Kelp Collaboration Brings School and Community Together

During the 2017-18 school year the elementary, middle and high school students on Vinalhaven studied kelp, both in their science classes and an after school K-5 program. In addition to classroom based-lessons, students spent time at and on the water – collecting seaweed at low tide, growing and harvesting kelp, and learning all aspects of kelp aquaculture and related topics on Hurricane Island. Some students even got the unique opportunity to process Vinalhaven-grown kelp.

Island Institute awards more than $50,000 in scholarships to island students

The Island Institute has awarded scholarships to 58 island students pursuing post-secondary education at colleges, universities, and technical schools across the United States and Canada. The scholarships, made possible by the Island Education Fund, totaled $50,900. Students from 10 of the 15 year-round, unbridged islands received awards, which are renewable for up to four years of post-secondary education.

Island students receive over $50,000 in Island Institute scholarships

ROCKLAND, ME – The Island Institute recently awarded scholarships to 58 island students pursuing post-secondary education at colleges, universities, and technical schools across the United States and Canada. The scholarships, made possible by the Island Education Fund, totaled $50,900. Students from 10 of the 15 year-round, unbridged islands received awards, which are renewable for up to four years of post-secondary education.

Island Families Gather to Celebrate the MAP to College

Island students and their families recently spent a Saturday together as part of the annual Induction and Send-off for our Mentoring, Access and Persistence program (MAP) participants. MAP is a college scholarship program for island students that emphasizes personalized wraparound services for both the student and their family, beginning at the end of a student’s junior year of high school.

Island Institute hosts evening discussion with internationally recognized psychologist and author Dr. Ross Greene

PORTLAND, ME – Rockland-based Island Institute will join Lives in the Balance for “What Kids Need Now,” a free evening conversation with internationally recognized child psychologist Dr. Ross Greene, Ph.D. Greene is the New York Times bestselling author of the influential books “Raising Human Beings,” “The Explosive Child,” “Lost & Found,” and “Lost at School.”

Life on an Island: Silence, Beauty and a Long Wait for the Ferry

On remote islands off the coast of Maine, small bands of residents stay through the long winter. They embrace the emptiness and a frontier sensibility.
The snow had begun falling overnight, and fell throughout the day, draping the towering pines and the lobster traps, stacked up on land for the winter, in blankets of white.

Middle Schoolers Come Together to Prepare for High School Off-Island

Transitioning into the first year of high school can be intimidating and stressful. At the annual Middle School Retreat, hosted by the Maine Seacoast Mission’s Island Outreach program with support from the Island Institute, the goal of the event is to prepare outer island middle schoolers for the transition to mainland high schools and create an open, safe place to discuss and ask questions.

Island and coastal students are curious about kelp

It’s been a very busy fall for kelp growing schools along the Maine Coast. From Downeast to Casco Bay, an increasing number of students and teachers are studying seaweed and deploying kelp lines – in coves, salt-water ponds, old lobster pounds and under piers. By working with local environmental education organizations and industry partners, these school-based waterfront innovators are giving us a glimpse of how kelp aquaculture will help diversify Maine’s fisheries in the future. 

The TLC’s Golden Circle

Before the start of the new school year, the teachers from the Outer Islands Teaching & Learning Collaborative (TLC) gathered in Rockland for their (now) annual Teacher Retreat. The focus of the retreat is to allow work time and planning for the year ahead, but what became the driving focus for the day, though, was not the “what” or “how” of our work, but the “why.” By taking time to clarify and (re-)define the “why,” the purpose for our work this year, all the other components more or less fell into place.

Peaks Island students are ‘kelping’ the environment

Contemplating a future as a marine scientist working in the Gulf of Maine, Emma Christman is spending her senior year of high school helping kids at Peaks Island Elementary School grow kelp.
Christman is a student at Baxter Academy for Technology and Science in downtown Portland, and is teaching the younger students about aquaculture, marine science, water quality, climate change and more through a special program offered in conjunction with the Island Institute.