Celebrating and Strengthening Community Connections to the River that Sustains Us

During the 2007-2008 school year, Maine Sea Grant education coordinator, Beth Bisson, worked with faculty and fifth-grade students at Old Town Elementary School (OTES) and staff from the University of Maine Senator George J. Mitchell Center and the Penobscot River Restoration Trust to develop and pilot this new, multidisciplinary education program on the Penobscot River Watershed. The program received funding through the U.S. Geological Survey/University of Maine Water Resources Research Institute Grants Program. The one-year pilot engaged students in watershed and river restoration science, sea-run fish ecology, and cultural studies through five classroom and field-based curriculum units, and two community projects. The curriculum units began in September 2007, focusing on: watershed hydrology/ecology; sea-run fish ecology; industrial uses of the river; cultural history/human ecology in the watershed; and current river restoration efforts. The community projects included conducting oral history interviews with Penobscot River watershed community members, and creating a series of educational posters for two permanent public information kiosks along the river. Through the program, the students met with watershed managers and fisheries biologists, local industry professionals, and river restoration and cultural history professionals working throughout the Penobscot River watershed. The students also interviewed family and community members, explored historical documents and photographs in local museums, and conducted research on the cultural, social, economic, and ecological importance of the Penobscot River. To develop the three educational posters for the waterfront kiosks, the students compiled information from their oral history interviews, field trips, guest lectures and contributed original artwork of their own. Maine Sea Grant and the program partners assisted the students with the poster design and production, and the students presented their posters to Old Town City Council and community members and their families at a public opening ceremony in June 2008. The two permanent kiosks, one at the Old Town Riverfront Park, and one at the boat landing on 4th Street, were designed and constructed by the City of Old Town, and they will be an ongoing source of information about the river restoration effort and other school and community events for years to come.

Maine Sea Grant and the project partners are currently working to develop a curriculum guide and plan a series of workshops that will introduce this new program to other schools throughout the Penobscot River watershed. 

To view or download copies of the three kiosk posters produced by Old Town Elementary students, please click the files below:

Penobscot River Watershed Poster 

Dam Removal and River Restoration Poster 

Penobscot River History Poster 

For more information about this program, please contact Beth Bisson.