Explore Our 2021 Trip Destinations
We were all over the map in 2021! We invite you to explore this fun, interactive google map to learn more about the many places we hiked, snowshoed, paddled, swam, and studied last year.
Meet a Mentor: Jhovaé Irving
Jhovaé Irving is an alumna of Maine Coast Semester 48 and one of our BIPOC Mentorship program volunteers. We created the mentorship program in 2020 to provide additional support for semester students who identify as members of minoritized racial groups by pairing them with neer-peer mentors. Irving says volunteering has been a learning experience for her as well, “I’m in awe of how differently [my mentees] have approached uncomfortable topics. They’ve shown me how to be braver and speak up a little more, even if it’s on a thorny subject.”
Watch: BIPOC Mentorship Program Panel Discussion
Watch the recording of Program Spotlight: Connecting Students and Alumni Through Our BIPOC Mentorship Program. We created this program in 2020 to provide additional support for Maine Coast Semester students who identify as members of underrepresented communities by pairing them with near-peer mentors.
Read “A Woodchuck’s Dream” From 1928
Read the delightful story, “A Woodchuck’s Dream,” an unattributed short story published in one of the earliest Chewonki Chronicles, circa 1928. In the story, a Woodchuck group (the moniker for our youngest campers at the time) is enchanted away from their cabin in the middle of the night by a stupendous discovery. But, their wonder quickly turns to terror as they confront a monstrous foe in the woods.
Owl In a Day’s Work
“Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, who grew up on a farm,” says Wright. “One day when I was about ten years old, I asked her if she’d ever wanted a different career, and she said she had wanted to be a veterinarian.” Life got in the way, though, and Wright’s grandmother never got to pursue animal care professionally. The story moved Wright. “I’ve always felt connected to my grandmother; we share a deep love for animals. From that day on, I’ve always wanted to be a vet –to fulfill both of our dreams.”
Chewonki ABCs from 1934
In our early days, Chewonki campers could earn writing “credits” by submitting content to founder Clarence Allen’s monthly family bulletin, called the Chronicle. Campers reported on camp adventures and wrote jokes, poems, and short pieces of fiction (most of which borrowed plot elements from the era’s action/adventure films).
Allen included Chewonki ABCs in the August 19, 1934, Chronicle edition. It is unattributed, and likely written by a camper.
Adorable Baby Animal Alert
It’s lambing and calving season at Chewonki Salt Marsh Farm and we’d love to introduce you to our farm residents. Plus, aren’t you curious to hear a sweet lambing season highlight from Megan Phillips, our Farm and Woodlot Manager?
Reunited and It Feels So Good
Last Wednesday, Chewonki Alumni & Friends gathered at Lamplighter Brewing’s newest taproom to happily celebrate spring’s return, rekindle relationships, and sample Lamplighter’s yummy beers and charcuterie boards. The festive occasion – our first since the onset of Covid – was attended by over 40 alumni and former staff members.
Alumna BLOOMs with Bigelow Labs
Congratulations to Maine Coast Semester 67 Alumna, Sophia Kovacs (Morse High School, Bath, ME), who recently completed Bigelow Laboratory’s Keller BLOOM Program. BLOOM (Bigelow Laboratory Orders of Magnitude) is a week-long ocean science-intensive that invites high school juniors to work side-by-side with Bigelow’s marine biologists.
