Welcome to Cobscook Currents for fall 2019. Summer is giving way to autumn here in Trescott as we finish up work on this edition—my first as Executive Director. It is a time of transition for the seasons, for me, and for CCLC.

Transition offers opportunities to look back in order to inform the future, so this edition of Cobscook Currents examines some of the most important influences on CCLC’s formation. CCLC was the product of a community process that involved researching education models from around the world and examining stories of transformative education that have led to sustained social change. Parents, grandparents, and youth, Passamaquoddy, European-American and Canadian, came together to address challenges and build upon the strengths of their community to establish CCLC, based upon principles and practices derived from social ecology, and Indigenous, popular, folk, and experiential education.

In this issue, we explore the influence of the folk school movement on CCLC’s roots and growth. You’ll discover the history of the movement, learn about folk schools across the United States, and hear about the ways that CCLC’s divisions—TREE, Cobscook Experiential Programs, and Community Programs—all embody the core values of folk schools to this day.

Looking forward, I enthusiastically embrace this heritage while enhancing CCLC’s capacity as a center for innovation in education. We reach a diversity of populations, from Pre-K students through high schoolers and lifelong learners in the Cobscook region among the three nations of which we are a part: Passamaquoddy, Canada, and the United States. Our programs stretch from eastern Maine to California. Education is the foundation of healthy communities and we plan to build upon our success as a center for education to continue supporting healthy communities locally, regionally, and beyond.

I believe that the mission of CCLC is a vital and noble one and I’m honored to be a part of this organization. I look forward to meeting, learning from, and working with, all of you who have supported CCLC during our first 20 years.

Thanks for your support and enthusiasm as we embark on our next 20 years. May the shorter daylight hours and changing colors of the season offer inspiration, time for reflection, and reinvigoration for all of us.

With gratitude,