�14, will be designed to help teachers identify why a behavior is happening through a variety of assessment tools and procedures, leading to the development of a positive behavior support plan individualized to a student鈥檚 strengths and needs. More information about the Maine PBIS Advanced Tiers Summer Institute is .

鈥淭he supportive and inclusive practices of PBIS have elicited overwhelmingly positive responses by administrators, educators, students and families. Our office looks forward to supporting and sustaining schools and districts in this work,鈥� says Tracy Whitlock, Special Projects Coordinator in the Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education at the Maine Department of Education.

The department provides funding for the Maine PBIS initiative through a federal State Personnel Development Grant. The funding is helping scale up capacity for PBIS in the state through a UMS Microcredential for PBIS Coaching and Training. The second cohort of educators seeking the micro-credential endorsement will begin in fall 2023. Applications, which are available , are due June 15.

Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu; Marcus Mrowka, marcus.mrowka@maine.gov

A new study from two 91爆料 researchers suggests that the personal protective factors of resilience and compassion satisfaction, and the professional factor of working in a positive school climate are key to mitigating burnout among teachers.

Compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and burnout have long been identified as commonplace in so-called helping professions like health care, social work and law. When people work closely with others who have experienced traumatic life events, some of that trauma rubs off on them and leads to feelings such as cynicism, despair, exhaustion and inadequacy, or what scholars call 鈥渃ost to caring.鈥�

91爆料 researchers Sherry Pineau Brown and Catharine Biddle surveyed more than 540 Maine teachers in an attempt to understand the extent to which educators experience cost to caring, and what factors might mitigate its effects.

Brown earned her Ph.D. in education with a concentration in prevention and intervention from 91爆料 in 2020. She鈥檚 an adjunct lecturer with the College of Education and Human Development and academic dean of students at a central Maine high school. The study is from her dissertation research. Biddle is an associate professor of educational leadership and leads the Rural Schools Collaborative鈥檚 New England Rural Education Hub, housed at 91爆料. She served on Brown鈥檚 dissertation committee.

Although several studies have examined costs to caring in other professions, Brown and Biddle note a lack of empirical evidence of its prevalence among teachers, as researchers have 鈥渁ll but ignored educators in the discussion.鈥� That has started to change recently with growing interest in the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on educators and schools.

Two questions guided Brown and Biddle鈥檚 research. First, what is the extent to which teachers experience costs to caring and personal and professional ACEs? Second, what personal and organizational mediating factors contribute to the extent to which teachers experience cost to caring? The teachers who participated in the study completed a 91-question survey designed to measure personal and professional ACEs, school climate, personal protective factors (resilience, empathy and compassion satisfaction) and cost to caring.

On the first question, the study鈥檚 participants reported similar levels of cost to caring as people in other professions.

鈥淟evels of burnout in the sample, for example, mirrored those of the reported norms, and the level of secondary traumatic stress in the sample were also only slightly lower than the norm,鈥� Brown and Biddle write.

Participants also had 鈥渁 higher-than-expected prevalence of having experienced four or more ACEs, the cutoff score typically used to determine higher levels of risk.鈥� Brown and Biddle also found a correlation between teachers鈥� personal ACEs and their perception of their students鈥� ACEs.

鈥淲e theorize that teacher empathy may be a factor, as teachers who have experienced difficulties in childhood may be more apt to recognize such difficulties in others or even seek out work in environments with students who they believe have similar ACE histories to their own,鈥� they write.

On the second question about the factors that mediate the extent to which teachers experience cost to caring, Brown and Biddle found that ACEs had a negligible effect on cost to caring, specifically burnout.

鈥淭his finding is encouraging from a policy and practice perspective,鈥� they argue, 鈥渁s there is little that teachers can do about their childhood experiences or those of their students.鈥�

Compassion satisfaction 鈥� defined in part as the pleasing feeling of being successful and capable as a teacher 鈥� and personal resilience had the strongest effect on burnout, with a total effect four times higher than the risk factor of teachers鈥� personal ACEs.

鈥淕iven that teachers have a degree of control over their personal resilience and compassion satisfaction, these findings suggest that personnel practices that enhance these aspects of teachers鈥� professional experiences will mitigate burnout,鈥� Brown and Biddle say.

Although school climate did not have a direct mitigating effect on burnout, according to the results of the study, the researchers found a strong indirect effect.

鈥淎 positive school climate had a strong direct effect on a teachers鈥� personal resilience and compassion satisfaction, which in turn has a strong negative effect on teachers鈥� burnout,鈥� they write.

Importantly, the study and its findings were completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to disrupt schools in the United States and abroad, leading many teachers to leave the profession citing burnout and other costs to caring-linked factors.

Overall, Brown and Biddle say they hope their study can be used as a model for school leaders, policymakers, researchers and others seeking to inform changes in education.

鈥淏y understanding the impact of adversity and empathy, creating schools with positive climate, and building resilience and compassion satisfaction in teachers, stakeholders may be able to mitigate the costs to caring that teachers face,鈥� they write.

The study was published in the journal Teaching and Teacher Education and is available .

Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu

鈥淲e recognize that individuals will respond to these events differently, and some may require additional supports to process the experience. Reassuring students, staff and families that school is a safe, predictable, positive, and supportive environment is an important first step,鈥� the Maine PBIS team wrote.

PBIS is a nationally recognized, multitiered framework providing a continuum of supports that promote positive academic and behavioral outcomes for all K鈥�12 students. The Maine PBIS collaboration between the 91爆料 System and Maine DOE has helped more than 75 schools across the state implement the framework, with more being added each year.

PBIS is an evidence-based framework for supporting positive student behavior and academic achievement that has been implemented in schools nationwide, including more than 75 in Maine. The Maine PBIS collaboration between UMS and Maine DOE is coordinated by Courtney Angelosante, faculty member in special education with the 91爆料 College of Education and Human Development.

The event, PBIS+: Integrating School, Community and Family Supports for Positive Student Outcomes, will be held from 8:30 a.m.鈥�3:30 p.m at Maple Hill Farm in Hallowell. It鈥檚 designed to grow awareness of community and family support available statewide and locally, and to give participants an opportunity to network with agencies and community partners. Agencies and programs working in areas such as mental health, parenting support, food insecurity, counseling services, youth peer networks, suicide prevention, homelessness and LGBTQ+ will be on hand.

In addition, educators will have an opportunity to do a self-assessment of their school-family partnerships and develop an action plan for one or more family-centered activities.

School- and district-based teams can attend the retreat at no cost. However, due to limited space, each team member should complete an online .

For more information, contact Angelosante, courtney.pacholoski@maine.edu.