When COVID-19 descended on Maine last spring, Chewonki, like all educational institutions, came to a near standstill. Maine Coast Semester 64 and Chewonki Elementary School students went home. School programs were suddenly wiped off the calendar. Summer programs? What summer programs? Boys Camp, Girls Camp, and Leadership Expeditions were scratched from the docket. An eerie stillness hung over Chewonki Neck. Not everything stopped, however. An effort to upgrade Chewonki’s healthcare facilities Read More
Uncategorized
Welcome Lise Schickel Goddard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1YtiVKk2fM We are very pleased to introduce Lise Schickel Goddard, our new Interim Head of Semester School for Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki. Susan Feibelman, our outgoing Vice President of Schools, will be transitioning into retirement at the end of June, and we wish her a fond farewell. We feel quite fortunate that Lise was able to join the team in February to spend time with faculty and the students of Semester 66, and experience the heart and soul of the Read More
Step by Step: Building Anti-Racist Culture at Chewonki
Our entire staff recently participated in an anti-racism training facilitated by Martha Haakmat of Haakmat Consulting and Alissa Schwartz of Solid Fire Consulting. The consulting team specializes in organizational development within a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) framework. They will be working with us over a multi-year period. During the workshop, faculty and staff learned how to identify and intervene in common microaggressions that participants and staff might experience on campus. Read More
Alumna Talks Wealth, Class Privilege, and Chewonki
Olivia Woollam, an alumna of Semester 38, is using her class privilege to support the redistribution of power and resources in her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. Woollam’s passion for social justice work is buoyed by a firm grasp of her personal values and the ability to build authentic relationships - both of which she learned about at Chewonki. “High school semester programs can allow you to experiment with a new adult-ish version of yourself with people who haven’t already decided who Read More
A New Year of Learning Begins
Less than one week from today, Chewonki will welcome thirty-four elementary and middle School students to campus for their first day of school, and forty-two high school juniors for their first day of Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki. We couldn’t be more excited to greet this amazing group of learners next week when they arrive on Chewonki Neck. Elementary and Middle School students will be studying in three mixed-grade outdoor classrooms this year. Grade 1/2 will be taught by Lorna Fake, grade Read More
#bipocatchewonki
We are grateful for the courage and clarity of thought expressed by many individuals who have recently chosen to share their experiences of racism at Chewonki on the BIPOC at Chewonki Instagram feed. We have not done enough to fight racism within our organization. For that, we are profoundly sorry. We hear that our role in this moment is to actively and respectfully listen, and not to intrude into a space created to amplify BIPOC voices. However, we welcome the opportunity to connect with Read More
From Residential to Remote – A Story of Academic Adaptation
The abrupt, nationwide shift to remote learning this spring was more than unexpected, it was stunning. But perhaps we shouldn’t be shocked by what came next: Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, a program designed around experiential, place-based pedagogy and deeply connected to the physical location of Chewonki Neck, successfully adapted to a remote academic environment. “Learning continued,” says Pete Sniffen, dean of academics. “Students challenged themselves. [They] fell behind and then made Read More
Viral Volunteerism – Young Alumnus Responds to Pandemic
High schoolers who attend Maine Coast Semester are adventurous, hard-working, and community-oriented, and we are often inspired by their work beyond Chewonki. When the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the last few months of his senior year, Callum Becvarik, (an alumnus of Maine Coast Semester 61 and Camp Chewonki) put these traits to work in service of others. He signed up for the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), a national volunteer network that responds to natural disasters and public health Read More
An Anti-Racism Message to the Chewonki Community
The death of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer, recorded for nearly nine horrifying minutes, opened a floodgate of pain for so many over the past week. The outrage grows inside each of us as this sickening event builds on so many others to further expose racism in our society and in ourselves. We are speaking up today, as white leaders of a predominantly white institution, in solidarity with black and indigenous communities, as well as other communities of color, to join Read More
Our 2019 Annual Report
“Next normal” is a phrase I am seeing, and now beginning to use, to describe how we’re redefining our everyday lives: our communities, our workplaces, and the ways we interact with each other. While the past ten weeks have tested all of us in novel and different ways, I am working on a path forward and I thank you for joining us on the journey. Chewonki depends on you. One example of the move to the next normal is that we are picking up communications that were put on hold due to the COVID-19 Read More