Katie Spiridakis, Maine Maritime Museum Wed, 04/28/2021 - 2:45pm
Students work in the blacksmith shop at Maine Maritime Museum last fall. Crosscurrents, a new summer program, will give kids the opportunity to try traditional skills. Courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum.
This summer Maine Maritime Museum will launch a three-week enrichment program for middle-schools students. Crosscurrents: Youth Learning & Leadership Program – open to rising seventh and eighth-graders – will run July 12-30.
Utilizing the museum’s unique resources, students will explore the cultural and environmental history of the Kennebec River. The interdisciplinary program will include unique hands-on experiences like blacksmithing, boatbuilding, sailing aboard the 1906 schooner Mary E, testing water quality in Merrymeeting Bay, and examining museum artifacts up close. Limited to just 15 participants, this immersive program is perfect for kids seeking a summer experience that is both academic and
Students complete alternative semester at Maine Maritime Museum
The Times Record
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Maine Maritime Museum Alternative Expeditionary Learning Semester Students and instructors pose for a class pic on the banks of the Kennebec River.
Photo courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum.
Fifteen middle-school students became the first class to complete Maine Maritime Museum’s Alternative Expeditionary Learning Semester on Dec. 15.
The program, which launched in September, was created to provide a full-time, in-person school option for families in the community. In accordance with the state’s guidelines for physical distancing, enrollment was limited to 15 sixth and seventh-grade students.
Classes, held outside in the museum’s shipyard through November, included projects specific to the local environment and maritime culture. Students tested and tracked the water quality in neighboring Merrymeeting Bay via boat; researched, wrote and presented a proposal to the city council to brin