Island Schools Project
The Island Schools Project was established in 2008 as a service-learning component of the education department’s advanced seminars, Teaching and Learning and Curriculum Development. As part of these courses, students explore the opportunities and challenges of teaching in unique communities.
Lily Sage ’22, a 2022 Snow Family Fellow, helped teach the unit on island schools as part of her fellowship. "Students start by learning about rural schools, which can have very different learning environments than city schools. Islands are a niche of rural schools. The specific question asked is how does the school's community context impact learning and how does that play out in an island?"
In search of answers, Bowdoin students visit one of Maine's iconic islands—Islesboro, Vinalhaven, North Haven, or Deer Isle/Stonington. On an overnight trip, they meet with school faculty and administrators, observe classes, and learn firsthand about the communities’ educational resources, economic challenges, and cultures.
Following this visit, high school students from the island come to Bowdoin, where they are hosted by Bowdoin students for an overnight visit consisting of structured exposure to college life. High school students participate in a class, tour campus, stay in a dorm, eat in the dining hall, and get a better sense of life on a college campus.
The Island Schools Project is generously supported by the Curtin-Nowers Family Endowment for Island Schools, the McKeen Center for the Common Good, and contributions of time and resources by multiple campus departments.
“Going into any community as an outsider, you are there to learn from the community. To integrate yourself into a community—whether that is on an island or in a city block—is a crucial part of being a teacher. ”
—Lily Sage ’22, 2022 Snow Family Teaching Fellow
