News

A lifeline for island communities

10/25/2021 - Whether you live on an island in one of the Great Lakes or off of the coast of Maine, the commute to and from your community is over water. However, ferry, water taxi, and air services provide more than just transportation to and from island communities. They act as emergency medical transportation, provide school and extracurricular transportation, and deliver mail and other essential freight such as groceries and prescriptions. SEE MORE

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News

More people have moved to Maine’s remote islands in the last decade

8/20/2021 - The population of Maine’s offshore islands, which incurred steady declines in the decades after World War II and still face myriad challenges in sustaining their year-round communities, jumped by nearly 8 percent between 2010 and 2020. There are roughly a dozen offshore islands in Maine, reachable only by plane or boat, that have towns with… Read more » SEE MORE

In the news

Working Waterfront

Let’s talk about ‘fresh’

For millennia, humankind dwelling in the parts of the globe with four distinct seasons—during which at least one of them nothing grows—never hankered for salad in February, or asparagus in January. Or strawberries, or broccoli, except in season. They actually enjoyed good health, except when struck with contagious disease, like the pandemic we are enduring… Read more » SEE MORE

News

Building a lifelong connection to service and Maine

4/16/2021 - At the Island Institute, we have seen firsthand the tremendous impact Island Fellows have when partnered with an island or coastal community. The Maine Fellows Service is an exciting opportunity to connect the next generation of Mainers who are eager to serve to the places they’re needed most. SEE MORE

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Solution Example

Work with an incumbent provider

Rural communities in Maine often have very small populations and sometimes have a hard time getting attention from incumbent service providers. The communities of Frenchboro, Matinicus, Isle Au Haut, and Swan’s Island came together as a group with the Island Institute to coordinate shared goals and meet with their incumbent service provider, TDS Telecom. With… Read more » SEE MORE

Community Infrastructure

Solution Example

Outer Islands Teaching & Learning Collaborative

Isolated schools are vital, innovative, collaborative centers of teaching and learning that prepare students to thrive in the 21st century. The Outer Islands Teaching & Learning Collaborative, or TLC, is a 12-year-old, teacher-created and teacher-led group that provides a virtual community for the smallest island schools where students and teachers can access a rich and… Read more » SEE MORE

Local Capacity & Leadership

Working Waterfront

Strained relations with the ferry service

On a late spring morning in 1920, the steamboat Governor Bodwell was docked at Tillson’s Wharf in Rockland and preparing to depart for Vinalhaven. Shoveling coal below decks was my grandfather, Edwin Maddox. His eleventh great grandparents, William and Mary Brewster, had arrived on the Mayflower 300 years earlier. Unbeknownst to him, he was close to meeting the… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kevin Waters, beloved pilot, dies suddenly

When ferries and private boats fail to deliver, islanders turned to Kevin Waters and his company Penobscot Island Air to get to the mainland or back home. And after Waters’ untimely death of a heart attack at age 62 on July 5, islanders turned to each other to share their grief. Because Waters was much… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Outer island schools celebrate decade of connection

What do a two-day old baby boy in Hope, a family in the Bahamas, an Island Fellow on Frenchboro, and a Maine Islands Coalition representative on Cliff Island have in common? They were all among the 50-plus people who attended a virtual party in May to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the TLC (the full… Read more » SEE MORE

Senator Angus King congratulates the Outer Islands Teaching & Learning Collaborative on its 10th anniversary in a special video message shown during a virtual celebration held May 21

News

Outer island schools celebrate 10 years in virtual birthday bash

6/29/2020 - The trajectory for this school year has been so unexpected, and in many ways so hard, which makes long-standing, successful collaborations even more valuable. On May 21, 2020, students, alumni, teachers, and families gathered together for a virtual celebration marking the 10-year anniversary of the Outer Islands Teaching and Learning Collaborative, or TLC. Even though the pre-planned party couldn't take place in person, the TLC is very good at making virtual celebrations fun and funny, and this one was no exception. SEE MORE

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