How can we use natural resources to positively impact local communities?
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MFC 4.0 - School Year 2021/2022
Students from Buckfield, Piscataquis, Schenck, Telstar, Greenville, and Forest Hills participated in our first full-year collaborative project. Despite lingering challenges with COVID-19, students and teachers persevered to tackle some difficult questions facing their rural communities. Students presented their final projects in May and received Digital Thinking micro-credentials recognizing the process each school went through to identify, define, and prototype their selected challenges.
Buckfield High School
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Students in Buckfield Jr./Sr. High School's Maine Forest Collaborative class created a video to share how the natural resources of their area connect with their community. Click the video to watch!
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Buckfield Jr./Sr. High School students identified Affordable Housing as their 2022 Maine Forest Collaborative challenge. Many students noticed a lack of available housing, for sale or rent. Students were concerned that their current community may be unaffordable for them as they transition into life after high school.
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As a part of the research for this challenge, students met with Mia Purcell, Manager of Economic Development at Community Concepts, and Brendan Schauffler, Network Facilitator at Oxford County Wellness Collaborative. The students explained their concerns surrounding housing in their area. Both Mia and Brendan shared extensive resources and information aligned with the work they are connected to in the local communities.
Through their conversation with Mia and Brendan, students also learned about KBS Builders Inc., a modular manufacturer right down the road . Mr. McNaughton set-up a facility tour so students could learn more about the building process, and their modular homes. Students set out to create an informative, usable guide for home-buyers, builders, or renters in their area.
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Students in Caleb McNaughton’s Maine Forest Collaborative class took a trip out to The Curtis Homestead on Thursday, October 7th to participate in The Sustainable Forestry Education Program organized by the Kennebec Land Trust.
The Curtis Homestead property is a 360 acre parcel of land in Leeds, Maine that was donated in 2000 to the Kennebec Land Trust by Governor Kenneth Curtis and his sister Rebecca Curtis Meredith. The Homestead is a beautiful piece of property made up of fields, forests, wetlands and portions of Bog Brook. The Maine Forest Collaborative Students from Buckfield had the opportunity to explore parts of this property and discuss it with many industry professionals. Students had the opportunity to observe a timber harvest and to see a portable sawmill demonstration. They asked questions of the district forester and KLT stewards to learn about forest management plans and practices. The students had the opportunity to learn about and explore careers related to forestry and forest products, and they were able to participate in hands-on forestry activities.
Buckfield High School Students' Final Presentation May 2022
Piscataquis Community Secondary School
Piscataquis Community Secondary School's Maine Forest Collaborative class has created a video to share how the natural resources of their area connect with their community. Click the video to watch!
Piscataquis Community Secondary School Students' Final Presentation May 2022
Greenville Consolidated School
Greenville Consolidated School's 7th and 8th grade science classes have created videos to share how the natural resources of their area connect with their community. Click the following videos to watch!
On Friday, October 1st, MFC students from Greenville had the opportunity to attend the grand opening of the trails at the Nickerson Tree Farm located at the Moosehead Region Welcome Center in Greenville. This 80 acre piece of property, which was donated to The Forest Society of Maine by Ellen Nickerson Poole in 2018, had been owned and managed by the Nickersons for over 100 years!
In 2019, Senior Forestland Steward for The Forest Society of Maine, Erica Cassidy Dubois, and Greenville Consolidated teacher, Selena Tardiff facilitated a project to be completed by her Environmental Science class. The students researched the ecology of the Nickerson Tree Farm in order to create interpretive signage for the area.
Once the signs were placed, and the trail was opened, Greenville’s current 7th and 8th grade students, again as a part of Selena Tardiff’s science class, were able to explore the area and see the wonderful work of Ms. Tardiff’s former students. The 7th and 8th graders had an engaging discussion with the representatives from The Forest Society of Maine, and participated in a scavenger hunt of information based on the signage.
This community project provided a fantastic opportunity for the students to be introduced to some aspects of their local community’s forested natural resources. Check out this article from The Piscataquis Observer to find out more about the project.
Telstar High School
Students in Telstar High School's Environmental Science class created a video to share how the natural resources of their area connect with their community. Click the video to watch!
How might we develop an experiential pathway that connects our local economy, environment, and culture to challenges of past, present, and future sustainability so that students contribute in real time as active citizens exploring place-based career paths? This question was considered by Telstar High School's Summit to the Sea classes as they designed an outdoor learning space at their school. The school was awarded a Rethinking Remote Education Ventures Grant from the Maine DOE to support them in this process. Students visited Agnes Gray Elementary School, Young's Greenhouses, Alan Day Community Garden, and Buckfield Jr/Sr High School to get ideas about what they can and should design as part of their outdoor learning space.
They learned about how to best utilize outside spaces for learning and growing small student-led gardens at Agnes Gray School. They learned about how to best prepare for using greenhouses at Young's. They discussed the importance of community and coming together while gardening and growing at Alan Day Community Garden. Finally, the students visited Buckfield Jr./Sr. High School to learn about their maple sugaring operation and their sugar shack.
Telstar High School Students' Final Presentation May 2022
Forest Hills Consolidated School
Students in Forest Hills High School's Environmental Science class have created a video to share how the natural resources of their area connect with their community. Click the video to watch!
Forest Hills High School Students' Final Presentations May 2022
Schenck High School
Students in Schenck High School's Science class have created a video to share how the natural resources of their area connect with their community. Click the video to watch!
