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PORTLAND, Maine — More than 100 teachers across Maine are running outdoor learning projects for their classes at no cost this school year.
They received grants from the Maine Environmental Education Association (MEEA) to make them possible. The nonprofit gives out mini grants of up to $1,500 each year to public school teachers.
At Baxter Academy, students in Katie Strait’s marine biology class are taking part in one of those projects. They're building a drifter, a buoy-like device that will be launched into the ocean and tracked over time.
“I think it's really important to be able to touch things and get out in the real world instead of just staring at a textbook,” senior Zili Prinz said.
In a few weeks, the class will head out on a boat to launch the drifter at least 10 miles off the shore of Casco Bay. Once released into the Gulf of Maine, students will monitor where it travels and track ocean currents.
The data they collect could help scientists better understand climate change in the region.
“I feel like in Maine we're very connected to nature, at least I am. So, it's an issue that's pretty close to my heart,” senior Margaret Horton said.
Horton said she hopes the project can make a difference.
“I just like using my skills to put some more good into the world and help us understand more about it,” she explained.
Teacher Katie Strait said hands-on projects like this are critical for student engagement and fostering a love for science.
“They're curious, they're inquisitive, they're involved,” Strait said. “It gets them hooked on seeing how important doing something like this is.”
The student drifter project is something Strait has wanted to do for years. She said her $1,500 grant from MEEA made it possible.
“That stuff adds up, and I would otherwise have to spend that money out of pocket,” Strait explained.
Over the past six years, MEEA has distributed nearly $1 million, funded by donors to teachers statewide.
“It's been really important that we're taking down the barriers,” MEEA Executive Director Olivia Griset said.
The goal is for students to grow, get interested in outdoor and science fields, and feel more connected to their communities.
“A sense of understanding of your home, and kind of that you belong to it,” Griset said.
For students at Baxter Academy, that connection is already taking shape.
“We think of Portland around us as a classroom since we are such a small school and the city around us is really important to who we are,” Prinz said.
Teachers interested in similar programs can apply for a mini grant starting in August on the Maine Environmental Education Association’s website.
Congratulations to Katie Strait!
Katie was published as a co-author on "Sandy Beaches: The Window to the Ocean," a hands-on teaching guide developed through the Smithsonian's Marine Global Earth Observatory network. The article offers educators meaningful ways to explore marine biodiversity and ocean literacy right from their local beaches.
Pictured: Katie representing Baxter Academy at the Smithsonian in 2024.
NEWS CENTER Maine’s Changing Climate Features the Baxter Plastics Project and Baxter Educator Katie Strait
May 1, 2023
Xavier Bradford (‘25) wins an Honorable Mention Award for Tyler Technologies’ 2022-2023 Maine App Challenge
Xavier Bradford (Class of 2025) receives his Honorable Mention Award for his app Earthful in the 2022-2023 Maine App Challenge competition
Xavier Bradford (Class of 2023) received an Honorable Mention in the 2022-2023 Maine App Challenge hosted by Tyler Technologies and Project>Login! Xavier created an app called Earthful for a project in his COS 300 (Programming II) class and entered it into the statewide competition. He was awarded an Honorable Mention and received a VR headset as part of his prize package. His app is meant to complement the capabilities of the NatGeo Marine Debris Tracker, which the Flex Friday group the Baxter Plastics Project uses for their research and community cleanups. Xavier interviewed Baxter Science Educator and Coach to the Baxter Plastics Project Katie Strait to find out ways the NatGeo app does and doesn't work for her students. Xavier then designed his app to improve and speed up the mapping and analysis capabilities that the NatGeo app has (but doesn't do very well). Congratulations to Xavier Bradford for his innovation and hard work, and also to all the students who participated in this year’s competition!
The Outliers Robotics Team Competes at the FIRST® World Robotics Championships in Houston, Texas
Nina Beattie (‘24) holding a differential swerve system
April, 2023
The Outliers Robotics Team competed at the FIRST® Worlds Robotics Championship in April after qualifying at the New England Champions early in the month. At the international event, The Outliers won the Innovation In Control award for their differential swerve drives, the only team known to have implemented such powerfully agile drives successfully. The Outliers is comprised of Baxter Academy, Waynflete, Deering High School, and The Maine Coast Waldorf School. Here are two local newspaper articles featuring Baxter students who are part of The Outliers team! Awesome job Outliers and congratulations on a great season!
Area students dazzle in World Robotics Championships - The windham eagle, feauturing Isabella Messer (‘26) Simeon Pillsbury (‘24), and Baxter Engelman (‘23).
Orr’s Island student competes at world robotics championship - Harpswell Anchor, featuring Nina Beattie
Isabella Messer (‘26), Simeon Pillsbury (‘24), and Baxter Engelman (‘23) standing by the team’s robot.
Baxter Academy for Science and Technology: A Glimpse at a Democratic School in Portland Maine
April 7, 2023
Baxter was featured in Dr. Linda F. Nathan’s blog as an example of a democratic school in action. Dr. Nathan is a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she teaches courses on school design and school observation. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership (PSi), a year-long graduate certificate program that develops innovative leaders who integrate education, artistic, and community-based resources to transform the lives of youth and families.
You can read Dr. Nathan’s blog about Baxter Academy here.
“Boat builders, surfers, engineers, shoe designers, scientists. What is common amongst this group of adults? They all love teaching and learning at Baxter Academy in Portland, Maine. I just spent a day with my colleague Juan Mora y Araujo visiting with students, teachers, the Executive Director and Head of School, Cicy Po. A single word stays with me: energy.” - Dr. Nathan
High School Intern From Baxter Academy (Portland, ME) Uses Solidworks to Create 3-D CAD Files for Narcissus
Logan Rudolph (‘23) worked with Ernie Eaton at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME to help restore the Narcissus, the sole surviving high-speed wooden interurban from the Portland-Lewiston Interurban (PLI). Logan helped develop 3-D CAD models of the Narcissus, along with many other tasks at the Seashore Trolley Museum. For the full story of Logan Rudolph’s successful internship check out this blog post detailing the experience.
Jules Vázquez is the grand prize winner of The Telling Room's 16th Annual Statewide Writing Contest!
Vázquez’s winning poem, “Older Sister to Younger Brother,” was selected as the winner by a panel of 24 judges that included educators, local authors, Telling Room alumni, and current Telling Room students. Vázquez's poem will be published in our upcoming annual anthology of youth writing, and will receive a cash prize of $250. You can read Jules’ poem here!
Mainebiz features Westbrook’s My Place Teen Center, Jack Richards (Class of 24)
Mainebiz, Spring 2022
Mainebiz’s full article can be found here!
Abby Gardner wins 2nd place at Maine State Science Fair
Maine State Science Fair, March 26, 2022
Congratulations to Abigail Gardner (Class of '24), who took 2nd place in biological sciences for her work on horse genetics at the Maine State Science Fair! Abby’s project focused on the ASIP and MC1R genes that control coat color in horses. We are so proud of you, Abby! A big shout out to Deborah Landry of iXplore STEM and Andrew Ritter for all their hard work and support as well.
Portland’s Baxter Academy Students Win Thomas Cup 2022
Thomas College, March 19, 2022
“The winners of this year’s Thomas Cup were ‘The Absolute Units’: Christopher Kusturin, Joseph Poissant, Abel Mitchell, Michael Osgood, and Emmett Shea from Baxter Academy for Technology and Science. The Thomas Cup is a free event for Maine high schoolers in which teams of five students compete in science, technology, engineering, and innovation competitions for the chance to win their names on the Thomas Cup and receive scholarships worth up to $10,000 over four years. Competition areas include cyber defense, esports, computer science, and crime scene analysis." Read the full press release here. For more information on the Thomas Cup, check out their website. Way to go The Absolute Units!
Baxter Students pick up trash to study what's polluting their coast
News Center Maine, November 20, 2021
Our own Leo Sparta (Class of 2024) can be seen in this piece by WMTW demonstrating his hard work with the Sparta family aquaculture business.
Marshall Cumback, Class of 2021 at 4:30 mark.
The World I Want to Live in #STEMsFromHer (White House Film Festival 2016)
Youtube - October 24th, 2016 Mae Pryor Rosenstein