Aroostook schools are taking students outside to counter post-COVID struggles
by Melissa Lizotte | Bangor Daily News — Click here to read the full article.
LIMESTONE, Maine — In just two years, middle school students at Limestone Community School have gone ice fishing, downhill skiing, camping, canoeing, hiking, horseback riding and snowshoeing, grown vegetables and made their own maple syrup.
By the end of this school year, they want to start a school garden and farmstand and learn how to cross country ski on local trails. It’s all thanks to a post-COVID movement that’s driving schools to keep children more engaged and less hooked to screens.
As social distancing and online learning increased during the pandemic, so did mental health struggles among Maine students. Teachers saw more signs of anxiety, sadness, boredom and disengagement, which coincided with troubling statewide data that backed their concern. While combating these issues, teachers have found that being outdoors makes students less stressed and more willing to stay in school.
Outdoor learning is not entirely new to rural Maine counties, known for their undisturbed nature trails, waterways and snowmobile and ATV cultures. In Washington County, East Grand teachers launched an outdoor program 20 years ago, which remains popular. But social media and pandemic isolation did not exist two decades ago, and now more teachers are finding innovative ways to engage students.
Similar outdoor experiences are being offered in Caribou and Van Buren schools. Limestone teacher Caroline Reed turned her gaze outward when she saw many students struggle to learn during the COVID years.
“There was a lack of motivation. Some students weren’t completing their work and we saw more behavioral issues. They almost didn’t see the point of going to school anymore,” said Reed, who teaches seventh and eighth grade math and science. “We wanted to reignite their desire to be here.”
Along with former colleague Hogan Marquis, who taught fifth and sixth grade math and science, Reed started an annual ice fishing trip to Madawaska Lake, camping trips and spring maple syrup tapping in 2021.
One year later, Marquis and Reed launched the school’s first formal outdoor club with $250,000 from the Maine Department of Education’s Rethinking Responsive Education Ventures, which is funded through $16.9 million in federal COVID relief monies. Forty five school districts have received funding from that program since 2021.
The Maine DOE funds helped Marquis and Reed purchase a dozen canoes and fishing and camping gear. A $1,500 mini grant from the Maine Environmental Education Association allowed them to purchase bog boots and weather-proof jackets.
