Maine Coast Semester
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| Maine Coast Semester | |
 |
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| Wiscasset, Maine USA |
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| Information | |
| Affiliation(s) | The Chewonki Foundation |
| Head of school | Willard Morgan |
| Enrollment |
~40 |
| Faculty | 12 |
| Type | Private (Single Semester Boarding Program for High School Juniors) |
| Grades | 11 |
| Athletics | None |
| Mascot | Osprey |
| Color(s) | Green and White |
| Established | 1988 |
| Homepage | www.chewonki.org |
The Maine Coast Semester (or MCS), founded in 1988, is a semester-long, environmental education program for high school juniors run by the Chewonki Foundation and located in Wiscasset, Maine. The founding director was S. Scott Andrews, who currently teaches history. Students study the natural history of the Maine coast, work on an organic farm, go on two short wilderness trips, help maintain the campus, and participate in a rigorous academic program that adapts to the student's sending school's requirements.
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[edit] General information
Each semester is 16 weeks long. There are from 35-40 students per semester at Maine Coast Semester, as well as roughly 12 faculty members. Students live in winterized cabins. Classes at MCS are usually small, with no more than 12 students per class.
Each student is given an advisor, who they meet with once a week to ensure that things are going well with cabinmates, peers, teachers and parents.
[edit] Academics
All classes are taught at advanced levels, which means that they can be considered honors courses. There are two core subjects students must take at MCS: English and Natural History of the Maine Coast (science). There are two different English courses that can fulfill the English requirement: Literature and the Land and Ethics: Understanding and Choice. Natural History of the Maine Coast also includes a once-a-week field trip to various sites near the school and on the Chewonki Foundation's grounds. Three other classes must be taken by MCS students, and everyone gets a free period. MCS offers several different math courses including Algebra 2, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus and AP Calculus AB and BC.
Languages are also offered at Maine Coast Semester. There are various French and Spanish classes ranging from roughly year 3 of learning to an AP equivalent. A few different social studies courses available at MCS. Environmental Issues and Ethics, which involves two in-depth studies, one into a current issue in Maine and one as an Independent Research Project, Current Issues, which deals with contemporary world issues, and US History are all options for students. Art and the Natural World is also offered at MCS.
In addition to these courses, Work Program is assigned to all students twice a week. Tasks in this include anything from planting seedlings at the Salt Marsh Farm to making mozzarella cheese in the kitchen for dinner. This lasts for roughly two hours.
Academics are taken very seriously at Maine Coast Semester. Study hours are from 7:30-9:30 p.m. every day except for Saturday, and students are expected to do their work during this time, though extra time is often required to complete all assignments. Students are given a specific study space in which to do their work. It is not necessary to possess a computer at MCS, though most students do.
[edit] Accommodation
Students are housed in several different cabins, which are used during the summer for Camp Chewonki. Bathrooms are not located in the cabins, but are a short walk away. Students get a cot as well as a few shelves to put their belongings on, and all cabins are equipped with wood-burning stoves, which cabinmates get to learn how to use. Anywhere from 5-9 students live in the cabins together. Cabins are also each given "cabin parents", who are there to make sure things run smoothly in the cabins.
[edit] Weekends and events
There are always weekend events planned for students, some student-planned and some faculty-planned. Friday night is study hours, followed by regular check-in time.
Saturday mornings are usually devoted to a group activity, which can include anything from a visit to the Farnsworth Museum to Orienteering to community service. Saturday night events are planned in rotation by dish crews, and can involve anything from a contradance to iron chef cookoff to a scavenger hunt.
Sundays are devoted to relaxation in some respects. Brunch isn't until later in the morning (around 10:30 a.m.), and the afternoon is usually free, with an early buffet dinner. Students then go to study hours to prepare for the following school week.
There are some longer overnight trips that MCS students participate in. In the fall, there are wilderness trips, and in the spring, there are winter camping trips and canoe trips. Both semesters also participate in solos, which are extended stays in the wilderness alone as time for self-reflection and personal growth.
