MAINE, USA — As the first half of the school year slowly winds to an end, Maine is making its mark on some of the East Coast's largest cities. That's happening through advertisements in the form of physical billboards and social media campaigns. The goal: to recruit more people to come to the Pine Tree State to teach.
"Whether you’re in school or not, public education is a defining part of many communities," Nate Wildes, the executive director of nonprofit Live and Work in Maine, said.
Live and Work in Maine has been around for about seven years, partnering with groups from private employers to the state government to encourage people to see Maine as more than just "Vacationland." In the nonprofit's most recent venture, it has partnered with the Maine Department of Education to launch the "Live and Teach in Maine" campaign.
"The campaign is all about telling stories of individual teachers—celebrating the wonderful educators we have in this state," Wildes said.
Wildes said this campaign is designed to encourage teachers who are already in Maine to stay here and to understand how important they are, and to encourage teachers from outside of Maine to relocate for a better quality of life. He said they're not planning to attract thousands of people to our state, but rather a select few who may already be thinking about moving and just need a push.
"They can step into these local communities, bring their authentic selves, and have a disproportionate impact relative to anywhere else," Wildes said about the appeal, later adding, "The cost of living in Maine relative to especially the larger metropolitan areas where this campaign is focused—is enormously smaller.”
The Maine DOE used federal emergency relief money to fund this project. Wildes said advertisements have been placed in airports, at subway stations, and on buses and billboards. They're also reaching people online through apps like Hulu and Spotify, to name a few.
"They are leaving no stones unturned in the work of finding ways to amplify the message that we need educators," Maine DOE Commissioner Pender Makin said about Live and Work in Maine's effort.
Makin said the year before the pandemic, Maine issued about 3,500 new educator certificates. This past year, that number jumped to 4,600 in a positive upward trend. She said staffing shortages are still a concern in schools, though.
"In our state, just like the nation, there is a dire shortage of educators working in the classrooms with students," Makin said.
She said she hopes a wide range of people will come to Maine through this campaigning—from people who teach somewhere else already to those aspiring to become an educator to those working in another field who may want to make a positive difference.
"We are hoping for people who [are] at any stage of their life or career or educational trajectory," Makin said.
Live and Work in Maine's online job board is now open to every school district in our state. Wildes said it has been getting a lot more traffic since these advertisements went live. You can check it out here.