me arts ed

Cony musicians excel in Florida by Keith Edwards, Kennebec Journal

To read about Cony High School musicians and their travels to the national music festival in Walt Disney World in Florida please click here.

My older son is heading west

During the last week and a half we have been closely following the trip of my older son, Noah. He is traveling about 6,000 miles to take a look at part of the country through his eyes as a student, photographer, skier, and explorer. His studies are part of his senior project at College of the Atlantic (COA). Graduation takes place at COA on June 5th and we are looking forward to that day!

Not many of us have or take this type of opportunity to learn. Noah learns well through hands-on experiences. All students receive a degree in Human Ecology at COA. Many people ask what the heck is that? Basically, it is how humans interact with the world around them. I think if more people looked closely at that we’d be in a much better place. His experience this trimester is taking him to places to examine his relationships through different environments than we find in Maine.

During the first part he traveled with a small group of friends to the Gaspe Peninsula for a few days of back country skiing. They put “skins” (a thin layer of fabric) on their (wider than regular) skis. He hiked or climbed up the mountain, no chairlifts in the Gaspe Park, de-skinned and skied down. Often they ski where no one else has so the sensation is a bit different than skiing at a resort.

The next part of his adventure took him to Tuckerman’s Ravine in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. This was his first back country adventure alone. You can imagine this can be dangerous with the possibility of snow storms, avalanches and of course losing your way. The slope is 55 degrees so the ski down is steep and fast. He met some guys who make an annual trek to ski at Tuckerman’s and ended up skiing with them and learned a lot.

Nicholas and Noah skyping with us (we're in the bottom left)

Now he is off on the last part of his studies, a month on the road. He left a little over a week ago stopping first to visit his brother at University of Rhode Island (URI). He headed west in his Subaru wagon with his camping gear, food, camera equipment, skis, bike and various other items he thought might come in handy. Presently he is in the Tetons in Jackson, Wyoming. He is finding and learning so much, meeting interesting people and seeing beautiful places. You can read about his travels through his eyes and see some of his photographs at his wordpress blog called Noah Kleiner’s adventures. His next major stop is Olympic National Park in Washington.

His brother finishes his semester at URI tomorrow and in another 10 days will fly out to meet Noah in Seattle. They dipped their feet in the Atlantic Ocean a little over a week ago and plan to take a dip in the Pacific Ocean.

It has been fun Skyping with Noah during the last couple of days. To hear about his findings first hand has brought us closer to the learning that is taking place. My husband and I are proud of Noah for striking out on this adventure… often learning takes place in classrooms with groups of students, sometimes other types of learning happens. With the use of technology Noah’s learning is taking place “in the field” somewhat “in the moment”. It is being shared by documenting as he goes, not just in a follow up article or paper. Here is a segment of his writing to give an example of what I mean:

“I stopped at the historic Snake River where one of my favorite images of all time was taken by Ansel Adams. Imagining myself in this place when he took that historic image brought tears to my eyes. Bringing my camera along to capture the view in my own scene of the world by standing on the roof of my car. It seemed only right considering that Ansel did the same thing for years.”

Several years ago Noah’s great grandparents took a trip across the country, his grandparents did the same probably 15 years after that and in 1998 my husband and I went with the boys for three months. All of us documented our trips by keeping journals and taking pictures that are stashed away in our homes. Many people visit Noah’s blog daily to learn about his whereabouts, read his stories and see his photos. Consider how you might use a blog in your teaching and learning environment to enhance the educational experience.

Visiting team members trained

David Greenham, Theater at Monmouth, David Patterson, Depart of Ed review materials

Over the next four weeks six identified Imagination Intensive Communities will participate in a day long visit. The communities are York, Arundel, Deer Isle/Stonington, Camden-Rockport, Blue Hill, and North Haven. Last week about 15 people attended a training session so they can be better informed about the communities they will be visiting. They had a chance to view the application materials from the communities. Participants were trained by lead consultant Dennie Wolf and planning committee members Gail Scott, Carol Trimble and myself.

The search for these communities grew out of a statewide census of arts learning documenting that children’s access to education in music, visual art, dance and theater is not equal throughout the state. The census raised the question, “Where are the communities that even in hard times use their available resources to support the development of young people’s creativity and innovation?”

Through an open application and juried selection process, nine communities that vary in size, location, and resources were selected to be honored and to be visited and studied by teams of Maine citizens from all walks of creative work. The purpose of these visits is to:
•    Acknowledge a set of Maine communities that value and invest in the creative interests of young people
•    Learn about the creative opportunities they offer children and youth
•    Find out how these communities sustain and grow these opportunities
•    Figure out how more Maine communities could do the same.

The volunteer visiting team members have a variety of backgrounds with some coming from the communities who have been identified. This work is being supported by the the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Alliance for Arts, the Kennedy Center, the Betterment Fund, and the Maine Arts Commission.