It’s been an exciting fall with Portland Public Schools (PPS). As PPS continues to grow its outdoor learning opportunities for its students as part of the integrated Wabanaki Studies & Life Science units, Maine Audubon continues to offer its support during districtwide fieldwork. This fall, that took the form of two projects, one at a […]
Environmental Education
Putting Gilsland Farm to Work in the Effort to Preserve Maine Ash Trees
Maine is the most forested state in the nation (with almost 90 percent of forest land) so we might be forgiven for taking trees for granted. But many of the tree species in Maine are or have been under threat. Fungal diseases have attacked chestnut and elm trees and invasive insects are threatening hemlocks, oaks, […]
Restoring Ecological & Multicultural Connections in Portland Schoolyards
Over the summer, our partners at Maine Association for New Americans (MANA) helped us recruit 12 teens to help us learn about and plant species from the K-5 Wabanaki Studies curriculum at Portland elementary schools. These new plantings will enable teachers and students to visit these plants as they grow and bloom during the school […]
Sprout Lewiston: Ending on a High
A special trip to Acadia National Park marked the culmination of this summer’s Sprout Lewiston, a four-week program for teen girls, run in partnership with Maine Community Integration in Lewiston. MCI “educates and empowers New Mainer girls and women to be confident in themselves, work together, and make positive changes in their communities.” To be […]
Summer camp: halfway point highlights!
This summer, our seasonal camp staff and high school Environmental Education Assistants donned their signature Maine Audubon Summer Camp T-shirts and got to work planning and creating a summer of joy and learning centered around Maine wildlife. It’s hard to believe but we’re already halfway through summer! At the Gilsland Farm camp in Falmouth, we’re […]
A year of after-school programs brings wonder
In May, we finished up our school year with LearningWorks. The goal of LearningWorks AfterSchool (LWAS) is to provide free, high-quality after-school and summer programs for students in grades Pre-K-5 who are academically performing below or partially below grade level and may not have the resources to access a paid after-school enrichment or tutoring program.” […]
Meet our newest Family Fun graduate!
Four-year-old Maddy has been attending Family Fun at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center (Falmouth) for the last two years. Next week will be her last session with us before attending school five days a week in the fall. As one of our most loyal Family Fun attendees and soon to be a “graduate” of the program, […]
Portland Public School Partnership Means Fieldwork for Everyone
May is an especially beautiful and bustling time at Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth. Migratory birds are returning and nesting, plants are bursting, and the forest and pond are active with critters after a long and quiet winter. It’s also a time when we welcome many school groups to come and explore […]
May Notes & News from the North
May was a busy month at Fields Pond and points north, as we delivered programs both at the Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden and out in the communities around us. In terms of phenology, May is all about migration, both in the skies and in the waters, so we spent time showing students about […]