11 Maine Island and Coastal Schools Selected to Participate in $1.2 Million National Science Foundation Grant
Island Institute, Bowdoin College, Univ. of Maine at Machias to Partner in Three-Year Effort
March 8, 2006
Contact: Kathy Westra, 594-9209, ext. 141 or 691-2506
Rockland, Maine—Eleven Maine schools have been selected to participate in an innovative three-year project designed to encourage Maine students to use technology to find creative solutions to community challenges, and to promote students’ awareness of technology-related careers in Maine. Funded by a $1.2 million grant to the Island Institute from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the project is called CREST (Community for Rural Education Stewardship and Technology). The Institute’s partners in the grant are Bowdoin College and the University of Maine at Machias.
Schools selected to participate in the program are (in alphabetical order): Fort O’Brien Elementary School (Machiasport), Georges Valley High School (Thomaston), Greely High School (Cumberland), Islesboro Central School, Lubec Consolidated School, North Haven Community School, Portland High School, St. George School (Tenant’s Harbor), Stonington-Deer Isle High School (Deer Isle), Vinalhaven School, and Washington Academy (East Machias). The NSF grant will help teams of students and teachers from each participating school learn to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology for community mapping and website development, and will also teach them ethnography skills that can be used to document and preserve the living histories of their communities using audio, video and other technologies. GIS and audio/video equipment will be provided to each school with funds from the grant. The hope is that students will complete the three-year program with a new appreciation of the unique history and culture of their communities—and new skills that will help them contribute to a sustainable future for these communities.
Stipends will be provided for the teams from each participating school to attend a variety of events over the three years of the grant. These include summer training workshops to help students and teachers refine their newly acquired skills and build leadership experience, career fairs to increase students’ awareness of technology-related career opportunities, and visits to college campuses, where participating students will have the opportunity to be mentored by college students. CREST participants are encouraged to become leaders in their schools, bringing the benefits of the program to more than 2,000 other students and teachers during the course of the three-year CREST project.
Participating schools were selected based on their history of integrating innovative projects into the classroom. “The deciding factor at each school was the willingness and excitement of the teachers, community, and school administration to incorporate community-based technology into the existing curriculum,” said Ruth Kermish-Allen, Education Outreach Officer at the Island Institute. “The CREST project will bring additional resources to these schools to continue to build on the existing strong curriculum in Maine’s small rural schools.
