“Students are teachers and teachers are students” is a phrase heard regularly in the Cobscook Experiential Program. Teachers Michael Giudilli and Kara McCrimmon are not “the sole arbiters of knowledge,” they tell the high school program’s students; rather, the best thing they can bring to the learning community is modeling how to learn. Cobscook is designed as an intentional learning community, where that word “community” is key. They emphasize the fact that they are all—students and teachers alike—learning together. One of the reasons Cobscook is designed that way is to give students voice and ownership in the learning experience to support one another in building skills as lifelong learners.

Beyond the academic skills and knowledge that students gain through the high school program, what is especially unique is that students become engaged in reflection on their learning. They meet one on one with their teachers to reflect on what each learning experience means to them and how they have personally grown through a given learning experience.  As one tenth grader said at the end of the 2018-19 school year, “This year I think I grew as a leader. I had better anticipation around what I need at different times and knowing what to do in different situations.” A different student put it this way, “This year I feel I developed more patience. I’m better able to acknowledge the group and see what other people bring to it.” The connection between the folk school values of cooperative learning environments and personal development is palpable in Cobscook Experiential Programs.

Another prime example of this folk school values alignment is in the roots of the high school program. Cobscook developed as a grassroots response to community needs when community members said they wanted another school option for teenagers in the area. We responded to that request in collaboration with Calais School District and many others to create the high school program, first as a one year option, then later as the four year option we offer today. And not only is the program a response to community request, it is a daily response to student interests and passions. Every year of the program looks a little different depending on who is in the program. Teachers Kara and Michael work to build learning experiences aligned with student interests or create space for the students to create learning experiences aligned with their interests.

Folk schools have always emphasized the importance of valuing a connection with the community and Cobscook’s experiential approach to learning highlights that connection well. Students regularly interface with area scientists, artists, conservation professionals, and other community organizations as resource people in their learning. This strategy offers the added benefit of helping students develop a network of caring adults beyond the two teachers they work with daily in school. Recently, students have been working with archaeologists to become the first high school group to be trained to monitor middens (see umaine.edu/middenminders), which are at risk due to sea level rise and climate instability. This project ties not only into climate science content, but also Wabanaki history in the area.

At the beginning of each school year, students develop their own group mission and vision statements for the year. This year, they have developed a draft and assigned a smaller committee to create the final version. Here is what they have agreed on so far as their 2019 Class Mission: “Our mission at CCLC is to create a positive, supportive, respectful, and interactive learning environment where people can build up themselves and their community. We wish to provide the best learning experience, recognizing cultural differences, and working with people’s creativity, drive, and passions.”

As one student said at the beginning of this school year, “I choose to be at CCLC because it is a place where I can learn and prepare for adulthood and be myself. There are many great opportunities that I have here that many do not.”

Folk School Profile: Circle Pines Center, Michigan

Founding Year: 1882

Mission: To promote peace, social justice, environmental stewardship and cooperation. The center aims to demonstrate cooperative alternatives for economic and social issues and to teach cooperation as a way of life.

What they do today: They offer summer camps for children, a mushroom camp, apple cider weekend, Spanish language and culture camp, a big music festival, and retreat spaces.