Incoming first-year students at Orono High School are embarking on a journey that will deepen their connections to the world around them. These students won’t be traveling to far off exotic locales, but instead will be connecting with their local watershed through an interdisciplinary, place-based education program called Watershed Academy.
Initiated by Orono High School science teacher Jeff Owen and Penobscot Nation Water Resource Planner, Angie Reed, the program integrates science, social studies, and language arts through outdoor and culturally-informed experiences. The eighty students will be working with a variety of community partners including Penobscot Nation’s Department of Natural Resources, Lee Francis, of Penawapskew Rising, Orono Land Trust, Penobscot Riverkeepers, UMaine Climate Change Institute, and Maine Audubon.
Maine Audubon’s Northern Programs Team will be providing seasonally based environmental education experiences for the Orono High School Watershed Academy students. This fall we will focus on forest ecology and the connections between human activities and ecological systems. Maine wildlife and the unique physiology in many species will lead our explorations for this winter. For spring, we’ll be leading wetland investigations, looking at the connections between bird migration and habitat in the Penobscot River Watershed. We’re very excited to be part of these students’ journey!
