Island Fellow Busy with School, Community Projects

Andy Whitaker spent his first fall and winter on Monhegan teaching science at the Monhegan Island School, and helping teachers and students feel comfortable using technology in the classroom. He also worked on a grant proposal that would provide videoconferencing unit for the school, taught music every week, and started an after-school program on Mondays.

Andy also helped form a committee to work on the island cemetery in a project to update records, document the cemetery's current condition and provide information to the town on current cemetery regulations and protocol. "One of the major successes... was the Science and Technology Night in school. We had a turnout of over twenty people which is a lot more than I expected (especially since there are only about forty people on the island) and they were all very impressed with what the kids have been learning in science and how much they have done with technology."

"I think one highlight of my work in the school during the first quarter was the annual Christmas Play. The play was a huge success, playing to a capacity crowd in the one room schoolhouse. A great deal of the music was created by the kids themselves using software on their laptops we had been using in music class. The play also featured a performance with all of the kids playing 'Smoke on the Water' which we had been learning on the guitar. It was very rewarding to see the kids showing their parents and the community what they have been learning in music class."