“Put away that umbrella,” chides Kary. “We don’t need umbrellas here!” The students laugh. “It was hard in the beginning,” one admits, “but now we’re used to it. We love it.” On this afternoon they are learning about succession, how lichen on granite can give way to moss, then leafy plants, then grasses, then …
Globicephala Algebra -or- Precalculus Is A Whale of a Good Time! -or- Cetacean Creation Yields Curve Verve Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki students recently noticed Science Fellow Kyle Wonser helping some visiting Outdoor Classroom students assemble a pilot whale skeleton. “Why can’t we do that?” they asked. Math teacher Katie Curtis heard them. “I thought …
Each semester, there are typically a small handful of Latin students at Maine Coast Semester. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in die-hard fanaticism. This week, Latin teacher Steven Farrand’s Semester 61 students decided to concoct a Roman feast for the semester community, and their enthusiasm was palpable in the kitchen as …
“Are you checking my math?” asks Maine Coast Semester teacher Liz Burroughs, turning from a whiteboard, where she’s solving a calculus problem, to face her students. Yes, they say, they are. Sun is pouring through the Ellis Room windows, creating a halo around the students in the back row. Satisfied, the soft-spoken, strong-minded Burroughs turns …
The snow-dusted forests of Chewonki Neck are especially quiet this week, but the classrooms of the Elementary School at Chewonki are bright and busy, like an elven workshop, with students crafting beautiful items to present at the Holiday Craft Fair and online auction on December 11. “If you hear about children making crafts, you might …
We hope you have a wonderful holiday. This week, some Chewonki folk shared their thoughts about what they are thankful for:
As the days grow short and the cold settles in, the witch hazel tree presents sprays of pale gold blossoms to brighten the path outside the Center for Environmental Education. Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a Maine native. Ruffed grouse enjoy its seeds and deer nibble its twigs and leaves. Witch hazel bark, leaves, and …
C’est élégant. C’est élastique. C’est fantastique. C’est la langue française! And it pours from Esther Kary, Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki teacher of French. Standing before the class, her hands are in motion; her eyebrows arch over flashing dark eyes; she shrugs, coaxes, purses her lips; her voice rises and falls. In every way she …
C’est élégant. C’est élastique. C’est fantastique. Read More »
In the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Biodiversity, there is a sign bearing the words of biologist Paul Ehrlich: “IN PUSHING OTHER SPECIES TO EXTINCTION, HUMANITY IS BUSY SAWING OFF THE LIMB ON WHICH IT PERCHES.” Writer Elizabeth Kolbert references this sign in her book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Copies of …
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