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MLTI announces Main Winter Classic March 2–6 with flexible, statewide student activities and scholarships
Summary
MLTI’s Main Winter Classic (March 2–6, 2026) is an asynchronous statewide student conference with tech and unplugged activities, scholarships for student submissions, ambassador support and classroom resources for Maine educators.
Jonathan Warner, MLTI Ambassador program facilitator, said the Main Winter Classic will run March 2 through March 6, 2026, and emphasized the event is designed for flexible participation across school schedules.
"March 2nd through the 6th," Warner said, noting the window allows classes to use the materials at times that fit local calendars while preserving a deadline for scholarship submissions.
The Main Winter Classic uses a central resource page—referred to in the webinar as the "sled" (Student Conference Logistics, Planning, Emergency Support, Details)—to gather game instructions, printable booklets, 3D files and how‑to videos. Warner said those resources are intended to let teachers choose how to deploy the event in class: as a single‑day activity, short rotations in a library or tech class, or as a multi‑day project.
John Graham, digital learning specialist, described multiple activity categories available to students: digital citizenship; computational thinking and computer science; arts and creation; AR/VR and gamification; Frosty Fitness (playful movement); and an "off the beaten path" set of unplugged activities designed to reduce screen time.
The program supports a range of classroom models. Graham said teachers have used the materials in whole‑group rotations, as weekly tech time, or as one‑day events. The team also highlighted examples of student work: previous scholarship winners were shown as demonstration artifacts and used to encourage submissions.
Students may submit work for scholarship consideration; Warner said the focused March window helps set a submission deadline though specific scholarship rules and deadlines are available on the resource page. The MLTI team also runs an annual student t‑shirt design contest to increase engagement; Graham said the contest is open through January 5, 2026, and encouraged submissions.
Ambassador support is part of the offering: Warner described an ambassador cohort of teachers who can help schools prepare remotely or in person, and the team said they will continue to provide live help during the conference week.
The MLTI team pointed attendees to the SLED resource and the MLTI YouTube channel for tutorials and prior years’ videos. (The webinar hosts said a short resource link and contact details would be posted in the video description.)
The session closed with a reminder that schools can adopt the elements that fit their needs and that the MLTI team will offer continued support leading up to the event. Teachers interested in participating were directed to the MLTI resource page and the team’s publicly posted materials for registration and submission details.
