Field Reports: Community Collaboration for Place-based Studies Celebrates Local Natural and Cultural History - Rural Roots, Volume 3, Number 4 (August 2002)

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Volume 3, No. 4
August 2002

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Field Reports
Community Collaboration for Place-based Studies Celebrates Local Natural and Cultural History

By June LaCombe

Editor's Note: In this article, author June LaCombe revisits a community-wide place-based education project undertaken in the rural Maine town of Pownal in 1995 to see what, if anything, remains of the exciting work done by teachers, students, and community members that year. Her findings, seven years later, show parts of the year-long project still in use in the K-8 school and other parts of the program now a permanent part of the school's budget. Most importantly, she gains a new appreciation of the importance of the students' work documenting a rural community's culture, resources, and history -- a record of a town that lives on even after the death of town elders, the crumbling of historic structures, and the other inevitable changes that come with time.

This is the story of a school-wide curriculum project in Pownal, Maine that fostered intergenerational learning, student-centered inquiry, community service, and place-based education. It was a collaborative effort by students, teachers, parents, and community members to learn about the natural and cultural history of their town. When a teacher proposed developing a community resources directory to a local school foundation, the process of developing the product became much more than anyone had anticipated and touched the lives of many in a rural community. This project may act as a model for other communities who want to venture beyond the walls of the classroom and reinforce academics with experience.

Though just inland from Freeport and 30 minutes from Portland, Maine, Pownal remains a small rural town with farms, forests and streams. It has a population of about 1,200 people and one school, grades K-8, with fewer than 160 students. A state park, wetlands and streams, abandoned feldspar quarries, historic architecture, and forests are within its borders. The rural environment has attracted naturalists, photographers, historians, poets and other valuable resource people to the community, and there is a depth of knowledge held by long-term residents and the large elderly population. Resources abound, but how do teachers access these resources and integrate them with ongoing academic studies?

A seed took hold with one teacher's request to the local Pownal School Foundation to support a community resource directory. Recognizing the difficulty of funding school programs with taxes alone, this local foundation raises money for specific programs proposed by teachers and supported by the administration and school board. The Foundation's guidelines favor innovative experiential education that impacts all grade levels, uses resources wisely, encourages student involvement, and improves community collaboration with the school. With hearty discussion all started to envision a demonstration project that would identify local resources and integrate the school and community as a learning center. Classes would venture into the community and actively study a range of local natural and cultural history topics applying academic skills and generate a directory as a result. A member of the Foundation volunteered to oversee the project, facilitate teacher workshops, and work with the school's volunteer coordinator to orchestrate details.

Multifaceted objectives emerged from workshops with teachers: Students were to help define the areas of study and pursue areas of interest through self-directed inquiry projects. Each area of study was to contribute in some way to the community either through public service or research. Teachers would act as facilitators and co-learners as they explored new areas. Students were to develop an awareness and appreciation for their own community's cultural and natural history through active hands-on field experiences. And resource people on both the state and community levels would share their knowledge and enthusiasm in their area of expertise with students.

The Maine Community Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant to the Pownal Foundation to pay stipends for guest instructors, supplementary curriculum materials, admission fees, bus drivers, substitute teachers, and other direct expenses. The teachers and students renamed the community resources project Pownal Presents! and finalized each grade's area of inquiry. All topics supplemented the ongoing units of study for each particular grade. The exciting culminating event was a school-wide open house (replacing the science fair that year) in which the students shared information and resources with the community. The all-curriculum fair, Pownal Presents! celebrated the natural and cultural history of this small rural town.

The Maine Historical Society, Maine Audubon Society, Greater Portland Landmarks, and University of Maine helped identify state-wide resource people. They helped compile field experiences, research logistics and identify leaders and volunteers. Supplementary curriculum materials were gathered for each unit. Resource directory notebooks that could be expanded and revised were compiled for each class. The project coordinator conducted workshops on working with children outdoors and inquiry-based learning. But the project's greatest strength became clear as the classes started involving local community members.

Community newspapers, school newsletters and notes to parents invited people to share resources and volunteer time to work with students. Townspeople were asked if they knew others who might be interested. As publicity continued, the list of participants grew. Wildflower enthusiasts invited children to walk through their woodlands and meadows. People who had attended Pownal's one-room schoolhouses agreed to be "interviewed" by first and second graders. Those with mineral collections offered to bring them to the school and help lead geology field trips. Post-and-beam builders volunteered to do talks in some of Pownal's barns.

For a month in the spring of 1995, the walls of the school dissolved. The following profile shows only a few examples of what each class did as a part of its unit with the help of local and statewide resource people.

Kindergarten: Wildflowers

The Kindergarten class took wildflower walks in the community with the director of the New England Wildflower Society and local naturalists.
For the open house students wore flower costumes with headdresses and each adopted wildflower names.
Community members' collections of wildflower books and prints were on display along with student drawings of wildflowers. Grades One and Two: One-Room Schools
Multi-age classes visited Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, participating in a day of farm life from the late 1800s.
Young students interviewed elders in the town about the games and lessons they remembered from Pownal's one-room schoolhouses. One student recalled proudly: "My grandmother went to school in Pownal. She rode in a sleigh to school in the winter and had to walk the rest of the time."
Parent volunteers and students reconstructed a one-room schoolhouse in the hallway of the school and conducted "lessons" during the Open House. Visitors listened to recordings of the elders who had attended Pownal's one-room schools. Recordings were later donated to the Historical Society.

Third Grade: Pownal's Bird

Mist-netting birds on the school grounds with an ornithology professor from Bowdoin College was a highlight of the third grade study.
Local naturalists led bird walks and showed slides of the region's common birds.
Students constructed birdhouses and established a bluebird trail on the school grounds. A year later a student excitedly announced: "A bluebird nested in the birdhouse we made."
Students quizzed their parents and visitors during the Open House and introduced lessons with slides and birdsong recordings. Sculpted birds hung from the ceiling and paintings of imaginary birds adorned the walls.

Fourth Grade: Wetlands

The fourth grade canoed on Pownal's Runaround Pond exploring beaver lodges and muskrat mounds.
Students did a transect study of a local bog with the director of the Chewonki Foundation. One student seemed to speak for the group when she exclaimed: "I loved going to the bog in Pownal þ I never knew there was a bog in Pownal!"
One group of students mapped the region's watershed. Others mapped the various brooks, streams, and bogs of Pownal.
Each student did a report and art project on a plant or animal from the wetlands.
For the Open House they created posters on why wetlands are important and displayed reports and artwork of wetland wildlife. Fifth Grade: Geology and Quarries
The fifth grade visited feldspar mines with community members who belong to the Maine Mineral Society.
They toured granite quarries with Frank Knight who had worked summers cutting granite while attending college 50 years before, and then visited the unique Cribstone Bridge made with Pownal's granite between Orr's and Bailey Islands. Later they recalled: "Going to that bridge was cool. They should have a sign that says that the granite was from Pownal."
Students collected photographs of buildings throughout the region made from Pownal's granite.
Students mapped the historic quarries and mines of Pownal and the maps were added to the resource files.
A grandparent gave a granite-splitting demonstration at the Open House where student and community collections of minerals were on display.

Sixth Grade: Architectural History and Barns

After an overview of the town's architectural history, the sixth grade measured and photographed some of Pownal's largest barns. These documents were then donated to the Pownal Historical Society.
Students were introduced to "seeing through the lens" by a local photographer who accompanied them to the barns. "A lot of the barns are falling down, but Pownal still has some of the biggest barns around here," one student remarked.
Different groups studied farm implements and tools.
Timber framers gave post-and-beam cutting and construction demonstrations.
The Open House featured models of barns and cupolas the students had made with the agricultural tools that were on display. Seventh Grade: Natural History Interpretation of Bradbury Mountain
The seventh graders arranged a number of tours of Bradbury Mountain State Park with local and state resource people. They focused on geology, forestry, edible wild plants, mammals, and hawk migration.
Students worked in small groups and prepared in-depth papers that they donated to the park's ranger to use in interpretive brochures.
They completed volunteer work in the park under the supervision of the director.

Eighth Grade: Trails

The director of Portland Trails introduced the eighth grade to trail design and related community development issues.
Students mapped the snowmobile, bicycle and horseback riding trails of Pownal.
Assisted by a local author, students engaged in reflective writing along trails.
The class participated in an orienteering class offered by L.L. Bean's Discovery Center.
Students designed and cut a trail from the school to the State Park, securing permission from landowners. The results would be ongoing. In the words of one student: "I like having the new trail from the school to Bradbury Mountain. We can ski on it this winter."
Students volunteered for trail maintenance in the State Park.

The final goal of Pownal Presents! continued to be the development of a community resource directory. This was accomplished with great success. But the project became so much more, and parts were incorporated into the curriculum that remain today. Some directories continue to be revised and updated by teachers and are being used to contact resource people. Teams of teachers continue to create new thematic multidisciplinary approaches to learning. Field experiences have been incorporated into yearly units. For example, all fourth graders canoe the local beaver pond as a part of a wetlands study. Land use studies have been added to the upper school curricula. Service learning is now a component of all students' education while at Pownal schools. And, this year, a now-retired teacher is involving students and community in an ambitious archeology study at Bradbury Mountain State Park.

Some community members wanted to see Pownal Presents! become an ongoing school program. Students even started to say: "Next year, maybe we could study forestry. My father knows a lot about trees and he could help us." But this project was large in scale, requiring eight months in preparation and countless hours and energy from volunteers and teachers. An ongoing program would require a paid coordinator and additional paid planning time for teachers, always difficult with a limited budget. However, in an ideal educational system, place-based education would serve as a foundation of support for an entire curriculum.

There was magic in these units of Pownal Presents! From eighth graders' cutting new trails then exploring trail metaphors in their creative writing, to first graders interviewing elders on their memories of one-room schoolhouses, this was a wonderful series of educational experiences that involved every student in the school. And there was pride in the air during the school Open House as students presented slide shows, skits, and artwork, then quizzed their parents and other members of the community on local subjects and shared their new areas of expertise with other grades. The rewards of this project were immeasurable. This was a tangible opportunity for local people to contribute insights and expertise. It engaged people that had never been involved with the school before, strengthening the relationship between the community and schools and inspiring more active participation in both. Students realized that their academic and experiential knowledge had value for the community. The recognition that one has something to contribute, at any age, reveals the best of who they are and develops the awareness that they can make a difference in the world.

June LaCombe has lived in Pownal for over twenty years, is a former school board member, and founding director and former president of The Pownal Foundation. She served as the coordinator of Pownal Presents! as a volunteer. She formerly served as director of education for The Maine Audubon Society and chaired a cultural and natural history collaborative project that developed living history programs at a salt-water farm. June is currently an environmental studies student at Antioch New England exploring sculptural arts and environmental education.