Articles
As Island Schools Shrink, Don’t Panic!
Back in September of 2011, as the school year swung into “full speed” and the annual Inter-Island Event was bringing students from one-room schools all over the coast of Maine together, the students at Matinicus Elementary numbered 10. Three full-time island families, each family including a lobsterman, made up the core group. These children had
Islanders Honored for Response to July Emergency
On November 9, Sebastian Arnsdorf, the Commanding Officer of United States Coast Guard Station Rockland, along with Executive Petty Officer Martin and several other members of the Coast Guard arrived on Matinicus Island to offer formal recognition from Coast Guard Sector Northern New England to two Matinicus fishermen. Enjoying the unusually calm seas and pleasant
Outer-Island Schools Launch Inter-Island Student Council
Elementary students from remote island schools up and down the coast are voting this month for a slate of officers for their first inter-island student council. In the words of Monhegan eighth grader Dalton, “This is the first time we have ever done something like this between the islands. This is truly a historic moment
Chebeague Island offers good home cooking – at school!
On Chebeague Island in Casco Bay, the 22 children from pre-kindergarten through 5th grade could smell the homemade cookies baking down the hall as they took their vocabulary quizzes, prepared to read their writing aloud, and returned from the library. They may not realize how lucky they are, but their teachers do. Food services director
The Outer Islands Teaching and Learning Collaborative
Island Institute Fellow Anne Bardaglio looks over a pile of information about Old Fort Western, the Maine State Museum, and Penobscot Chief Barry Dana’s farm. She is putting together a trip for the students from Maine’s thoroughly modern one-room schools. This May, students who, until recently, would have had a hard time getting to know
Penobscot Island Air expands service
Penobscot Island Air has provided passenger service, mail, UPS and Fedex, grocery and freight delivery, sightseeing and emergency trips for island communities since it took over the duty from the previous air service in 2004. Now, the flying service is expanding its offerings with the addition of an amphibious float plane to its little fleet.
Squid Day
When new Matinicus Island Elementary teacher Dave Duncan first considered a saltwater aquarium for his classroom, he was initially looking for suggestions and perhaps donations of old fish-tank equipment. Duncan contacted the Maine State Aquarium, a branch of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), to discuss the necessary permit required to possess an undersized lobster.
An Uncommon Kinship*
2010 marked the third-annual Sustainable Island Living (SIL) conference hosted by the Island Institute. This year’s theme, “Island to Island,” focused on bringing active members of island communities from other parts of North America to the Maine coast. Keynote speaker Woody Tasch, founder of Slow Money, offered the suggestion that islands can set examples worthy
Don’t leave town
Here’s what it sounds like: “What? Are you going off again?“ Some, of good heart and shamelessly positive attitude, will explain that such an observant custom arises from an islander’s historic and legitimate need to know who is available in case of fire. With none but ourselves to hope for as first responders, island inhabitants
The sublime and the ridiculous
Indeed. As I write, it is mid-September, that most glorious time of year in New England. The sky is blue, the apples are red, and the school kids wear new shoes. We have had the most delightful summer in anybody’s memory. The airplane flew nearly every day, the EMTs mostly got to stay home and