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 river and one on an island.
Districtwide fieldwork is a beautiful example of equity, diversity, and inclusion at work. Every student in the district has equal access to an experience that supports their collective learning. It’s also an incredible illustration of collaboration between PPS, community partners like Maine Audubon, and members of tribal nations here in Maine.
In September, for the third year in a row, every third grader in the district visited Gambo Dam in Windham as the start of their unit on Presumpscot River. This unit investigates the river’s environmental and cultural significance, flora and fauna, and colonization and creation of dams. As students embark on the unit, their field trip serves as a collective opportunity to visit the Presumpscot River and observe how dams impact the movement of water (still, cascading, and flowing). Students also got to meet with members of Wabanaki tribes who shared about the importance of the river for fish as a resource and as part of an ecosystem.
Staff members from Maine Audubon taught students about the animal friends of the Presumpscot River, including the beaver, the only other animal with the ability to significantly alter its landscape.
In October, we consulted on the design and helped launch the inaugural fourth-grade fieldwork experience that consisted of a visit to Mackworth Island State Park, a 100-acre island in Casco Bay, linked by a causeway to Falmouth. This fieldwork experience is embedded in PPS’s unit on the history of the Dawnland People, geology, earth’s formations, and our landscape’s relationship with time.
Over the course of four days, more than 500 students came to Mackworth Island, where they took a 10-minute walk along the coastline and then rotated through a series of stations. In addition to nature drawing with Maine Audubon, students met with indigenous community members, who offered depth to their studies and reminded students that Wabanaki people are still here, and not just part of history.
Students sat amidst trees and heard from Chris Sockalexis, an archaeologist and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at Penobscot Nation. They also followed Sandra Bassett, a Passmaquoddy citizen, to one of the beaches on Mackworth, where they learned about birch bark canoes and tossed loose tobacco into Casco Bay as a gesture of thanks.
(More about the importance of Wabanaki Studies in schools can be read in this article from the Portland Press Herald.)
We look forward to more collaboration and partnership with PPS on districtwide fieldwork. Together, we can foster environmental literacy, build understanding of Wabanaki culture and history, and deliver an educational experience that infuses the senses.
