Making Waves

A Class Of Wildflowers

2012-02-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

When I describe members of the class of Semester Four to others, I often use words like “creative, vibrant, colorful.” You are all of these things and on many occasions when I’m having a challenging day, it is each and every one of YOU, most often without ever even knowing it, who are a source of inspiration to me. You remind me of a field full of wildflowers, one of the things in nature that brings me great joy. Each member of The Fall Class of 2011 brings your own personality to this field of flowers…

Emmie- One of the most graceful and delicate of all the native ferns, the Maidenhair fern produces large clumps of lacy, bright green leaves on shiny black stems that are highly decorative.

Rachel – You are like a purple cornflower, producing a strong tap-root, you are long living and tolerant. You produce large flowers whose beautiful pink petals sway gently in the breeze like a dancer.

Meli – You remind me of one of the more unusual wildflowers, called the “shooting star” with pointed rocket-shaped flowers with white or pink petals surrounding brown & yellow centers. The shooting star is one of the most beautiful spring wildflowers and when in bloom is a sight not to be missed.

Sage - A mature White False Indigo practically jumps out of the ground in the spring, growing up to four feet in just a few days! Very striking when in bloom, its white flowers are visiblefrom quite a distance and the velvety leaves are attractive all summer long. It requires a little time to mature, but it is well worth the wait as it is truly spectacular.

Meryl - An early spring bloomer, the Marsh Marigold lifts the spirits with its cheerful bouquet of bright butter-yellow flowers. Naturally occurring in profuse quantities, it is the perfect addition to a front garden border, or a little yellow farmhouse!

Rosamund – The rare Ozark Coneflower, Echinacea paradoxa, isnaturally found only in the Ozark region although it is quite hardy. The foliage is long and narrow and the yellow flowers are large and showy. The "paradox" of this plant is that it is a "yellow" purple Coneflower!

Kagan – The Blanketflower is native to open, hot plains, it is tolerant and adaptable and boasts beautiful bright red daisy-like flowers with bronze-to-yellow colored tips. It thrives and provides a continual supply of bright and cheerful cut flowers throughout the season.

Katie - Cardinal Flower, whosescientific name is Lobelia cardinalis, hasbrilliant red spires and can bloom for a month or longer. Occurring naturally in marshes and wooded streambanks, it requires moist, rich soil and responds magnificently to cultivation. It may require replanting every few years, but is well worth the effort.

Cory - The handsome Stiff Goldenrod grows in just about any soil conditions, producing radiant yellow flat-topped flowers in late summer and early fall. The greenish-yellow leaves add interest throughout the growing season, and they are very effective when used solo or when added to a group.

Brianne – The Yellow Coneflower is a tough plant that survives extreme heat, drought, flooding and winter cold with ease. It is one of the most strikingly beautiful of all wildflowers and the large yellow flowers bloom in profusion and are easy to grow.

Nell – The Compass Plant - This unusual plant has fleshy, deeply divided leaves that know their way and often orient themselves in a north-south direction. They are extremely long-living with a tremendous deep taproot, they have up to one hundred large yellow flowers that open over a long period of time.

Perri - What an outstanding display the Branched Coneflower produces! Blooming for two months or longer, it is covered in yellow flowers with black centers. It will self-sow onto open soil. This plant is used to create some excitement in the landscape!

Doris - The Meadow Rose is as close as you can get to a 'thornless' rose. Naturally occurring in prairies, meadows and open woodlands, meadow rose has very few prickles whatsoever, and no thorns on the flower stems.

Franchesca- Prairie Dock's masses of bright yellow flowers and huge rounded leaves are atop its stalks. The unique, almost tropical foliage of this majestic plant makes a statement that is all its own.

Bailey – The Black-eyed Susan, possibly the best known of all wildflowers, is the easiest to grow. A single plant can produce an extravagant floral display over much of the summer andplanted in masses it is simply stunning! A self-seeding biennial, it is notpicky about soil conditions and will grow just about anywhere.

~Pam Erickson, Executive Director

Farewell to Semester 4

2012-01-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Fall Semester 2011 is an amazing class that will leave an indelible mark in all of our hearts.

In a small community as tightly knit as this, a group can come to know one another so well, and function so smoothly as a team, that it begins to take on a persona and character like a single living being. And this class certainly has its own unique personality! This class, with its composite blend of voices, styles and color, has an irrepressible spirit; a first-rate sense of humor, a delightful lightness of being, and a truly remarkable sense of awareness and caring for one another. Their ability to overcome challenge, to support one another with respect, kindness and compassion, and to work together as a team to accomplish a goal, be it an academic project or a prank, provides a model for human interaction that impresses even the CSG staff, and that is saying a lot.

Although this is our fourth semester at CSG, it is also a series of firsts in many ways. First student from the Lone Star state of Texas, and from the Ocean state of Rhode Island. First school delay due to a hurricane. First ceremonial use of the walking stick “Bolf”, and of naming a walking stick in the first place. First Homecoming Dance. Introduction of mid-day “Turtle Time”, per student request. First appearance of a gorilla suit and a tutu. First time a group has used up a whole two hours of rock climbing, and still wanted more! First use of bicycles during exercise time, another student-driven addition—thanks Emmie! First appearance of dreadlocks—a phenomenon we now know is contagious, spread by shared ideas living in close quarters with teenage girls. First class to take pre-and post science surveys as we begin researching the impact of our science program. First student led Council, with honors going to Doris and Rosie. And finally, the First Parent Forum, an addition we think will come to be invaluable part of our Home Again program —thanks, Ted and Kris! For all of these contributions and more, we thank the fall class of 2011 for all you have given us in continuing to hone and shape the school we all have come to love.

Yes, we will remember the Fall class of 2011, with great admiration and joy. And yet, it is the individual girls that have made the real lasting impression—in our hearts, and in the bedrock of the school. It is these girls who have helped us to hold up a mirror and show us who and what CSG is. The 15 girls of this Fall class are a testament to the power within themselves when given support, opportunity and inspiration. Competent, confident, and knowledgeable, they are laying the groundwork of high standards and examples for future young women to follow. For this, we are forever grateful, and for this, we will always remember you.

~Tara Treichel, Director of Education

Triumphant Girl Literary Journal!

2011-12-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

The school literary journal, Triumphant Girl, is officially available! It is a compilation of the creative writing that each girl perfected and presented at our school coffee house. It includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, with subjects ranging from sense of place, to their connection to the land, to fictional stories about finding a hidden doorway into an alter world in the refrigerator. It is a compilation of all of the student’s hard work this semester in English class. Buy your own copy or a copy for your student!

Go to the school website www.coastalstudiesforgirls.org

Under the 'shop' tab go to the Triumphant Girl Literary Journal link.

~Leah Titcomb, English Faculty

Our Final Days

2011-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

As our final week together approaches, we are all feeling the heat – there is so much to do. This week there has been a gamut of final assessments. I took an English, Spanish, and Marine Science exam. I finished my History paper on the Influence of Religion on the Structure and Ideal of Roman Society. I also took a test in math on solving fraction equations. We must finish our Marine Science Research and Prepare for our Exhibition of Learning.

My Marine Science group had taken over 50 water samples for the Little River Bridge. We are in the midst of writing our paper and analyzing data. We are finding that during an incoming tide, the water has an average pH of about 8.1-8.2 and a higher salinity than an outgoing tide. An outgoing tide has a pH of around 7.5 and a lower salinity. Salinity and pH have no correlation to each other or to the depth from which we sampled from. This may be due to the disturbance created in the water from lowering the water sampling, or that the current is so strong that the water is mixed very well. Our goal is to finish the paper this weekend or early next week so we can get going on the PowerPoint Presentation and Poster.

In Leadership, we are preparing work for the Exhibitions of Learning next Friday. We have a self-portrait, personal mission statement, and self-reflection due. The self-reflection is a ten-minute talk or speech and then a five-minute creative showing. Some of us are doing iMovies and others are doing paintings. Each project is very unique.

Home is on everyone’s mind. While we miss our families, we also don’t want to ever leave each other. My favorite part of CSG is the community. We are all really close and help each other out all the time. We have laughed together, played together, and cried together. It is really nice to know that someone is ALWAYS there for you. It is also different from a regular friendship because we live together so you can’t hide anything. Everyone knows everyone else so well. Thinking about leaving, we are sad because we won’t know what to do when we are not together all the time. Because now, if you need someone to talk to in the middle of the night, they are right there, but when we go home, our best friend isn’t right next to our bed. That is what I’ll miss the most – the friendships. It is just so awesome and I am so glad I have gotten this opportunity!

~Brianne

Making Spanish Food

2011-12-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago we had language weekend where the Spanish and French class were able to try foods of these cultures. I was able to cook some Spanish dishes using my mother's recipes, with the help of some of the other girls, and serve them to the CSG community. I was filled with excitement knowing that I was going to be able to share some of my family traditions with the girls!

It took me a whole week to plan for these two meals and finally on Friday I was ready to chop, fry and cook vegetables. As I cooked, the kitchen was filled with different smells that traveled throughout the whole house. The cooking crew and I were working away combining, blending and mixing vegetables. There were two people chopping, one putting everything in pots, and I was stirring and frying. We cooked fried plantains, rice, posole, and beans. For dessert, there was ambrosia and machetiadas. I was so glad to share a bit of my cultural food with the rest of the girls, and everyone devoured it.

On Saturday we went to Museum LA and I was able to expand my knowledge on French immigration. I learned that they worked very hard in shoe factories and textile mills in order to put food on the table. All of the people that worked in these kinds of factories were putting their lives at risks because it was easy to get injured or die in the mills. I was able to see the huge machines the workers used; they were at least 6 feet high and 15 feet wide! Going through this museum was mind blowing and it was an unforgettable experience. The whole weekend was about learning from different cultures and adding more to what I had already known and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

~Doris

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, we had a special CSG Thanksgiving! We had no classes for the day, and the food preparation started early. Before we got up, the turkey was already in the oven, and the rest of the cooking started as soon as breakfast was over. We were assigned cooking groups, and each group had a category of food they were responsible for cooking. There was the starch group, the greens group, two pie groups, and decorations and h’orderves. The Res Life Staff was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. I was in the greens group with Rosie and Nell, and we prepared a salad and peas.

Dinner was at about two. We brought up a long table from the basement so we could all eat at the same table and decorated it with a nice tablecloth and flowers. After settling into our seats, we were almost ready to eat when Eliza told us that there was a surprise guest. We all looked towards the door. At first, Kit walked out and most of us assumed it was a joke, but then Gail came in! It was the first time we’ve seen her in weeks, and some of us were so happy we cried. She was feeling better and was even wearing the tutu Franchesca gave her around one leg.

After the meal was done, we had time to talk to our family, and then went out for a campfire at the campground. While we were there, we roasted s'mores and exchanged small gifts we had been working on for the past several days, called our “secret turkeys.” These ranged from personalized storybooks to personalized songs.

By the time we’d finished at the park, we were all exhausted, even though it was only about six. We went back to the farmhouse, packed for our final leadership trip, and finished the night by watching Harry Potter part seven and a half. It was a fantastic Thanksgiving, and one that I will never forget.

~Perri

English Field Trip

2011-11-22T07:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend was our "English Weekend" at CSG. All week we had been perfecting a creative writing piece of our choice. On Friday night, we held out semester "Coffee House" where we read our pieces aloud to the community. Some people read their poetry, others read non-fiction and fiction stories. Everyone's works was fantastic! I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment after sharing my poem, which I had worked so hard on. Afterwards, we celebrated by having a dance party under a fluorescent disco ball that Leah brought in.

On Saturday morning, we headed to the Maine Women Writers Collection, which is an endowed library collection of literature from or by women who live in Maine. Some of the books were incredibly old, and it was amazing to see some of the original works by authors we had been reading! We each found our own little nook

and settled in with different books, reading and exploring the collected works. Then, we went to Wolfe's Neck State Park, where we had a "Maine style barbeque", (red snappers, moxie, and whoopee pies) We ended our weekend by sitting on the rocky coast with our journals, reflecting on how we have grown throughout this semester.

~Rosie

An Exploration of Culture

2011-11-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was languages weekend at CSG. Entering the farmhouse late Friday afternoon, the spicy aroma of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Cuban food filled the air. Doris had contacted her mom for the recipes. She, Melisa, and Brianne, with the supervision of Maria, slaved away in the kitchen preparing a fabulous meal for us all. The dining room was dimly lit by strings of white lights, as we all enjoyed tastes from afar. Doris also prepared us a special dessert of Ambrosia. After we all helped clean up, it was time to settle in for a film, Reveil, on the history of and the preservation of the Franco-American culture in New England, most specifically in Maine. After some choice time, we were all off to bed to be ready for the next day’s adventures.

We awoke to more wonderful smells filling the farmhouse, as Doris and Maria were already preparing a breakfast of pumpkin nuggets, another delicious recipe from Cuba. After filling our bellies, we were off to MuseumLA, in Lewiston. Our tour guide, Diane, met us at the door and our visit was quickly underway. Diane molded the tour specifically to our needs. We went through the former textile mill, seeing all of the equipment that was once used to create beautiful textiles, including the famous Bates Bedspreads. Diane told us about the working conditions of women and children in the mills in the early nineteen hundreds, and most of the girls were shocked by the details. We finished our tour with a brief visit to the exhibition about the history of shoe making in the area.

On our return voyage to school, we stopped along the banks of the beautiful Androscoggin River and had our daily Solo. I was a warm, partly cloudy day. The girls moved quickly to the shore, hunkering down close to the water, with a couple of the girls spending the solo time in trees overlooking the flowing river. After 20 minutes we circled up, had a little snack, and once again loaded into the vans for the last leg of our trip home. Upon our arrival back at the farmhouse, we enjoyed a French themed lunch. Brenda had prepared us a lovely leek and watercress soup. Baguettes, cheeses, meats, paté, sparkling lemonade beverages, and fruit were abundant, and quickly devoured by all. Cookies from France, Belgium, and Quebec rounded out our lunch. Again, we all helped clean up, and then prepared for our final activity of the weekend.

We all circled up in the dining room to share our families’ immigration stories and anecdotes. Some families came over on the Mayflower, some even before that, and some girls are immigrants to the U.S. themselves. We all enjoyed learning more about each other, hearing family stories, and even seeing family photos. The sharing was wrapped up with a brief discussion, viewing the girls’ journeys to CSG and the formation of their new community here as a new addition to their own stories of immigration and exploration.

~Noel Thibodeau (Spanish and French Teacher)

Marine Science Projects

2011-11-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

Over the past week we started our Marine Science research projects. My group has been finding the density of Soft Shell Clams in three different mud flats. We have made a proposal for our project and laid out a plan to compare the amount of clams in the different areas.

Yesterday I went tromping through the mud and digging through the seaweed for our first research field day. I went out into the chilly weather with my rain pants, thigh-high mud boots, and clamming gloves. I stood on the shore looking at the vast expansion of mud I was going to dig through. I took my first steps, walking quickly and distributing my weight so I didn’t sink. Further and further onto the mud I went, testing how far I could go without sinking. I dug in my plots, shifting my weight and moving back and forth so I wouldn’t get stuck. The sloshing of my boots echoed in my ears as the wet mud splattered against them. I knelt down to dig into the dark mud and pulled the round clams out of their homes. One clam, two clams, three clams….. After digging until my shoulders were sore, I counted the total in the bucket, and moved into a new area to dig again.

~Sage

The Portland Rock Gym

2011-11-08T05:54:00.001-08:00

Last Friday we went to the Portland Rock Gym for leadership class. Personally, I am afraid of heights, which made it challenging for me to reach the top of the wall. I was afraid that once I was way up high I would run out of hand and foot holds. As I climbed, my belayer and the other girls cheered me on. My belayer’s job was to hold the rope tight so it would catch me if I fell, and I trusted her. I felt very safe knowing that she was down on the ground, keeping me from falling. Encouraged by everyone’s cheers, I made it to the top! Once I was at the top, I told my belayer I was ready to come down. I leaned back, and was suspended in the air while she brought me safely to the ground. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be, and once I was on the ground I wanted to do it again!

When I have to face an intimidating challenge in my life, I know I can take it on, like climbing the wall. I may fall, but I can try again until I get it right, even if it’s a little scary.

~Katie

A Sestina About CSG

2011-11-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Yellow Farmhouse

The yellow farmhouse resounds with laughter.

The fragile ceiling downstairs vibrates

from the dance party in the bunkroom.

Teachers sit in a meeting

waiting to be reunited with the girls

As Eliza’s eyes start to dart around.

This is a typical Tuesday lunch.

The bunkroom gets cleaned.

The farmhouse gets abandoned for the

all-school meeting on the bright green grass.

The teachers and girls sit in an almost

perfect circle and Eliza stands.

Eliza leads the meeting for the day.

Her shadow casts over me

giving me a reprieve from the hot sun.

The bunkroom is empty of the girls,

the farmhouse stands strong and bold

in the small, rural Freeport, Maine.

As I squint looking at Eliza,

I notice a great big cloud behind

the big ole farmhouse with yellow paint.

The cloud reflects on the clear glass windows

of the bunkroom, behind the faces of

the smiling teachers and the girls.

Eliza draws my attention back

when she lets out a thunderous laugh.

All the teachers and girls stare at her.

Then she points to the farmhouse window

where Kagan stands with yellow face paint.

A lion stands in the lonely bunkroom.

Kagan snuck to the empty bunkroom

where she got ready for Halloween.

The teachers, girls, and Eliza cheered

as she strut down from the bunkroom stairs

and out of the big, friendly farmhouse.

Her yellow paint shined in the sunlight.

Kagan’s surprise costume brought joy to the teachers and Eliza

and all the girls ran upstairs to do their own make-up and outfits.

The bunkroom in the bright yellow farmhouse was once again alive.

~Emmie

Celebrating Service Week

2011-11-02T04:53:00.001-07:00

Saturday was our celebration day after our week of service. At nine in the morning we headed out in the vans to Portland and had a scavenger hunt in the old port to learn more about Maine. We divided into two teams: The Pink Ladies and The T- Birds. The Pink Ladies were lead by Noel and the T- Birds by Maria. Noel gave us a map of streets and landmarks and a list of places to find, and information to gather. Both teams ran out of the parking garage and raced toward their first destination. Between the two groups we saw a statue of a lobsterman, visited a bakery (and got some delicious Luna bread), popped our heads into the Space gallery, and much more!

Although it was chilly, both the teams raced towards their goals with alacrity. When the teams met up once accidentally, we filled the streets with giggles as we ran towards the Longfellow House. At 12:30 we met back at the parking garage, proud of how many things we had found. We took our lunch onto the roof and made sandwiches, and ate carrots, clementines, and chips, while we looked out over the beautiful cityscape and shared stories of our adventures with each other. After filling up, we headed back to the vans to warm up and head home. We enjoyed our day of celebration, and reminiscing about the work we did in the past week.

~ Cori, Rachel, Perri

Service Week Day 4

2011-10-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

This morning we drove to Portland, where we helped out Laura Ludwig of the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, collecting derelict fishing gear at the Portland Fish Pier. Most of us were out on the docks helping with the unloading of lobster traps, while others were helping to organize paperwork in the baiting company office nearby. On the docks, we wrote information on clipboards about the incoming fisherman’s name, license number, and the amount of lobster traps, buoys, or other old gear that they brought to dispose of. Then we unloaded all the traps so that the forklift could put them into the dumpster and the bulldozer could compress them.

It was challenging to write things down because there was a lot of wind-chill on the docks and our hands were cold. It was also difficult when a lot of traps arrived all at once and we had to work quickly, efficiently, and intelligently. It was very exciting how all of the lobstermen were impressed with all the work we accomplished. At the beginning of the day, it was a little slow, because there was not much activity in the parking lot. However, towards the end of our service, there were many trucks and trailers full of lobster traps.

Seeing the lobstermen drive away with their empty trucks and trailers was very rewarding because we all knew that we did a really great job. We also helped Laura quite a lot, and it was nice to see that we could make a difference.

Today we definitely made a difference in our community and we got to learn more about the lobster industry and how crucial it is in the state of Maine. It also goes along with our Marine Science curriculum, and our next unit about waste in the ocean. The lobstermen also really appreciated a place to dump their old gear; they seemed comforted by being able to recycle it with us, instead of putting into a dump or littering the ocean. It also really helped the marine environment, because now the waste will not go into the ocean. It was a great experience for all of us and we enjoyed helping people, and knowing that we were helping to keep the earth clean.

~ Brianne, Nell, Rosie

Service Week Day 3

2011-10-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today we volunteered our time at Wolfe Neck Farm. After hearing about the history of Wolfe Neck Farm, and our own little yellow farmhouse, we got to work. Some of us weeded and cleared out raised beds, while others worked in the greenhouse picking tomatoes and cleaning for the next season. Some of the plants we harvested were radishes, beets, carrots, celery, peppers, and tomatoes. It was challenging to take out some of the weeds because a lot of the roots were deeply buried in the soil. We had to figure out which vegetables to keep and which should be composted. It was exciting to see all the delicious organic vegetables.

Sean helped us to take the sod that we dug up from the greenhouse and spread it in the woods. It was very rewarding to give back to Wolfe Neck Farm, and the people who support our school. It was satisfying to know that all the vegetables that we gathered were going to be donated to the community pantry. Vegetables are a big part of a healthy diet, and by giving these vegetables away we were giving someone a good, healthy meal. Also, it would have taken Eric, the director of education at the farm, a lot longer to get all the work done without us, and it felt good to be able to help him out.

Today was meaningful because Wolfe Neck Farm has done so much for us, and it was nice to finally have a chance to give back to them. We had a great time at the farm today and a lovely walking solo on the way home.

Meryl, Melissa, and Bailey

Service Week Day 2

2011-10-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today we volunteered at the Freeport Community Thrift Store. At the thrift store we divided into groups, and some people worked on the loading dock, some organized clothes, some organized books, and others sorted holiday items. The challenging part was the amount of stuff that continuously accumulated and that we had to sort through. We had a lot of different things to organize into different categories. We would finish organizing one pile, and another pile would be waiting for us to organize it. We got a taste of what it is like for the thrift store managers; their job is never done! Another challenge was finding places to organize the stuff. But it was really fun and exciting to see the different treasures people donated.

It was rewarding to see the faces of the thrift store managers when all fifteen of us walked into the store. We could tell how much they needed the help, especially when we saw the piles of materials that needed to be sorted through, and it was really meaningful to be able to help in such a big way. We were able to get a lot done for them because there were so many of us. When we left they gave us a giant “thank you.” This thrift store supports 1/3 of Freeport. Helping out in the thrift store really made us feel like we were helping out the whole Freeport community.

-Sage, Franchesca, and Kagan

Service Week: Day One

2011-10-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal, where we volunteered to do service work. We started out by meeting with Mr. Fritz Applebee, a park ranger, who told us about the park’s history. Then, we all joined together to rake the yard and split wood. Some girls had never raked before because they live in the city and don’t have yards. We made piles of brown, red, and yellow heaps of leaves and then moved them onto tarps to transport them. Then we dragged the heaps of leaves to the woods where we scattered them. A couple students helped Mr. Applebee split firewood using a wood splitter, which was attached to a tractor.

During the day the sun beat down on those who were not in the shade of the great white pines. The most meaningful part of the volunteering was that we lent a helping hand to make the park a more beautiful place for everyone to enjoy. It is important to help out and to show our gratitude and this was one way we could do that.

After a hard day’s work, and before hopping in the vans, we played a quick game of camouflage, one of our favorite games to play in the sunshine.

~ Doris, Emmie, Katie

Homeward Bound

2011-10-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

We had the option to go home this weekend, after friends and family day, and I chose to head home with my family after the day of festivities. On the ride to Jamestown on Saturday, I was amazed. As we crossed over the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge, I was able to appreciate Narragansett Bay for the first time. The water was perfectly still, and stunning. You could see the lights of the Newport Bell Bridge glowing on the other side of the island, and the stars were just starting to peek out from behind the clouds. I was excited to be home, and eat the food I had grown up on. Earlier in the week, I had been informed of the menu: shrimp shish kabobs; include my Dad’s signature ingredients, bacon and green peppers. It was certainly nice to be home, but my room in the back corner of the house seemed empty. It was missing the day-to-day piles of clutter and scattered school books. The only homey thing was the small grey cat curled up on my bed, peering out the window. Throughout the rest of the house, everything made me nostalgic, even the casual mess of yesterday’s newspaper on the kitchen counter.

As the night went on, I realized how much I’ve changed. I could now relate to my best friend’s father’s stories about biking and camping around Washington State. I was told that I seem more like myself than ever before. It was definitely a relief to know that home is still there and that my family was doing fine, but in the back of my mind, I kept wondering what all my new sisters were doing.

~ Meryl

What Will You Do With Your One Wild and Precious Life?

2011-10-24T13:39:00.001-07:00

We only get one life and one chance to be in this world. To me, this means that I have to live my life to the fullest, help others, and enjoy every moment of my life. And living my life to the fullest includes making a difference in the world. I care about the environment and I want to do everything in my power to help improve the state of the environment. It is very important for me to live in a healthy environment, instead of one that has become more polluted because of the human impact on it. The generations to come shouldn’t have to live in a used up and polluted world either.

The inspiration for what I want to do with my life comes from many different places, and one of those places is CSG. Coastal Studies has helped me to learn more about myself and the place that I live. The teachers at CSG have shown me the importance of the natural world and how to appreciate it, and I want to make sure that future generations get to experience the magic of this world too.

~Meli

Michelle Obama Talks With Pam and Frankline

2011-10-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

I met the The First Lady. That’s right, The First Lady. Joan Tilney, a big Coastal Studies For Girls supporter was attending a special intimate event with Michel Obama, reserved for only 100 guests, and invited Pam and I to come with her. I was thrilled! The event was on a beautiful estate on the coast of Maine. Pam and I were able to spread the word about Coastal Studies For Girls during the few hours before Michelle Obama arrived, letting everyone know what an incredible program it is. Then we all lined up to go one at a time into a separate room where we could meet and have our photo taken with Mrs. Obama in front of a grand stone fireplace. As we waited in line Pam and I chatted excitedly. When our turn came, we went in and stood on either side of her as the photographer took our picture. But instead of leaving after our brief moment with her, like most people did, Pam thanked her for her support of STEM programs for girls and women in science, and I mentioned a little about my time at CSG. She asked me questions, and before I knew what was happening we were engaged in a discussion about CSG! It was amazing; I was talking with the first lady. Before the secret service could move us along, Michelle wrapped me in a big warm hug and wished me well.

After meeting The First Lady and talking with her, we went outside and sat under a tent in an intimate setting overlooking the ocean, and ate our lobster dinner. After dinner, we sat a mere ten feet from Michelle Obama and listened to her give a riveting speech, referencing the importance of girls and women in STEM, education in general, and the economy.

I left the event and headed back home on cloud nine.

~ Frankline Mardi, Semester 1

A Weekend Of History

2011-10-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

On Friday evening we viewed “The New World,” the 2006 film by the maverick and reclusive director Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, The Thin Red Line). The movie portrays the interactions between the English who arrived to establish Jamestown in 1607 and the Powhatan Indians who lived there at the time, while focusing specifically on the relationships between Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, and Pocahontas and John Rolfe, an English tobacco farmer and businessman who arrived in Jamestown in 1610 (and who Pocahontas would eventually marry). Malick tends to employ extended shots of nature and metaphysical elements to serve as a contrast to human interaction in order to add extra weight to the general themes in his movies, and this served to both captivate and confound the group. Students were later asked to process these mixed reactions by analyzing the reasons for the movie-making conventions that were used. Additionally, students were given the opportunity to hypothesize about why Malick would make historical inferences, or even take liberties with widely-accepted history (Malick created a deep romance between John Smith and Pocahontas even though there is no historical evidence to support such a romance).

The movie acted as tool for comparative analysis to an exhibit at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, the Wabanaki history museum that was our destination on Saturday. Like Malick’s film, the exhibit: “Indians and Rusticators: Wabanakis and Summer Visitors on Mount Desert Island 1840s-1920s” detailed, with a combination of comprehensive narrative and impressive artifacts, early interactions (in the case of the museum exhibit, between the Wabanaki and the summer residents who would flock to Mount Desert Island from the large urban centers of the Northeast). This exhibit, along with an exhibit called “Layers of Time” (which focused on local archeological history) allowed for interaction (musical instruments, arts and crafts, dig recreations), which almost all the students took advantage of. Also, a large meditation room allowed for silent reflection (and a terrific group photo). The overall museum experience was both solemn and fascinating for the students, and a few were inspired to make the study of an aspect of native civilizations the focus of the semester history research paper.

~Sean Lent, History Teacher

I Am Learning About Myself

2011-10-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

This semester has helped me grow and learn as a life-long-learner, a community member, and a leader. In a tight community like this, there is no avoiding leadership. It took me a bit of time to adjust to having a leadership role in every situation. Even when a leadership activity is not planned, stepping up and being willing to fill your role as a community member is expected.

I have also learned that as a community member, I need to work on staying open to everyone. My tendency used to be to stay with a few people that I felt closest with, but within the first few weeks I realized this tendency of mine, and challenged myself to interact with everyone. We are only here for a short time, and I wanted to make the most of it and really get to know everyone.

As a student and learner, I have recently realized something about myself. I really can be smart. I have never described myself as a “smart kid,” or one that loves school, but as each day goes by I realize how thorough I’ve been with my homework because I want to do well, and can do well. Here at CSG, I hurry to every class and am excited to learn as much as I can. I used to be bored and unengaged at school, now I’m excited for essays and projects and trips.

I know that I will take my new studying techniques, love of learning, and citizenship, back to my sending school, and go on to use what I’ve learned here for the rest of my life.

~Nell

Swan Dive

2011-10-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

After pouring rain, delicious sun, powerful wind gusts, and a glorious paddle through Pocumcus Lake, our group spent the final evening of our trip letting that last bit of wildness soak into our bones. We circled around the warmth of the fire and basked in the glow of the gibbous moon that occasionally broke through the clouds to light the night. The conversation took its nightly turn towards delivering feedback to the leadership team. The assessment was affirming: our leaders for the day had been saying the right things and playing their roles. In fact, this positive feedback was not surprising; as individuals, the 15 girls of Semester 4 have been vocal, motivated, and on top of their game all semester. While acknowledging this good, we still had to question how things like dirty dishware, open dry bags, and silence in response to requests for opinions crept into our community culture. As a group, how had we moved past comfort and into complacence? And what were we going to do about it?

We had a choice to make. Would we step away from, or dive into, our potential as a group? When no one was looking, would we take that extra step to clean the pot we didn’t use? Would we coast along when it was easy to let a leader decide for us, or would we voice our opinion to test and strengthen the group? The group was quiet for a moment, then the hands started to rise. It wasn’t long before those hands were joined together, and one by one each girl shared a goal aimed at propelling our group forward. Ownership. Voicing opinion. Participating with heart, mind, and body. Stop talking and start acting. Step up to the plate. As we shared around the circle, we took the next step in deciding who we want to be as a group, and what we want to do. We chose to challenge ourselves to become better. It was a critical moment in our trip, in our semester, and in our work to change ourselves. With open hearts and exquisite form, we dove into the next version of ourselves.

Vanessa Jones (Leadership Adventure Faculty)

Observing The Natural World

2011-10-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

This past week was our leadership adventure trip! We went canoeing to a peninsula called Pacumcus East and I had the opportunity to learn how to build a fire! It was awesome! I learned how you have to make a sort of closed hut of twigs to get the fire going. Building fires might not be something I do in New York, but if I decide to go to go camping again, it will definitely help a lot. And now I can go back home and say I know how to build a fire.

Originally, our trip plans were to canoe every day to a new campsite, but because it was so windy Pacumcus East became our base camp for the week. Since we were base camping I had plenty of opportunities to observe the natural landscape up close. Every day I noticed something different about our campsite. I got to know the properties of sap really well! It dripped and oozed out of some of the pine trees, and when I stuck my finger in it I got it all over my gloves, but I didn’t mind, because it was fun to play with.

I used to be the loudest person at my school in New York, and here I’ve learned that I can also be quiet, and sometimes when I am, I see more in nature. CSG has let me have the opportunity to explore myself, and my surroundings, and expand my mind. This past week it was amazing to observe the natural world up close in a new way. The World is a beautiful place.

~Franchesca

Res Life Weekend

2011-09-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

The girls had a fabulous time at the Common Ground Fair this past weekend, as part of the first Res Life field trip! We departed CSG on Friday afternoon, armed with camping gear, lots of snacks, our shiny new CSG t-shirts, and plenty of excitement. Upon arrival to the fair grounds, we set up camp in a field and busily started cooking dinner on our camp stoves. The girls showed off their backcountry cooking skills, and we enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner with lots of salad. Though the clouds were threatening to rain on us all afternoon, the downpour didn’t start until we were all cozily in our sleeping bags at 8:00 pm. We made sure the girls got a nice long night’s sleep so they were ready to enjoy a busy day at the fair!

In the morning, we packed up our gear, loaded it in the vans, and made our way to the fair. Our “home base” for the day was the Coastal Studies for Girls table under the Young Maine tent. Over the course of the day, many fair-goers stopped by the table to learn about our school. CSG got free admission to the fair in exchange for volunteering for a portion of the day. The girls had a great time directing traffic and helping organize parking in the fields around the fairgrounds.

After time for wandering, exploring, learning, and, of course, eating lots of delicious locally grown food, the full group met up to participate in the fair’s Contradance. We joined the dancers in full force, all wearing our bright yellow volunteer shirts, and had a blast stumbling our way through the dances, accompanied
by a live folk band and lots of spectators. After the dance, we enjoyed a free dinner made in the Common Ground kitchen, as thanks for the volunteer work we did. We ate incredible salads, stir fry, pizza, fresh vegetables, and homemade bread. With full bellies and sore feet, we loaded up in the vans to make our way back home to our cozy yellow farmhouse.

~Eliza O'Neil (Head Resident)

The Common Ground Fair

2011-09-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend we piled into the vans equipped with tents and sleeping bags, and drove off to the Common Ground Fair. We were all bouncing in our seats with excitement. I was assigned to Kit and Eliza's van and on the ride up we sang songs and danced in our seats. When we saw the first fair sign we all went bonkers. We drove into the campsite and unloaded. Tents started springing up around me; we are now pros at setting up our tents!

As we got ready to make dinner there was a slight panic that the spaghetti might have been left behind at the farmhouse. I was excited because I thought it might mean we could go and buy donuts for dinner. But unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your view) Eliza found the missing spaghetti.

The next day we got to walk around the fair for a while before our volunteer shift. This fair is not like a regular fair with rides and fried food. It is put on by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and everything at the fair is from Maine and organic. We listened to a keynote speaker talk about the organic movement and Rachel Carson, and we got to explore the crafts, the social and political action tent, the traditional native arts area, and the agriculture area. Some of the girls even got to build a debris hut in the native arts area and learn about making bows.

After exploring the fair in the morning we headed back to the parking lot to volunteer directing traffic, which was exhausting! I used to really take simple jobs like that for granted. After our four-hour shift we went back to the fair to explore some more and head to the contra dance. The contra dance was a blast! Doris, Katie, and Meryl really got into it! After a quick dinner that the fair provided for volunteers we hpacked up and headed home. It had been an awesome trip!

On Sunday we had a talent show! It was a blast! I dressed up with sequins and a green clown wig with Melissa and performed a circus act. I would be afraid to do that at home in fear people would make fun of me, but here I feel like I can be my silly self. Everyone is accepting, and I feel so lucky to be in a community like this one.

~Bailey

Being Successful

2011-09-21T11:16:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, we went to Little Bigalow Mountain for our leadership weekend fieldtrip. The three-hour van ride was slow and full of anticipation. When the landscape started to change, and the mountains loomed in the distance we pressed our faces to the glass looking for the mountain we would be climbing. The view was stunning, even from inside the moving vehicle. We passes a few rivers and streams on elegant bridges, each turn bringing us a little bit closer to the mountain. When we turned down the dirt road to the trailhead, we all started squirming in our seats.

The van finally stopped and the doors to the van flew open and all 15 of us poured out. We heaved our packs onto our backs and met in a circle to discuss the game plan. We would be hiking 1 mile to our campsite. The hike was fairly short and easy and we followed a babbling brook all the way to the campsite. Once we arrived at camp we set up our tents and enjoyed a lovely meal of spaghetti. Then we all slumped into our sleeping bags and slept, resting up for the next day’s accent.

The sun was rising; the birds were chirping, and a slight breeze made the morning chilly. After our breakfast of oats and hot cocoa, we packed up our things and headed up the Appalachian Trail. Up the mountain we went, climbing higher and higher to the ever-looming summit. There were a lot of view-points where we could look at the peak. About an hour and 30 minutes later, we made it to the top!

Stunned is the only word that can describe the emotion I felt as I stood on top of Little Bigalow Mountain. It was a perfectly clear day and I could see for miles around. At the top of that mountain all 15 of us felt invincible. We could do anything together with each other’s help. We climbed a mountain; the possibilities of what we could do next were endless. But instead of jumping into the future, we made ourselves be present. We were proud of our accomplishments and of our community. We are sisters. We had successfully climbed a mountain. We are the girls of CSG.

~Rachel

Seeing and Studying A Copepod (1 millimeter) and Then A Finback Whale (17 meters)

2011-09-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

A highlight of one student's day: holding a sea cucumber. Another student's high point: holding a starfish, and feeling it hold on to her palm with its tube feet. If you haven't tried it yet, I hope you find an opportunity, as taking echinoderms like the sea cucumber or the sea star (= "starfish") into your hands allows interaction with a species very different from our own, something that opens your mind to the dizzying diversity of forms and approaches to life that marine creatures offer us.

But this was just the beginning of a weekend filled with adventure, thrills, and learning about the oceans and its creatures, both tiny and gigantic. From the Maine State Aquarium, where the girls held sea-organisms, we walked next door to the Bigelow Laboratory for Marine Science, where Dr. David Fields met us. Dr. Fields' expertise focuses on copepod behavior. Copepods are the most abundant form of marine zooplankton, and likely the most abundant kind of animal in the world - but microscopic - about 1 millimeter long.

Dr. Fields showed us the microscopy facilities of the Bigelow Labs, as well as part of the Bigelow's collection of marine phytoplankton, a vital component of the lab's research efforts. Bigelow scientists seek to understand global marine biological productivity, integrating satellite imagery with pigment information from individual plankton cells. With Dr. Fields we sampled plankton off the dock, measured the temperature and salinity of the water, and watched an underwater probe measure small currents in the water. He taught us about global changes in the oceans and human's role in these changes. He said that phytoplankton populations are blooming earlier in the season, and that copepod populations (which feed on phytoplankton) are not necessarily shifting to accommodate these changes. We also returned to his lab to learn about his research in the neurophysiology of copepods.

Whales and the waters of the Gulf of Maine were on the docket for Saturday. We left from Portland with Odyssey Whale Watch and went about 14 miles off shore to a ledge area where the fish and krill that the whales feed on are relatively plentiful. A minke whale (about 8 meters long) surfaced several times, and we spent nearly an hour with a finback whale who alternately came up for a series of several breaths before diving deeper to feed. Finbacks are the second largest whales in the world - we guessed ours to be about 17 meters long - smaller only than the blue whale. Needless to say, this was a thrilling experience for all. Students had read chapters before the trip about the history of hunting whales, and had read about their current endangered status due to overfishing of their prey fish, tangles in fishing nets, collisions with ships, and capture by those nations still engaged in whaling.

We also greatly appreciated the opportunity to be out in the Gulf of Maine where we could see pelagic birds such as northern gannets and Wilson's storm petrels, and appreciate how many copepods supported this whole food web. We were also amazed to see monarch butterflies out there, perhaps on their way to their wintering grounds in the Sierra Madre of Mexico.

~ Loraine Washburn (Science Teacher)

Communication Moratorium

2011-09-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Although we each went through tough bouts of homesickness, the ten days of solitude from the outside world proved to be vital to our growth as a group. As the days went by without communication to and from the “outside world,” we formed a close bond with one another that no ordinary school setting could have allowed. I think that if we had the option of communication with family and friends back home, we would have all be wrapped up in that, instead of getting to know each other. We found immense company in each other when we could not connect to family and these connections formed a sort of sisterhood. It was amazing to see and feel such friendships being created in just ten days. In fact, by the fourth day we were closer than a lot of people were in public school after a year together.

The day the moratorium was over the dining hall was buzzing with anticipation as the hour neared closer and closer to 8:00 PM. This was not because we were sick of each other or wanting to go home, but because each and every one of us was so fired up by all the amazing experiences we'd had in the first ten days together, and we couldn't wait to share these experiences with our friends and family. We were all eager to somehow get our friends to understand the greatness of our first ten days, and to catch up on everything in the "outside world" that had happened.

The moratorium ignited a great fire of friendship and community that'd we'd all still be struggling to light if we hadn't been thrown into it.

~Kagan

Leadership Adventure

2011-09-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked Semester 4’s first Leadership Adventure trip. With sunny skies and fair winds, we headed out into Casco Bay to the idyllic oaks, birches and fort remains of Cow Island, home to Rippleffect’s rockin’ youth and community development program. We were set to take on some team-building challenges, enjoy an evening under the stars, and build some paddle skills by venturing our for our first sea kayak experience.

The first weekend trip always provides a window into the character of a class. As the 15 girls of Semester 4 took on challenge after challenge, they revealed an already-cohesive community eager to hear each other’s voices, experiment with new strategies, and patiently engage in a process that values each member of the group. The warm weather, salt spray, and glow of success clung to the girls as they made their way back across the bay and to the warmth of the farmhouse- an auspicious start to a promising semester!

~ Vanessa Jones (Leadership Faculty and Extended Programs Coordinator)

The First Weekend

2011-09-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I left my house at 11 in the morning and arrived at Coastal Studies For Girls at 2. Right away we got into the swing of things! I unpacked my stuff and took a tour around the farmhouse. I was excited and nervous to be seeing my new home where I would be living, eating, learning and playing all in the same place. The moment my family left I looked around at the girls I would be living with and knew that we were becoming a new type of family. Surprisingly our first dinner was not that awkward and we laughed and chatted, and have been growing closer and closer since then.

This past weekend we had our first field trip with the leadership class and went camping on Cow Island. We did a lot of team building activities there and had a ton of fun! The most memorable activity for me was when as a group we walked through a pitch-black tunnel without making a sound, and according to the Cow Island instructors we were the only group all summer who made it through!! We rock! Then as we were leaving we broke into two teams, ‘The Ninjas’ and ‘The Pirates’ and had a great game of kickball. The Ninjas won and so in retaliation the pirates took over the Ninjas’ van before the Ninjas knew what was happening. It was all in good fun and we left Cow island laughing and feeling like it had been a great weekend. I’m excited for the coming weeks and getting to know these girls even better.

~ Corin

From the Field: Our Alumnae in Action!

2011-08-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe we’ve already had three phenomenal classes come through the doors of CSG. While they may not always be living and learning in the farmhouse, our CSG girls are certainly out and about leading, learning and weaving change in their communities. Check out what Semesters 1, 2, and 3 have been up to this summer:

Tischan Wade (Sem. 2) and Colleen Lea (Sem. 3) have been cultivating their facilitation skills at Girl Scouts CIT camps and then putting all that leadership to action by becoming camp counselors. Tischan has also been volunteering at SPCA and begins her junior year jumping into more STEM at her new school, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

Lindsay Pollock (Sem. 3) was just accepted into the World of Difference program at the Derryfield School, where she will be teaching younger kids about social problems like bullying and teasing.

Frankline Mardi (Sem. 1) just finished another summer of Upward Bound and jumps into the college process with good news: she received the Christian A. Herter Scholarship!

Samantha Nuño (Sem. 2) can’t get enough of ocean and took an advanced marine biology class at UCLA this summer (along with 3 other science classes!).

Rachel Brooks (Sem. 2) has also been cranking away with courses by spending a good chunk of the summer with students from all over the world at the Philips Exeter Academy Summer School. She is currently attending Northeastern’s Coastal Ocean Science Academy and snapping photos every chance she gets (click here to check out her photos on Shutterfly. Password is: WELCOME).

7 of our alumnae representing all 3 semesters reunite at the farmhouse!

Danae Shurn (Sem. 3) has been cooking up a storm and prepping for the Blackfly Ball while volunteering at the Beehive Collective’s Summer Work Party.

Christine Muñoz (Sem. 1) is in the midst of a 6-week internship at USC honing skills in microscopy and research in one of the grad student labs.

Ari Demetrelaukos (Sem. 3) has been putting all that science and leadership to good use as the Assistant Director of Ocean Adventures at Children’s Island Day Camp.

Emma Raine Maasch (Sem. 3), Laura Nuñez (Sem. 2), and Nyrobi Tyson (Sem. 3) have been continuing the transformative education journey as members of the first-ever class of the Field Academy, where they explored their own definition of citizenship and how to enact it. Emma Raine is rounding out her summer with a trip to Mount Desert Island Bigelow Laboratory to participate in the Summer Academy in Genomics where she will be exploring the hard molecular biology of humans and the ethical implications of that research.

Charlotte Nutt (Sem. 2), Nadia Umwali (Sem. 3), and Abeer Sharari (Sem. 2) all dove into the leadership and reconciliation program, Seeds of Peace, this summer.

Margaret Keefe (Sem. 1) hopped on a boat and honed her research and presentation skills through the Keller BLOOM program through MDIBL, and is currently delving into marine research on a ten-day school trip to the Island School in the Bahamas.

Laura Ottinger (Sem. 1) had the opportunity to practice her Spanish on a three-week trip to Peru and most recently returned from New Orleans, where she helped build houses as a member of McDonough’s Rollins-Luetkemeyer Leaders Program.

Kassandra Hopkins (Sem. 1) became the first Maine student to receive the Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship- check out the article in the Portland Press Herald!

Words of Wisdom for Semester #3

2011-06-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Here are quotes from famous women for each of our Semester #3 graduates.
Emma CP - I do not know the word 'quit.' Either I never did, or I have abolished it. - Susan Butcher, Iditarod winner, 1988
Felicia - I was just born to swing. - Lil Hardin Armstrong, bandleader, 1930's

Gabby -The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. - Roseanne

Mikayla - "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." Ayn Rand

Mellie - "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." – Harriet Tubman

Nadia - You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this. I can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Alex - What I am looking for is not out there; it is in me. – Helen Keller

Ari - "Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly." – Suzanne Bell

Danae - A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.- Maya Angelou

Bina -I am not afraid…I was born to do this. - Joan of Arc

Emma Raine - Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. - Marianne Williamson

Leah -I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.-Martha Washington

Colleen - Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Lindsay -Peace begins with a smile.- Mother Teresa

Nyrobi - I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou

Pam Erickson, Executive Director

On the Map

2011-06-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

On the day you were born, each one of you became an explorer. On that day, the world handed to you a map of unchartered territory and ever since, you have been exploring, searching and discovering.

About sixteen weeks ago, your travels brought you to the yellow farmhouse on Wolf’s Neck Road. Yes, it does look bigger in the pictures, but within, I think you have all discovered a world of vast opportunity, daunting responsibility and immeasurable acceptance. But perhaps most importantly, you have discovered a strength you never knew you had and the depth of that strength will only be truly revealed as you venture out into your future.

There is an expression that refers to being “put on a map”, an expression that is meant to demonstrate that an event or deed is extraordinary in some way. About sixteen weeks ago, you put CSG on your map. A tiny spot nestled amongst tide pools and salt marshes, anchored in place by the byssus threads that started to grow beneath it years ago and to which you have now added your own measure of lasting strength.

You may begin to look back on your CSG experience and begin to think to yourself, “That was the best time of my life”, but I hope not. Rather, I hope you will look back on this place as where the tools needed for excellence were sharpened and made bright by your own hard work and devotion to each other. These tools were made to travel far and wide. Keep them bright, keep them sharp, they will always serve you well.

So, what else will you put on your map? And what extraordinary accomplishments will put you on the maps of others or even on the map of the world? There is no way of knowing. What we do know is that your map still has wide expanses of territory as yet unexplored. Historically, there were times when explorers too daunted or too exhausted to continue labeled such areas “terra incognito” and left it at that. “Terra incognito” – literally, territory of which we have no knowledge. But I know, as all of us who know you in this moment, know that you will never simply just leave it at that.

Congratulations Semester Three.

Edith Aronson, Board Chair

Triumphant Girl Literary Journal!

2011-05-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

The school literary journal is officially available! It is a compilation of the creative writing that each girl perfected and presented at our school coffee house. It includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, with subjects ranging from sense of place at Coastal Studies, to fictional stories about a fish swimming across the ocean. It is a compilation of all their hard work this semester in English! Buy your own copy or a copy for your student!

Go to the school website www.coastalstudiesforgirls.org
under the 'shop' tab go to the Triumphant Girl Literary Journal link.

Or go directly to this link:

www.lulu.com/spotlight/coastalstudiesforgirls

My One Wild and Precious Life

2011-05-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

All my life I’ve been a girl that loves enjoying life to the fullest. I feel that all of life is precious and that everyone should have as much fun with his or her life as possible. CSG has shown me that there is even more to do than I ever dreamt was possible. I have been pushed in new ways, and experienced things I wouldn’t normally have been able to, or had the courage to try.

I have been terrified of heights and have never really had to face this fear dead on until this semester when we went to the Maine Rock Gym. I have never really wanted to try rock climbing, but I felt like I needed to in order to overcome my fear. The first time I climbed up the wall I was terrified, and when I had to let go of the wall and trust my belayer to lower me safely, I just about started hyperventilating. When my feet hit the ground I looked up and wanted to go up again. I chose a higher wall the second time and got scared halfway up, but then everyone encourage me to go the whole way up and I made it! After that day I haven’t been afraid. It feels so amazing and I wouldn’t have pushed myself if I hadn’t come to CSG. Coastal Studies For Girls has helped me to figure out what I want from my one wild and precious life.

~Mikayla

Eelgrass and Urchin Larvae

2011-05-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was jam-packed with science and incomparable scenery. We left for Mount Desert on Friday morning, and arrived at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in the early afternoon. Dr. Jim Coffman, a resident researcher there, welcomed us into his lab where he had a live sea urchin larva under a microscope, giving us a great view of its internal anatomy; we could also watch it gently moving. Jim studies how growth and development of urchins can be arrested by low food availability, and he seeks to understand the regulation of how genes are expressed by environmental factors. Students had lots of good questions for Jim, and they were really pleased to see how the biology they had learned in school applied to real-life problems such as regeneration and gene expression. Also, Emma, whose sister species is the green sea urchin, was pleased as punch to get such a super view of a live baby urchin.

We watched the sun go down at Schoodic point, and spent a lovely and comfortable night at the South Gouldsboro home of Edith Aronson, our board chair. The next morning we headed to a sand bar off Bar Harbor where we met Dr. Jane Disney, MDIBL researcher who organizes a citizen science project restoring eelgrass to Frenchman Bay. Students were put to work collecting quadrat data on eelgrass density and length for Dr. Disney's monitoring database. We sampled the water to obtain the dissolved oxygen content , and collected a few interesting invertebrates and egg masses as well. Back in the lab at MDIBL we titrated our seawater to determine the dissolved oxygen content - it was very high, likely a reflection of animal activity not yet revved up for the season - and looked under the scope at chink shell eggs, young barnacles just attached, or in the process of attaching to rocks, marine worms and eelgrass.

We made a quick tour of the Acadia shore, as the rain was coming down by then, before heading to Bangor for pizza and a quick stop to see Stephen King's house.

~ Loraine Washburn (Science Teacher)

Feel The Beat

2011-05-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Rock, Snap, Hit, Clip

By Felicia

Rock, Snap Hit Clip

Feel the beat

Smell the sweet

Food of Gail

Incoming mail

Kick a rock down the road

Snap when something has easily flowed

Into your mind, Hit your heart

With deep revisions

And fierce conversations

Clip together the memories you’ve made

Run the show, never let your light fade.

Rock, Snap Hit, Clip

Walk to your drum

Smell the Sun

Shine on, Run on

Always have fun

Set your soul free

Rock out on stage

Hit the ground running don’t look back again

Clip your hair

Share what you wear

If you want to be old and wise

Be young and crazy

Allow yourself to cry

Rock, Snap, Hit, Clip

Do things thing you want to do,

Stick together straight and through

Pencil dive into the new view

Become enriched and deep within

Hit the bottom and begin an upward swim

Snap out of all sorrows

Leaves complaints behind

Rock with the stars, roll with the waves.

Believe in yourself

Rock it, Snap it, Hit it, Clip it

Clap your hands

Run to the vans

We travel together

Roll the windows down

The breeze flips our hair around.

Music Loud,

Our feet pound.

Rise out of the seat, that stinking belt cant hold you down

Lead us to peeling back layers

Of the barriers we build

Our default facial expressions.

We are ourselves now,

Who we want to see,

Not who we try to be.

Telling the truth

Saying what we feel

We express ourselves freely at closing circle.

Rock it.

Rock who you are and show it off,

But remember to always be modest.

Snap it.

Snap to the sounds, the words, the feelings

That gets you thinking about new or old life meanings.

Hit it.

Hit away bad thoughts from your mind

Smack away social constraints,

That keeps you from being you.

Clip it.

Clip it all together at CSG.

Nyrobi's CSG Rap performance

2011-04-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Check out Nyrobi Performing her CSG Rap!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV4UoQbxjQ8

Coastal

Studies

for

Girls

By Nyrobi

Bursting with laughter, estrogen

And the sound of self-discovery!

We are the house

The yellow farmhouse

What seems to be a safe haven

A place for recovery

Is actually a residence

Bouncing with ideas, perspectives, personalities

Diversity that doesn’t fit the status quo

So how is this intensive, explosive energy harnessed

And used for the greater good

It’s that oh so simple

We are girls

It’s in the way we talk

The way we walk

Our passion for learning

Our zealous approach

Compassion so far reaching

And strong the Gulf of Maine can’t contain

Students and staff

We are all the same

Life long learners

On the same train

Alex, Bina, Nadia, Danea

Lindsay, MiKayla, Ari, Leah

Colleen, Felicia, Gabby, Meli, ECP

And let’s not forget Emma Raine

15 girls

All awesome, each one

Going out onto the world

To get something done

They bring and will take a little piece with them

When these pieces combine

They make something great

The semester 3 of CSG

That can never be replaced.

Bina's CSG Rap Performance

2011-04-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

Bina's Performance of her CSG Rap!

Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XpVNuvGs34

Putting the “G” in CSG

By Bina

Welcome to the real hood

Where it’s all good

Right here is the new dish

So make a wish

Come explore the mysteries

Of CSG G’s

We got barnacles galore

Ten thousand or more

An actor, a goddess

Our resies don’t mess

The teachers play our games

Most def not lame

It’s got that right kinda feel

We kick it real

With a new G in town

He’s got it all down

Whoopie’s the name

Swimming’s his game

Got the lifestyle alright

Schedule all tight

Don’t be playing around

Don’t mess up, clown

Community is top

No, we don’t stop

Best remember the girls

No swirls or twirls

Just smarts and fun in all

Even if some are a bit too tall

Welcome To CSG Yo

2011-04-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Check out Lindsay performing her CSG Rap!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm6qw08lc_M

Welcome to CSG Yo

By Lindsay

I go to this school, called CSG.

They teach us ‘bout science, and even how to lead.

We live in this house, on Wolfe’s Neck Farm.

We sleep in the same room, but that’s no harm.

Our house is pretty small for a group of fifteen,

But we all have chores to keep it nice and clean.

We go to classes every day.

We ask for more choice time, but Vanessa says “No way!”

Our idea of an awesome treat,

Is something like Cliff Bars to make us feel complete.

We get excited when we get in the vans,

We pretend we’re getting ice cream, because we’re all big fans.

Then you’ve got the Res. Team, who’s crazy fun.

Then there’s Claire who you couldn’t outrun.

You’ve got Leah, with all her bling,

You’ve got Loraine who will gladly sing.

Of course Noel, who gives us dessert,

But when Gail finds out, she is so hurt.

We love our school, we live on the water.

Vanessa’s our mom, and we are her daughters.

The thought of leaving could make us cry,

So we get mad at Meli when she brings up goodbyes.

A CSG Rap

2011-04-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a CSG rap written in English class. More will be posted throughout the week, including a few rap performances!

Writing a Rap

By Ari

So I was told to write a rap

From my English teacher Leah

She gave us the instructions

And then said see ya!

All 15 girls are dumbfounded

And no one knows what to do

But we will figure it out

Though it might take a day or two

It has to be about CSG

She says it should be easy, with a snap

But we are all girls

Who knows how to write a rap?

We have other hard assignments

Many times a week

No one really complains

But inside we freak!

CSG isn’t just about school though

We do other fun activities

Such as play games

And celebrate with festivities

Every day there are three meals

One in the morning, noon and night

The food has to feed 18 people

It can turn into a big fight

But only once in a while

We get a special treat

A homemade dessert

From the cook to beat

History is first

On my plate for the day

There is no question

Claire will jump up and down yelling HEY!

Next I have math

With a guy named Jim

Sometimes I get bored

But I shouldn’t with him

Though math is fun

My next class is Spanish

Noel makes me laugh

And I almost vanish

My last class is English

Where this crazy rap was made

I shouldn’t stop working on it

Hopefully it will bring up my grade

At the end of the day

We have closing circle

With Vanessa, Eva and Hannah

Where we express our feeling both physically and verbal

So that is the end

Of my CSG rap

Too bad it has to be done

It was kind of fun in fact!

Public Speaking

2011-04-18T17:04:00.001-07:00

CSG is a school but it’s more than school. CSG is like a family. We learn how to do new things that we haven’t done before. Living with 14 other girls in the house is like living with my sisters. We support each other as sisters, and we also respect each other. There is a time to study and do our homework but there is also a time to have fun and get to know each other better.

I have done things here that I didn’t think were possible before. One thing that I have really improved at, and that I am really proud of, is public speaking. I have been scared of public speaking since I was a little girl. At my sending school I haven’t had have the opportunity to improve because I go to a big school and I am one student of many. I am not challenged to speak in my classes very often. Right before I came to CSG I was very worried about speaking up in classes. I wouldn’t be able to hide in the smaller classes, and I was afraid I would have to speak in front of my classmates. Fortunately, I have had so much practice here I am now able to speak up with more confidence, and it isn’t as scary as it has been in the past. Improving my public speaking was my first goal and now thanks to the many opportunities I have been given here at CSG I have achieved it.

~ Nadia

Live From The Edge!

2011-04-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

To conclude our service week on Friday we went with Leah, our English teacher, and our two RA^s, Eva and Hannah, to a Portland Ovations show in Portland, and saw an incredible performance by an ensemble company called The Universes. They were a group that harmoniously blended poetry, theater, jazz, hip-hop, politics, down home blues, and Spanish boleros. I don’t think anyone was prepared for what we were about to experience! They were innovative, creating all the music and sound affects using only their bodies and voices. We were laughing one minute and speechless the next. Their varying approach to topics was a testament to their ingenuity. We were put on the edge of our seats when issues of race and hurricane Katrina were thrown in our face. Our group was able to lighten the mood and add a little spice to their performance because we arrived late, and they called us out and referred to us numerous times during the performance! After the mind-blowing performance we were able to meet the performers and have a group photo taken with them.

The performance left us inspired and since then we have been focusing on poetry in English. So far we have looked at different poems that range from Ginny, who works in the CSG front office, to Emily Dickinson and Wendell Berry, and have been looking at the different structures. We have looked at poetry in music too, and during our extended English block today we acted out the lyrics of rap music opposite to the way we thing the author would. It helped us realize how performance influences the voice and meaning that others get from words. Now we are in the process of writing a CSG rap using all that we have already learned. Stay tuned to read some next week!

~Nyrobi

CSG Girls Teach Science To Younger Girls

2011-04-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today was inspirational and eye opening. We got the chance to be role models for 4^th through 6^th grade girls at the Hardy Girls Healthy Women Girls Unlimited Conference. We were given an hour to introduce the girls to what CSG is all about, especially the marine science and leadership aspects. We set up touch tanks and explained what types of organisms were in each one. One-on-one interactions with the girls brought smiles to our faces! Some of the girls knew even more about some of the organisms then we did! It was very exciting to meet and talk with potential Coastal Studies for Girls students and supporters.

As we walked into the building, what seemed like hundreds of girls, were swarming the registration tables. We were not expecting some of the girls’ behaviors at all; 5^th graders were wearing pink glittery eye shadow and talking about their boyfriends. We felt like we had a lot of work to do to let them know it was cool to be interested in other things too. During our workshop we were able to role model how much fun it is to be interested in science! It was challenging to describe Coastal Studies for Girls in just a short hour; there is so much to say!

Over all, it was really rewarding to know that the girls we taught today looked up to us and admired what we do. It was also very meaningful to see so many of the girls become curious about CSG and their own future.

~Lindsay, Nyrobi, Emma R

Cow Island Service Day

2011-04-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Cow Island. It is an island off the coast of Portland where the program “Rippleffect” is located. They organize summer programs for children, youth and families. To help them out before the summer season started, we cleaned up the trails and parts of the fields where they hold their events. To get to Cow Island we took a boat! It was foggy as we motored through out to the island. They have many people who live and come to the island during the spring and summer, so cleaning trails is a big job that they needed help with. We raked, picked up sticks and did some pruning. It wasn’t physically demanding, but we were all worn out by the end of the day from the tedious work. It was very nice to be on an island when it wasn’t so cold or windy in comparison to the rocky boat ride we took to get there. We got to appreciate the beauty of the woods and water around us. Cow Island has old forts on it that are used as storage space. The combination of the forts and the dark blue waves with the tall trees was breath taking.

The most exciting part of the trip was the boat ride there and back! There were many waves because of the rain and fog, and we shrieked every time we hit a wave. The food for lunch was also amazing; it was one of Gail’s best picnics yet. There was hot cocoa with sandwiches and lots of bread that Jim (our math teacher) generously bought us. Although the food and the experience were both very good, it was rewarding to help to make the island a safer and more beautiful place for the people who will soon be staying there. It was meaningful because we got to experience the outdoors, help people who needed the extra hands and also to be in a different location. Today was important because we cleaned up the trails and we also had fun being together and helping our community. It’s always very exciting to help other people and to make the world look more beautiful.

~Ari, Sabina, Nadia

Day 4 of Service Week

2011-04-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Freeport Community Center to help out in the thrift shop. After splitting up into small groups, we took different jobs sorting, pricing, and arranging various items. We had some great conversations with the elderly in the building. They told jokes and we had a great time laughing and chatting with them. Making the lives of the volunteers and staff members easier by lending a hand was pleasing because it made us feel like we had a direct connection to the community around us. After wrapping up our time at the community center, with happy farewells, a few pieces of cake, and a feeling of accomplishment, we headed back to the vans to go to Bates Morse Mountain Conservation Area and Seawall Beach to do clean up.

We stopped for lunch at a Fort Popham at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The cold wind brushed against our faces, making several of us run for shelter behind the huge stonewalls of the fortress. While we made our sandwiches and gobbled them up, Loraine brought out Alex’s mom’s homemade cookies. But then, with a sudden movement a ravenous seagull swooped from the skies and snatched Leah’s gluten free cookie from the table, zip lock bag and all. “Get that seagull and cookie!” shouted Lindsay as the bird flew off into the distance. With tears in our eyes, we headed back to the vans.

We ran onto the beach, ripped our shoes off, and darted towards the ocean. After playing in the ocean, we started to pick up the trash along the beach. By the end of the day we had picked up lots of bags of ropes, bottles, wrappers, cans, and other various bits of litter. We carried them to the van with a feeling of satisfaction. We had helped our environment and mother earth.

~Meli, Leah, Alex

Day Three of Service Week

2011-04-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today, Mikayla, Colleen and I, (Danae) worked on beautifying the Coastal Studies for Girls campus. We woke up early in the morning and began at 8:30 with our work gloves and dirty clothes on. Some of us were assigned to work on the shed, where we reorganized it and installed a new shelf to put our snowshoes on. Emma Raine and Gabriella worked on cleaning out the old compost set up by the pioneer class of CSG. It smelled really bad!

The rest of us worked in the flowerbeds around the house— pulling up the dead stuff, trimming the grasses, and putting in a new layer of mulch and some peat. We also removed dead branches around the willow tree, and some of us rebuilt the fort under the apple-tree. (The fort was built by Danae’s close friend Blair Hudson and the rest of Semester Two.) It was hard work but we all had a lot of fun, playing games while we did the work.

The most challenging part of the day was the amount of work that we had to do with the limited amount of tools. We had to coordinate with the other groups to use the tools we needed. Even among our small groups we had to work together and share the tools. The most rewarding and exciting part of the day was seeing the finished results of our work!

What was most rewarding for me was seeing how much better the campus looked after all of our hard work. What we did today was important and meaningful because it made us come together as a community, and we all worked together in order to beautify the place that we now call home. CSG is giving us a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and making it ready for spring is the least we can do.

~Danae

Service Week Day 2....

2011-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Day Two is coming soon! Here are some pictures from day two on Cow Island to hold you over....

CSG is Family

2011-04-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

The wonderful thing about the concept family is its elasticity. Family is ever expanding, always making room for just one more. Family is ever contracting, drawing in on itself to protect its members. Before the sun even comes up, family is you and the dog on your morning walk. During the day, family is you and your co-workers planning a birthday celebration for the woman in the office down the hall. At day’s end, family gathers for a meal, aware of the many gifts and challenges that surround them. Family endures and will always be there for us. Family cheers us on and is our shoulder to cry on. Family is about honoring the past and dreaming about the future. Family defines us, but the truly miraculous family is the one that uses imagination and courage to define itself.

Thank you to the Semester 3 girls and their guests for welcoming Coastal Studies for Girls into your families with the same love and exuberance with which we have welcomed you into ours.

Edith Aronson, Board of Directors Chair

Service Week Day 1!

2011-04-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today we did service projects at Wolfe Neck Farm, just down the road from us. We painted cubbies, replaced wooden frames for raised garden beds that had broken over the winter, and sorted wool. The cubbies will be used for storing items; the raised beds will be used for growing vegetables and other plants; the wool will be spun and later it will even be sold.

Volunteering at the farm was important to us, because we know that many people are going to benefit from the work we did. It was meaningful to know that we were contributing to all of the programs that Wolfe Neck Farm provides. It felt good to know that the service we provided was useful to people in our community, and we all look forward to seeing the outcomes.

The most challenging part of the day was working in the mud and the rain. But then it actually turned out to be fun! Carrying the new wooden frames from the barn to the garden beds was also a challenge because they were very heavy! The most rewarding part of the day was definitely having the opportunity to make a small difference in our local community. At the end of the day when we looked at all the work we had done we were very proud. We helped to make it possible to better educate people about sustainable agriculture.

~Nyrobi, Gabby, and Emma C.P.

Home For The Weekend

2011-04-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

I had an excellent weekend with my family on the Massachusetts and Maine shores! It was fun running around on the rocks and the beach with my siblings, but it was a little weird at the same time. I didn’t really know how to interact with them anymore since I’d spent the last seven weeks with 15 and 16 year olds instead of a seven year old, a 13 year old and a 14 year old. I slowly readjusted to them, but I had definitely changed in other ways too.

CSG has taught me to be more self-reliant. I kept pushing my family away whenever they tried to do something for me that I was capable of doing. After living at CSG for seven weeks I have had to do a lot of things for myself and I have become more responsible for myself. At home I have to do the laundry sometimes, but at CSG it doesn’t get done if I don’t do it. I’ve learned to do it and other things that I used to rely on my parents to do. I have to make sure I’m ready on time and it’s no longer my parent’s responsibility. Most importantly if I have a problem I have to take charge and let people know how I feel.

I didn’t really realize how much I had learned and grown until I was put back into my old life for the weekend. When my family finally dropped me off I knew I was going to miss them, but I also walked up the stairs of the farmhouse with a new confidence and felt like I was home again.

~Alex

The Titanic and Beyond: Lessons from the Deep Ocean

2011-03-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

On the eve of the 99th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, three hundred people crowded into a school auditorium in Portland, Maine to learn from the exploration of this century-old ship resting on the seafloor. The human stories were quietly told in the images shown by deep-sea explorer, David Gallo: coffee cups and teapots half-buried in sediment, a single shoe and a bowler hat being slowly reclaimed by the sea. The book unfinished, the telegram never sent and the suitcase unopened – fragments of the many lives which ended on that fateful night.

And if a picture could tell a thousand words, Dr. Gallo could tell a thousand more.

Gallo spun a tale of ocean life so amazing you thought it was the first time you had heard of animals living in utter blackness and around ocean vents so hot that surface life would be boiled alive. Chemical seeps so toxic that we would classify them as hazardous waste – yet colonies of life survive and thrive around them. He showed us creatures virtually disappear in seconds before our eyes – all by camouflaging themselves into the rocks and the corals of the seafloor around them. This former shoe salesman turned scientist could - as they say back where Gallo grew up – talk a dog off a meat wagon, and leave him begging for more.

Gallo, a native son of the Finger Lakes, discovered things that we terrestrial types cannot begin to imagine: undersea lakes made up of a dense, salty brine that is as different to the ocean currents flowing over them as freshwater lakes are to the air currents blowing above them. These unfathomable underwater lakes have shores lined with mussel beds so vast that if Molly Malone could have gotten there – she’d have lived like a queen in Dublin fair city singing cockles and mussels alive, alive ho.

Dr. Gallo took his audience from the depths of the ocean bed to her peaks - mountain ranges so high and so long they’d make the stark, towering Himalayas look like the worn, gentle Catskills. He took us out to space and had us look at our planet from a distance, as the men of Apollo first saw it four decades ago - the first time we became aware that indeed, planet Earth should have been called planet Ocean.

Then, Gallo reminded us of the connection. One he never thought about out as he played on the shores of Owasco Lake in Auburn, New York. One we forget every day as we call the lawn guy, drain our coffee in to the sink, jump in the car and watch another plastic bag blow down the street. Nearly everything we do on land: ends up in the ocean, affects the ocean or changes it - forever. Dr. Gallo ended with a quote as simple and profound as his lecture:

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

~ Marcel Proust

Susan Ryan is the President of the Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association, a cosponsor of this event. She lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine with her husband, two children and one betta fish.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The public lecture by Dr. Gallo, “The Titanic and Beyond: Lessons from the Deep Ocean” was presented at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine on March 29, 2011. Coastal Studies for Girls was a cosponsor of the event and students attended. Dr. Gallo is the Director of Special Projects of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The Titanic, built in 1911, struck an iceberg the evening of April 14^th, and sunk early on April 15, 1912. The ship was discovered by Dr. Robert Ballard of WHOI and crew on Sep. 1, 1985.

Reaching New Heights

2011-03-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

Years ago I went to a ropes course with my Girl Scout troop. I wasn’t scared until we had to jump off a platform twenty feet high and try and grab a trapeze bar dangling in front of me. The man belaying me overcompensated for my weight and I was pulled off the platform. Ever since I have been terrified of heights.

Last week for our leadership class at CSG we went to the Maine Rock Gym. I was pretty nervous about being off the ground and being belayed by someone again. On my first couple of tries I managed to get about halfway up the wall before I looked down and saw the ground. Petrified, I started shaking and told my partner, Alex, I was going to climb down. I couldn’t even let myself be belayed down; I was too scared. I was probably only ten feet off the ground but my fear turned it into thirty or forty feet.

After that, Alex realized how scared I was and started helping me through my fear. Working with Alex on one of the easier parts of the wall she helped me figured out where I needed to place my feet, and what handholds I needed to grab. After many tries I actually managed to make it to the top! And I trusted Alex to lower me back down to the ground! With her help and support I even managed to make it to the top of the wall another three times that day and learned to trust myself and her.

~ Colleen

Learning about our Heritage

2011-03-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

The languages field trip started off Friday evening with a wonderful Mexican themed dinner prepared for us by Gail and Hannah. We all got our fill of delicious homemade tostadas. Shortly after dinner we all gathered again in the dining hall to watch the film Reveil. It is a documentary detailing the history and cultural resurgence of Franco-Americans in New England, with a strong emphasis on Maine. We paused halfway through the film for an intermission, enjoying “el helado” or “la crème glacée”, also known as ice cream. Once we’d had our fill, it was back to the film. Many of the girls were surprised to learn details about the prominence of the Franco-American culture in Maine; one third of the population of the state of Maine is of Franco-American decent. And all were shocked to learn that the Klu-Klux-Klan once had an active presence in the state, persecuting Franco-Americans. However, the most impressive result of viewing the film was the desire felt by the girls to know more about their own family histories. After a little choice time, we all headed to bed, happy that the weather forecast for tomorrow promised sunny skies for our field trip and picnic lunch.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful snow covered landscape; not the ideal weather for a picnic, but gorgeous to look at. After breakfast and a little rethinking of our plans, we headed out to visit the MuseumLA; a museum focusing on the history of mill town life in Lewiston. During the ride, Meli commented on how beautiful the trees looked covered in snow. Once at the museum, our guide Diane took over. She began with an overview of Franco immigration to North America and the spreading of the people throughout Canada and New England. She brought our focus to the great impact that mills had on the people and how they were the cause of much immigration from Canada to New England. We moved on to the mill exhibits where Diane explained the life of children and women working in the mills. We learned how the textiles were made in the mills, and the many dangers involved with the process. Before leaving the museum, several of the girls bought textile scarves from the gift shop and Diane gave us all souvenirs of our visit.

On our way home we stopped at the Durham boat landing for our solo. It was interesting for us to contemplate the flowing water of the Androscoggin River, which is quite different from the ocean waters we normally view during solo. Back at school we decided to have our picnic in the comfort of our little yellow farmhouse instead of in the snow. We had lovely fresh baguettes, French cheeses, smoked salmon, ham, cornichons, smoked Maine mussels, hummus, sparkling lemonade beverages, and tasty French cookies. Then the girls gathered for the sharing of our own family immigration stories.

We discovered through these stories that many of us share common heritages. Norwegian, Swedish, Irish, African, Scottish, Native American, and French ancestries are shared by many of us. We discovered that some families have a family crest, a family castle, and/or a family plaid. Some of the girls sadly revealed that they could trace part of their ancestry no further than a slave ship. But we excitedly discussed the possibilities that DNA testing has brought for us all to trace our ancestries back further than our current family histories allow. Some girls can trace their roots back to the Mayflower, while Ari is only second generation American and of one hundred percent Greek ancestry, Gabriella is first generation American on her father’s side, Meli is first generation American, and Nadia’s family has just recently immigrated to Maine from Rwanda. We were all fascinated by each others’ stories and came to realize that we have more in common than not. While spending the weekend learning about the Franco-Americans of New England and the immigration stories of others, we in fact learned a great deal more about ourselves.

~Noel (French and Spanish Teacher)

Connection To Land- A Poem

2011-03-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

The Lake

As we drive down the gravel road we all go silent.

The radio is turned of and everyone is quiet.

The windows get rolled down.

We inhale and smile then breath deeply again.

Scents of woods and lake water fill our nostrils

And the gravel crunches under the tires.

We drive down the road in silence until we reach the little house.

People pour out of it, running to greet us.

Three generations surround our car

We have to stop the car so we don’t run anyone over.

The car doors bang open and our things are taken, to be put in our room.

We step out of the car and arms surround us

Crushing us lovingly to their bodies.

Words of greeting and welcome pass through our ears

And our voices echo them.

But when every one is calmed down and gone inside

I stand by the beach.

My toes on sand the rest of my feet on grass.

The sun sets over the trees

The radiant colors mirrored on the lake’s surface.

Slowly I set one foot onto the sand letting it sink in

Feeling the tiny grains in between my toes.

The unable to control my self anymore

I run down the dock and jump into the lake.

It’s a shock of cold compared to the warm summer air

I stay under for as long as possible.

Then when I need to, I swim up

My head breaks through the water

And I float in the memory filled lake.

I can hear the laughter

From the past the present and the future

I can hear the crying

From the stubbed toe or a skinned knee

Then from the lake

The memories rise

Showing their contents for only me to see

They are filled with color

The memories sing to me

The songs of my mother past

My grandmothers past

And I float and listen

~ Gabriella

Sunday Activity

2011-03-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Another relaxing Sunday morning at CSG, and the girls, fortified by a brunch of omelets and Gail’s famous sticky buns, were busily finishing up their chore rotations. Once the floors were mopped, the bunkroom tidy, and the bathrooms sparkling, we all circled up in the dining room for our Sunday activity. For today’s activity, I’d thought hard about a topic that would be valuable and interesting to the girls, and finally it hit me. What do we all think about at least three times a day? Food, of course! Food may not seem like much of a topic to discuss, but in recent years, what to eat has become increasingly more confusing as our food system has grown more complicated. My goal was to give the girls tools to navigate food choices and to avoid the stress or guilt that too many of their peers felt about food.

The girls’ eyes lit up as I announced our topic, and we jumped right in for our first activity. I had hung a giant paper “dinner plate” on the wall, and the girls eagerly taped up pictures of foods that they ate at home. Soon, the “plate” was covered with a mosaic of different foods, from pupusas to pumpkin pie. Then, with our creative juices

flowing, we begin a discussion. The way we eat and how we grow food has been steadily changing in the United States. Our food system is growing in scale, marked by fewer and larger farms and food processing plants. Obesity and diet-related illnesses are on the rise. Americans are cooking less and eating fewer meals together. In light of all this, what and how should we be eating? How could we work to change the way we all related to food?

I passed out cards with 16 of Michael Pollan’s 64 “food rules,” which are based on traditional wisdom about eating habits, and are intended to be a simple and honest guide for what and how to eat. Some made the girls laugh out loud: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” “Avoid food products containing ingredients a third grader cannot pronounce.” We brainstormed ways that we, as smart, healthy women, could take action to improve our own, our familys, or our friends’ food habits. Here at CSG, we concluded, the most important thing would be not to eat too much of Gail’s delicious food! We’re truly lucky to have a cook who uses local and sustainable ingredients whenever possible and who keeps us all well-fed and healthy.

We wrapped up our discussion and the girls went off to begin “personal sustainability time” – a weekly period devoted to an individual activity, like journaling or going for a run, to keep us each of us happy and refreshed. Our giant dinner plate, however, remained on the wall, reminding us of all that we had discussed.

~Hannah (resident assistant)

Communicating With Each Other

2011-03-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we went to a low ropes course in Saco, Maine and were challenged in many ways. In the beginning of the day, for the first few challenges, it was hard for us to be organized as a group, and a lot of us got frustrated with each other. We had one challenge called the spider web, where everybody had to get from one side of a rope web to the other by going through the holes in the web. We weren’t allowed to touch the web in the process, or go through the same hole twice. We had to help each other and lift people through the top holes. I was one of the people who went through a hole at the top, and I trusted everybody who was holding me and passing me through. It was really fun! But it didn’t start out that way…

At first, when we were trying to complete the challenges, I got impatient when I was trying to get my voice heard. (As were other girls.) During lunch, we worked out what went wrong and why we were all getting frustrated—it was our communication style. We weren’t really listening to each other, and were only listening to a few people around us, instead of everyone. We weren’t organized in how we listened to each other. After lunch, we started listening and sharing ideas in a much more organized and complete way, and we were much more successful! We all bonded, because we had to trust each other and listen to everybody’s ideas and inputs. The trip was a great way for all of us girls to become closer, and learn about how we function as a group.

~ Lindsay

A Visit From Dr. Daniella Swenton

2011-03-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Yesterday the Marine Science class had a visit from Dr. Daniella Swenton, currently a postdoctoral researcher at Clark University studying this very interesting species in several populations in Alaska. It is the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, is a little fish that lives in the northern oceans, both Atlantic and Pacific. It is a classic example of adaptive radiation - of how new species are formed as organisms encounter new environmental conditions.

Meli

She also brought with her other specimens ; some from populations that were totally marine, some that had an anadromous lifestyle (that migrate from the sea into freshwater to breed), and some that lived completely in freshwater lakes. Students had the opportunity to study the fish closely - to draw and measure, to count armor plates and to dissect to look for organs, eggs, or parasites. The challenge was to figure out which fish came from which population based on observed characteristics. Who is more armored, and in which environment does a fish need more armor? Whose spines are longer, and why might that be? Why are some populations bigger than others? Students jumped right in to explore these questions, and did a thorough job with great enthusiasm and curiosity. Overall they learned how natural selection works, with a hands-on demonstration of relatively recent evolution of the stickleback. They also were introduced to what a science talk looks like - someting that will come in handy when they give their own talks at the end of the semester.

three-spined stickleback and sketches

Dr. Swenton stayed for supper, and then told us about her doctoral research. She studied mosquitofish in the desert, where populations are often isolated from one another, living restricted to a particular spring and pond in the arid landscape of New Mexico. In this talk students learned about how species keep from mating with closely related species, and why this might be important in evolution. Dani (as we came to know her) also shared with students her research experience as an undergraduate student, and how she had come to pursue a career in biology.

~Loraine (Marine Science Faculty)

Nurture Through Nature: Finding a Balance

2011-03-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

STRESS! It is one of those challenges in life that never goes away. Even in the idyllic landscape of CSG, stress can be lurking right around the corner. It ambushes us in the form of community conflict, or slowly seeps into our lives through the growing weight of social, family, and school demands. Often at CSG, we meet our challenges with vigor- we push ourselves to take that next step to the top of the mountain, extend a hand or a kind word to help each other forward, and take a moment to laugh at ourselves and the messes we’ve managed to create. Amidst the effort, laughter, and occasional tears challenge can evoke, we inevitably find that we’ve grown more resilient: our bodies become stronger, our intellect runs deeper, and even our hearts have expanded as we exchange help and understanding with others.

It takes quite a bit of energy to face our challenges with the perspective, humor, and grit embodied by a CSG girl. To restore this energy, we set out for a weekend adventure with a simple mission: to rest and rejuvenate. It can be a challenge in itself to get 15 highly motivated girls to slow down and step out of the flow of their busy lives, but they emptied their school bags to make room for their sleeping bags with openness and optimism, and we set out for the mountains of western Maine.

Our journey landed us at Nurture Through Nature; a rustic retreat center nestled at the base of Pleasant Mountain in Denmark, Maine. Upon our arrival at NTN, the girls dropped their bags and tromped through the snow to spend the evening in a wood-fired sauna. Lounging on the wooden benches, we chatted, laughed, relaxed, and SWEAT. A LOT. Breathing in the smell of warm cedar, we welcomed the heat into our muscles to unwind and release our tension. Our rounds of heat were balanced with refreshing doses of cool river water and invigorating dives into the snow under a star-speckled sky. We wandered back to the Meeting House with an easy lightness and set up our camp for the night in the lofted yoga studio. The girls fell asleep to the warm glow of the wood stove and soft words read from Tatterhood and Other Tales: Stories of Magic and Adventure.

Saturday brought a light snowfall, and we spent the morning traveling up a quiet trail to a fantastic view of mist clinging to the White Mountains in the distance. The snow gently flicked against our hoods as we paused for a short solo on the mountainside, and we made it back just in time to meet Raja for our private yoga lesson. With a focus on flexibility, breathing, and balance, we soaked in the tangible lesson this dynamic practice can hold for our everyday lives. As the snow outside turned to rain, we napped, read, and played the afternoon away in the cozy comfort of the Meeting House. With exquisite metaphorical timing, the sun burst through the clouds on our drive home and we returned to life in Freeport again emboldened to share our unbridled vibrancy as we work, play, and learn.

~Vanessa (Head Resident and Leadership Faculty)

Experiencing CSG

2011-03-08T03:10:00.000-08:00

I began this day with a 3 mile run in the rain with three of the other girls, arriving back at the house an hour later completely soaked with mud smeared on our cheeks, and smiles glued to our faces.

Living in the little yellow farmhouse has been quite an experience! Beginning with our first night of playing games and evening closing circle, our playfulness has also carried into the classroom. It has helped us to become more accepting of different opinions during our deeper discussions in History and English, and it has helped us to listen to our peers in Marine Science. I have found that so far, the CSG community has made my experience of the east coast one that I want to experience later in life too. Even if the winters are freezing cold, and the water is not a desirable temperature for swimming!

This week I have had many experience that I believe represent the spirit of CSG to it’s fullest. In History class, we explored the ideas of what it takes to create a colony and finished the week by branching off into groups to create a colony of our own. In English class, we played a vocabulary board game that also related to the book we are reading, (Refuge, by Terry Tempest Williams,) to test our knowledge and have some fun. Our leadership class this week posed a great challenge to my leadership skills and courage, because I had to give a fifteen-minute presentation in front of the group. Lastly, our Marine Science classes this week was filled with fieldtrips that were especially experiential. We went down to the Freeport dock and collected different species from the water until a snowstorm hit and we were forced to rush home with our creatures to the lab microscopes. It was fascinating! I had seen some of the creatures before, but I had never looked or questioned the reasons for their structures and behaviors before!

~Leah L.W.

Up Close and Personal

2011-02-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

At first, we 15 girls hated the idea of a ten-day communication moratorium. We moaned, groaned and outright protested until we realized how much of a difference it made in our community at CSG. The first night at dinner, small talk was a bit forced, but by the third night we were chatting like old friends. The idea of banning facebook and phone calls seemed harsh and unbelievable at first, but it was worth every gripe and grumble. When the moratorium was brought up, heads nodded in agreement that it was actually a wonderful thing. If computers had been issued as soon as we had arrived, no friends would have been made that first week. Facebook would have consumed our nights. Instead we shared pictures of our friends and family and told silly stories. Some of us were even a little sad at the end of the moratorium.

On Saturday we had our first Marine Science weekend trip! We all piled into the two vans, (who we’ve named Nemo & Marty) to go to the New England Aquarium in Boston. There were all sorts of ocean critters who I didn’t realize lived in our ocean. Lorain let us go off into the great unknown of the rest of the aquarium and we explored to our hearts’ content. There were sea dragons, jellyfish, seals, and fish galore! It’s fascinating to think of all the life in the ocean, and even better to be able to see it live and up close instead of in a book or on a screen.

~Bina

A Snowy Accomplishment

2011-02-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

Picture this— deep within a quiet forest etching dark lines against a clear blue sky, nineteen brightly clad girls, winding over hills and around curves like a multi-colored centipede. Listen for a moment—over the subtle stillness of the woods in its long winter slumber, noisy banter of conversation, jokes and singing, matched by the sharp crunch of snow underfoot.

This was our first weekend field trip away. We went to Maine Huts and Trails Poplar Stream Falls hut, in Kingfield. It was our first outing for our Leadership Adventure class, and snowshoeing seemed the perfect way to experience the Maine woods (essential with 3 feet of snow on the ground!), and to begin our exploration of leadership. This trip was all about trying, experience, and goal setting—what challenges you? What do you do in the face of a challenging goal? How do you respond to others who are experiencing challenge differently than you? How willing are you to try something new? How do you share your story of achievement with others? For many, this was a major first challenge—the first experience they’ve had snowshoeing, backpacking, traveling in winter snow, and overnight lodging on trail. Judging from the looks on faces, each person has experienced the adventure differently—some were aglow soaking in the beauty of the mountain landscape, some gritted in determination to hike through the pain of exertion, while still others were engrossed in social chatter to ease the passing of the miles.

We arrived at our destination three miles embedded within the forest, just in time for dinner—a feast of beef stew, honey mustard glazed green beans, and fresh baked bread, with Maine blueberry cobbler for dessert. A fitting reward for a hard day’s work! After dinner, we retired to the lounge, where Vanessa lead us with a thought provoking reading, followed by a sharing of personal stories. The reading was about women and bragging: why is it that women are reluctant to take credit for their achievements and tell stories of their achievements? In the chapter “Good Girls Don’t Brag, Do They”, Peggy Klaus points out differing standards for men and women: “Too often, women relinquish their victories by remaining faithful to a traditional female role” by being quiet, attributing their success to others or a team effort, and shying away from self-promotion. The statement rings true to me, and causes me to wonder, what does this do to a woman’s self-esteem, and how does it in turn impact her life choices and opportunities for reward, recognition and advancement? What will happen if we shake things up a little and embolden girls to own their accomplishments and sing their own praise? We spent the next half hour telling stories of personal victories and successes—it was obviously a struggle for some, but as we headed off to bed I was glowing with inner happiness knowing we'd taken a step in the right direction toward a very worthy goal.

~Tara

(Director of Education and Leadership Teacher)

Our First Week

2011-02-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Wow. It’s only been a week? It seems like it was three weeks ago that we all arrived at this small, cozy, farmhouse breathing the fresh air, smelling Gail’s cooking for the first time, and settling into the bunkroom. It was all new, and some of us didn’t know what to think! I, for one, couldn’t even comprehend what I was actually doing until the second morning. At first I was homesick, crying a lot, and I could hear other girls holding back sobs at night too. We all were holding onto the past, instead of embracing the exciting future.

After a few days it sunk in how lucky we all were to be here and how unique and amazing CSG is! Telling stories, laughing, doing each other’s hair, and going on our first Leadership Adventure field trip, helped us to bond quickly and strongly. Already we are talking about visiting each other in the summer, making matching bracelets and so much more.

The most exciting thing we have done together so far was our snowshoe hike on our Leadership Adventure trip. Some of us had never done anything like that before! It was tough but we helped each other out and had a great time, and everyone stuck with it.

We have been doing so much together it fells like we have known each other for years, and we are already becoming more self sufficient and curious.

~Felicia

A Solo Reflection

2011-02-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here

Fence posts, wires gates, and shoreline,

woods -

All boundaries disappear beneath the sweep

of white

Sloping down to ice-bound bay

And yet more white.

Ice crystals wink and sparkle bright.

Candy-coated bushes,

Lacy maples, sea – smoked,

Catch the light.

Dark evergreens the counterpoint,

Weighed down and deeply draped

With drifts like mountaintops.

And I am drifted too, weighed down with deadlines.

Swept by busy days, tight schedules…

But today’s a gift,

And undulating fields of white

Have other plans for me.

They pull me down onto my knees.

They sink me deep - my snowshoes stuck,

Where every step’s a journey in itself, each

one a trial.

And slowly, slowly, at a measured pace

I reach my goal and take my place amid the

banks of snow.

Beside me, tracks of other creatures gone

before, sinking deeply too -

They led me here to shelter near a tree

Where snow is not so deep.

I wonder at the tracks, the creatures – where

they are

And where they’ve been.

A running dog?

A bounding deer, belly deep

And breathing hard and fast?

Smaller creatures, never breaking

through the icy crust?

A bird, invisible, sings boldly, clearly

from a tree.

I recognize his song- this tiny tufted tit-

mouse

Singing, “Here! Here! Here!”

And as I listen deeply, I find my soul is

singing too.

My obstacles and boundaries within

Just disappear or drift away…

My “doing-ness”, relentless pace,

Like the sea smoke, fading into mist.

I am here, here, here!

And I can stay

Write poems in my head

And contemplate these drifted fields

And those who came before

And those who follow too.

And I can wonder who I am and what I

bring,

Where I’ve been and where I’ll go from

here.

But for now, I am here.

Just here

In the silence, in the white.

While fences, shoreline boundaries

Disappear.

Ginny Freeman

2/10/2011

Semester #3 is Here!

2011-02-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

Only a few days into the semester and we can already feel the spirit of this class filling up the farmhouse. The last few Student Orientation days allowed students, faculty, and staff time to play, brainstorm and dive in together to create the foundation for a semester of learning, laughter and growth.

Excitement, shyness, fear, anticipation, eagerness, elation, hope, homesickness... Emotions and energy were running high as Semester #3, the Spring 2011 class, gathered on Sunday, February 13. Fifteen girls from eight states arrived representing Maine to California, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Vermont.

As the girls unpacked and met their classmates, families had an opportunity to talk with faculty, staff and other parents and friends. In CSG tradition, Executive Director Pam Erickson warmly welcomed everyone in an outdoor "circle up" surrounded by piles of deep snow. Students, families, staff and faculty introduced themselves and gathered for our first community photo. After some crazy orientation games and a delicious chicken dinner, students and faculty shared hopes and wishes from last semester. After a long day, the girls settled down for their first night in the little yellow farmhouse and dreams of the weeks ahead.

Everyone was up bright and early Monday for breakfast and the first solo walk to the shore. Despite the overcast and snowy morning, everyone gave a thumbs up on the solitude and reflection the walk offered and looks forward to it becoming part of the daily schedule. The rest of the day was devoted to getting to know each other better; mostly through snowshoe games and team building out on the snowy plateau. By the end of the afternoon everyone was a snowshoe ace and anticipating the winter adventures to come.

Classes kicked off Wednesday and students met with faculty advisors to get to know each other better and clarify expectations of the rigorous weeks ahead. The more serious side of academics was balanced by hikes and “glisten” around Wolfe’s Neck Farm to get to know the area a bit better. On Friday, students leave for their first leadership adventure so stay tuned for more stories and photos to come.

~Ginger

Congratulations Semester 2!

2011-01-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS to the graduates of Coastal Studies for Girls, Semester Two! Friends and family celebrated the girls’ accomplishments on Friday and Saturday, December 17 and 18, during their impressive semester reflections, science presentations, and graduation ceremonies.

Here are a few words from Pam Erickson, Executive Director, and Tara Treichel, Director of Education, from the graduation ceremony.

From Tara…

Fall 2010 is an amazing class that will leave an indelible mark in all of our hearts. In a small community so tightly knit, a group can come to know one another so well, and function so smoothly as a team, that it begins to take on a persona and character like a single living being. And this class certainly has its own unique personality! This class, with its composite blend of voices, styles and color, has an irrepressible spirit; a first-rate sense of humor, a delightful lightness of being, and a truly remarkable sense of awareness and caring for one another. They are “goofy”, creative, hard-working, love to play, sincerely interested in learning, and committed to making a difference in the world.

Yes, we will remember the class of Fall, 2010, with fondness and a smile. And yet, it is the individual girls that have made the real lasting impression—in our hearts, and in the bedrock of the school. It is these girls who have helped us to hold up a mirror and show us who and what CSG is. CSG students are a testament to the power within themselves when given support, opportunity and inspiration. Competent, confident, and knowledgeable, they are laying the groundwork of high standards and examples for future young women to follow. For this, we are forever grateful, and for this, we will always remember you.

From Pam…..

Your graduation now offers you perhaps the most important leg of this incredible journey – the transfer of what has been learned by living, working, learning, playing and growing in this little yellow farmhouse on the Maine coast. For it’s not just the experience itself, but what we choose to do with it – that makes all the difference.

A final reflection on our seven Cornerstones…Intention, Solitude and Reflection, Community, Challenge, Action, Lifelong Learning and Gratitude…

Intention…. a window of opportunity to bring intention and awareness into all of the choices you make…

Solitude and reflection… in this fast paced, technology driven world, we invite you to “unplug,” to reconnect with the sound of the tide lapping on the shore, the wind in the trees and the birds overhead…

Community is so powerful that even visitors feel the “hum” when they arrive. Take a little, put it in your pocket, sprinkle it wherever you go…

Challenge has presented itself in many different forms this semester…Woodrow Wilson once said, “The truth is that part of the essence is to push oneself to one’s limits. This is not to say you deliberately try something you know you can’t do. But you do deliberately try something which you are not sure you can do.”

Demanding that we contribute to the world in a positive way is the fifth cornerstone of Action… What will it be for you? How will you choose to make a difference and impact the world in a positive way?

Igniting and fueling our internal drive to continue our growth process is the sixth cornerstone of Lifelong Learning…

And number seven, Gratitude, can be shared with the “bow” of Namaste… To the incredible team that surrounds all of us on this day… I express my gratitude for the opportunity to be involved with such an amazing venture and for the gift you are giving to the world through these young women.

Together we are building a stronger, more capable, sensitive, and courageous world…

Science Projects

2010-12-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

In Marine Science, we have been working on our research projects. Our presentations are a few days away, and we are putting the finishing touches on them. One group is researching dog whelks, and trying to figure out which gender is dominant. Another group, is measuring the growth of seaweed, and seeing how fast it can grow in a short amount of time. Yesterday, group #3 brought in a tank of green crabs they had collected, and were investigating what they ate and how much of each food type they ate.

My group is assimilating the oil spill in Mexico. We are focusing specifically on the impact oil has had on scuds. We collected scuds, a water dwelling insect that looks like a centipede, and then added oil to the water-filled tank they were in, to observe the results. We have had our share of ups and downs! The scuds we collected, and left outside, froze solid. As we picked them out of the chunk of ice, we almost frostbite our fingertips! Now the new scuds are living in the basement, where they won’t freeze, or get too hot. This week we’ll make our conclusion, and hopefully won’t run into any more problems!

~Samantha

How I’ve Changed

2010-12-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

Who am I? Before I answer that question, I want to start with who I was. I was the kid who would always sit in the corner, by myself, reading a book. I was the kid who always went to the school library, instead of talking with the other kids. I only hung out with friends I had known since infancy, but never talked to anyone else. I never shared myself. If I had to speak in front of a group, cold goosebumps would crawl up my arms, and I would stutter as I spoke.

After coming to CSG, I have learned how to leave my fear behind and open up to people. I’m not afraid to speak to new people anymore. I have been challenged to practice public speaking, and now I can do it without stuttering and getting goosebumps. I have more confidence in myself. The teachers and my peers have helped me become braver in trying new things, and meeting new people. I feel more comfortable in my skin now. I am thankful to have my new sisters, and these teachers in my life, because they have support me to become who I am now. I am Ellie Ksyniak. I am a family member, strong, friendly, happy, braver, and unique. I am me.

~Ellie

Mountain Solo

2010-12-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

As I sit on this cold slab of lichen-encrusted granite, I pull my down sleeping bag tighter to seal in my body’s warmth against the November air. We are one-hour into our two-hour solo, on the 4^th day of our Extended Leadership Adventure hiking trip, and the sound of the wind and stillness of the mountain landscape accentuate my feeling of solitude. As I sit with my thoughts, on this clearing of rock overlooking the forested valley, I contemplate the value of quiet reflection, and I realize its significance.

SOLITUDE & REFLECTION—it is one of our Cornerstones at CSG. Solitude and Reflection give us time to make meaning of our experience—to decide what’s important, how it connects to us and to others, and what we think about it. It also gives us a chance to simply acknowledge and appreciate the environment we are in. Whether that be in our workplace or home, on the grassy bluff overlooking Casco Bay where we spend Morning Solo, or sitting on this austere but beautiful mountainside; we need to be given time to reflect.

Solitude and Reflection also allow me time to think about the other CSG Cornerstones, and to understand how they are being incorporated on this trip and throughout the school. Three other Cornerstones stand out to me now: Intention, Challenge, and Community.

INTENTION-- Every aspect of this week has been planned with Intention—our daily rotating leadership roles, our student led Women in Wilderness workshops (to share our own wisdom and deepen our connection with the natural world,) our nightly Closing Circles, (to provide a space to debrief the day,) and our continual support and encouragement for one another as strong, capable women, and agents of positive change in the world.

CHALLENGE--on this week-long leadership adventure, Challenge has been easy to see and experience—a daily opportunity that presents itself, as we struggle to heat our rustic cabin with firewood against sub-freezing temperatures, collect water from an ice-encrusted stream along the forested trail, and feed our group of 13, cooking by flashlight on a two-burner propane stove. Other Challenges are more subtle—how to motivate the group to keep on track with the day’s schedule, how to support one another and keep each other safe as we ascend steep, ice-covered sections of the trail, and how to give each other constructive feedback in our nightly check-ins.

One of the Cornerstones most visible at CSG is COMMUNITY. It is something we experience every day. We eat, live, study, work, and play together, support one another through challenges, encourage each other toward our dreams, and celebrate our successes as a team. To us, Community means a space where each individual is heard and valued for who they are, treated with respect, and invited to share in the group’s work and its resulting rewards. The strength and closeness of our Community is one of our most cherished traits at CSG, and it is often the first thing cited by students when asked what they love about the school. This week, Community sounded like a cacophony of laughter, as we challenged each other with minute mysteries and riddles; it smelled like our communal Thanksgiving meal of steaming fresh baked squash, a tall pot of instant mashed potatoes, and sour-sweet cranberry relish hot off the stove; it looked like a rainbow of colorful outerwear in contrast with the icy grey rock, as we circled up for our Morning Meeting to plan our day; and it felt like the warm comfort of a fire, as we crowded around the woodstove into the dark of night.

Without the dedicated time to sit and reflect on this extended solo, this week would be decidedly less meaningful—a collection of isolated experiences and memories, like snapshots in an album without a corresponding narrative.

~Tara (Director Of Education and Leadership Adventure Teacher)

Changing Lives

2010-12-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Once in a great while, we sense that a certain moment in time will forever change how we view the world. I think others felt similarly as Dr. Hayat Sindi presented a lecture/discussion last Thursday evening at CSG. She is a world renowned scientist with a CV that would impress any Nobel Laureate. She explained her groundbreaking technique for medical testing in remote, poor and underserved parts of the world. The material used for the test is on a piece of paper (even tissue paper will work) and requires only a drop of patient blood. Immediate color changes determine the test result and with minimal training anyone can interpret the findings. Each test strip is small and costs less than a penny.

As a physician with a passion for international medical relief work, I was awed by the implications of this biotechnology. Literally, millions of lives will be saved annually.

But that was not what made this evening so memorable. Hayat shared herself, her passion and compassion, her wisdom and humility. She described in detail growing up in a large conservative family in Saudi Arabia. Her childhood heroes were scientists whose discoveries have changed history. They were her “guiding stars” and their photos plastered her walls. She was determined to follow in their footsteps. She described the challenges, disappointments and hardest of all, being told repeatedly starting as a teenager that she would fail. The discussion focused on what she learned in overcoming these obstacles.

I had thought I would listen to this talk, be fascinated by the scientific breakthrough, and get a feel for what it is like to be a CSG student. However, in a very personal way, I was completely drawn in to the discussion. Hayat and the students discussed why science is important to them, shared their personal passions, excitement about learning, the implications of being a female in the scientific community, and worries about what stands in the way of achieving their own personal goals. They discussed the relationship between science and spirituality, and the need to truly believe that with effort and a large heart each of us can change the world.

By showing us her path to fulfillment and a meaningful life, we all learned life lessons, and were inspired to not only follow our passions but trust in ourselves.

Hayat spoke from her heart as she told the students that this was the most enjoyable lecture she had ever given. Our CSG students gave Hayat new insights and renewed her hope in the next generation of compassionate female scientists.

~ Judy Sandick MD, and parent of a CSG student

Leadership

2010-12-02T08:16:00.001-08:00

Am I a leader or a follower? This is a question that I have asked myself, over and over, for a long time. Coming to Coastal Studies for Girls, I have realized that I am a leader. I have learned to see that there are different types of leaders. You don’t have to be loud to be a leader, there have been, and are, strong quiet leaders. I am soft-spoken, which can be misinterpreted as a tendency to follow, but I have realized that I do not necessarily have to be loud to be heard, or out-spoken, to be a leader. I am a leader who is soft-spoken, strong, and capable.

Throughout my CSG experience, I have been given endless chances to practice leadership. I have also been blessed with an opportunity to look back, and become more aware of my past leadership. A lot of my past leadership has been in dance. I usually lead groups in the choreography of dances, during performances. During my stay at CSG I have had many new chances to be a leader. I have led discussions in my classes on a regular basis, and helped to prepare us for our leadership trip. Every day I have an opportunity to be a leader, and I have been taking advantage of that more and more at CSG. I have learned to see myself as a leader.

~ Elizabeth

Periwinkle Remnants

2010-11-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

In about 4 weeks I will be departing Portland on a jet, and I will carry with me photographs, sea glass, remains of periwinkles, and the shells of a Jonah crab and a blue mussel. Most importantly I realize that I have always reflected and thought about my connection to nature as a female. I love nature and always have, but here in Maine it’s a lot more feasible than in L.A. I really enjoy hiking because it is challenging, relaxing, and there are many beautiful sights to see. I have always realized that women have been discriminated against, and I have always whined about it. Now I embrace feminism and accept the challenges of being a woman. Before, I never really understood why females were so proud of their gender. Now I realize why feminists are proud of being women. We have every right to be proud, because we are cyclical beings, and givers of life. We are wild but not in a beastly manner, we are simply natural, unstoppable, passionate, and protective. We are intelligent, wise, inventive, and we are compassionate.

People don’t understand feminism. It is not about being superior to men, it is about loving yourself, and seeing the magnificence you are equipped with. I realized something here at CSG; I thought I wanted to be a pediatrician, but now I want much more. I am hungry for exploration and adventure. I want to travel the world and help others. I want to write my heart out, and make a change. Here at CSG I have realized I am stronger, more sensitive, and wiser then I ever took credit for.

~Laura

Women Writers

2010-11-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

Thumps and thuds boomed above me, as I listened to the girls getting ready for their Friday night coffee house. While they were upstairs dressing up, and doing last minute revisions, I was secretly hauling in lanterns and house lights to place around the podium, and give the dinning room a soft glow. This was their big night, the night they were presenting a piece of writing they were proud of, and had been perfecting through countless revisions. Hazel dashed around the kitchen, setting up an espresso machine and coffee bar, decaf of course, for the special occasion.

When the girls came into the room, they gasped and squealed with delight. Students and guests took their seats, and the evening began! I presented each girl and the title of their chosen piece of writing, and proudly listened to each student confidently read heartfelt poems and stories. This was the payoff to all their hard work, and all my pushing and challenging of them. I had told them over and over again, that a good scientist needs to know how to write about her discoveries, and these young women have certainly learned how to do just that.

As part of our celebration of all their hard work, on Saturday morning I took them to the Maine Women Writers Collection in Portland. We have been reading Maine female authors, in particular Sarah Orne Jewett and Rachel Carson, and the girls were ecstatic that the collection included some of the original works of authors they knew. They were also thrilled to find out that they were sitting on Jewett’s couch, when they first came into the library! When the curator opened the rare books room, the girls’ jaws dropped, and they dove into the collection with enthusiasm and questions. They ran their fingers over the rows of worn books, pulling them out occasionally to read passages. Their voices rang between the shelves, “This one is from 1834!” “I found Rachel Carson’s collection!” and “Look how many books this author wrote!” The curator pulled out old photographs for us too, and talked about the history and importance of the collection. Almost two hours later, I went back into the rare books room to find the girls pig-piled on the floor, each completely absorbed in her own book.

The celebratory weekend ended at Wolfe's Neck State Park, sitting on the rocks with the tide out, and mudflats exposed to the setting sun. The last rays of light glimmered off the girls’ bent heads, as they reflected on self-discovery and finished the sentence in their journals that began, “I AM.”

~Leah (English Teacher)

Ancient History Becomes Present History

2010-11-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

Our Ancient History class has been studying the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to sedentary agricultural societies, and then tracing elements of the development of our society today from the beginnings of civilization. Rather than exploring history as a series of discrete events, we are looking into the progression and the evolution of parts of civilization like technology, writing, religion, and government. The girls have been reading Ishmael, which (from the perspective of a talking gorilla!) provides an alternative perspective on that transition, asking questions like, “what are our cultural myths?” “How did things get to be this way?” and “What do we mean by primitive vs. civilized?” Each week, we hold a discussion circle on the most recent section of Ishmael. We’ve discussed methods and ground rules for facilitating group discussions, and the girls are all taking turns as student leaders of the conversation. As a result, the girls have been able to learn from each other’s unique perspectives and backgrounds, as they hear each other process the topics in the book.

Last Friday, we packed up tents, sleeping bags, and warm clothes and drove out to western Maine to Koviashuvik Living Skills School. The founders of Koviashuvik, Chris and Ashirah Knapp, live an integrated lifestyle – melding old and primitive skills with modern technology, and considering which of each will help them to create an ecologically sustainable lifestyle. Upon arriving, the girls immediately dove into the preparations for their own dinner. Some students dug root vegetables out of the garden and harvested kale, others explored the “hobbit house” root cellar to find cabbage, beets, and carrots, while another group foraged fir and mint to make tea, and a last group ground acorns into a flour to make cookies. Once all of our materials were gathered together, the girls watched as Chris, and the apprentices who lived there, began the arduous process of building a fire with a bow drill. With all hands on deck, the girls worked to create their own dinner. More than an hour later, next to a roaring campfire over which our food had been cooked, we sat underneath clear and starry skies and ate, according to one of the girls, “the most satisfying meal I’ve ever tasted.” After the fire died down, and the coals were smoldering, each student began the ancient process of coal-burning their own spoon to take home.

The next morning, we awoke at dawn to the resonant voices of Chris and the apprentices, to watch the sun rise into the little valley. We immediately went to work checking on steeping acorns and tanning deer hides, preparing porridge, and gathering more herbs for tea. After breakfast, the girls did a few hours of service for Koviashuvik – peeling bark for a traditional dwelling that will eventually house the apprentices – and then Chris walked us around the land, showing us all of the different ways in which they blend the practices of the old and new worlds, to create a sustainable lifestyle on their piece of land. The girls marveled at the solar panels, providing electricity for the tiny cabin they had built entirely by hand with wood from their property, the mukluks made with synthetic waterproof material, the chestnut and apple trees planted to yield a significant storage crop, while at the same time fostering a healthy eco-system. Chris remarked on his philosophy: “there’s nothing wrong with modern technology…we need to remember to ask where it came from, and how it was made, and we need to make sure that we remember that it is a gift.”

~Heather (History Teacher)

The Significance of Doors

2010-11-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Doors. To most, doors are a simple invention. When open, they emit ventilation and light. When closed, they offer confinement and privacy. A door is used to control the physical, and even emotional, atmosphere of a room. Doors also are used to prevent the spread of fire. Which brings up a question in my mind, what if you want the fire to spread?

Three months ago, there was light inside of me. Three months ago, CSG opened their doors to me. My light was let in, and since then has become a fire. As the weeks pass faster and faster, I’m realizing that the fire inside of me has grown to a size that is greater than I ever predicted. As it comes time for me to return home from CSG, I am wondering what adventure I will take on next.

There are over 40 types of physical doors, and an uncounted number of figurative doors. Having opened one physical door, CSG has opened several figurative ones for me. Through friends and visitors at CSG, I have found opportunities for my future education that would have otherwise stayed tucked away behind a closed door. For that I am grateful. Within the past 12 weeks, I have explored my strengths, weakness, and everything in between, to find out what works for me. I have discovered that experiential learning is key. This discovery couldn’t have come at a better time.

I walked into CSG’s doors not knowing what to expect, and I have a strong feeling that I will walk out of them, still not knowing what comes next, but knowing that whatever it is, I can most definitely take it on.

~Blair

The Giant Staircase

2010-11-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Driving through Harpswell, I looked down the road aligned with yellow-leaved trees. The still lakes in the distance had reflections composed of thousands of yellow lines.

I could only stare silently until we stop moving. Then, as if I was pulled by strings, I jumped out of the van and made my way to the shore, with my journal in hand. I had a full view of the crescent-shaped coast, several cities of rock forming the peninsula.

Waves ran towards me from afar—the great blue horizon. They crashed and clawed to meet the others. They were massive fountains, dancing to the ocean’s rhythm.

Standing beside my sisters, we had become speechless. There was no other place I would rather go. My body was cold, but I felt warm inside.

Together, a body of eleven girls, we form our own ocean. We are given the encouragement, inspiration, and opportunities to truly delve deeply into ourselves. Self-discovery is only a part of the adventure.

Individualism is viewed respectfully here. I am not only comfortable with myself, but I can incorporate my self-acceptance and leadership into all aspects of life here. I have conducted classes, learned from others, and even investigated what is “already known.”

I have been able to find my voice here. I am no longer hesitant to express my thoughts and share new ideas.

Our adventures take us beyond the horizon, beyond the foaming shoreline, outside of what is routine. I am a traveler; I have ventured across these boundaries.

~Rachel

Racing Periwinkles

2010-11-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Racing periwinkles - well, maybe not racing, but measurement of periwinkle locomotion - was the order of the day for one group of CSG researchers on Friday. Stopwatches in hand, they set their charges (their chargers?), Littorina littorea, down on their target-shaped speed track, and they were off. Five minutes later, a data point was added to the paper, and the next contestant was set in the middle of the race track. Then the process was repeated.

One group of four got their feet wet doing short ecological field problems, on a path to deeper learning of the methods of scientific exploration. The idea was to strengthen skills in data collection, management, analysis, and presentation, in preparation for the larger scale science research projects that are a culmination of CSG science learning in a semester. While the common periwinkles were oozing their way across the Petri dish, other students measured the population density of their congenerics, Littorina obtusata, in the knotted wrack, and measured lengths and widths of individuals across a transect spread across the intertidal column. Down the shore a third group was counting barnacles and noting sizes on differently oriented faces of a boulder.

Meanwhile, at the end of a rainy afternoon, the sun was casting dramatic shafts through the clouds, illuminating the bay with brilliant light, creating a stunning backdrop to our outdoor classroom, and filling everyone with gratitude to be hard at work in this small piece of Paradise.

~Loraine Marine Science Teacher

Connections

2010-11-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

Connections

I’ve heard again and again, home is whenever I’m with you.

But to me, home is when ever I am here.

What is here?

Here is a place where I am a part of a community.

Here I a community where I am a part of a change.

Here is a change that will last longer than the time it’s taken to evolve.

And here is a time that will affect me more than I realize at this moment.

But take note, this place is more than just that. More than a home, a community, a change, and a time.

It is a belief,

A vision,

And a simple structure of wood and nails.

You might say a simple structure of wood and nails is not much at all.

I might disagree.

This structure is nailed together by the 11 voices that reside in side of it.

This structure is supported by the many others who made a blue print,

And gathered the nails to make it complete.

To be a part of a structure so simple and grand is more than I could ever ask for.

I wake up in the morning and know,

A dreaded day is a day I will never see when I am here.

When I am here,

I will never see a day, where I don’t want to wake up to such brilliant faces.

Moments we spend here may be hectic at times.

Clothing twisted like vines on the bunkroom floor.

Mingled voices become the hoots and howls of wild animals.

I think to my self, “this place is a jungle.”

Jungles are abundant with life.

And life is growth is progress takes time is forever changing and evolving.

Just like a community.

Just like this community.

And just like us.

This place is so much more than just a home.

That alone should count for something, if not everything.

~Blair

Sharing

2010-11-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Coming into the little yellow farmhouse this morning, and seeing the girls dressed in their Halloween attire brought a smile to my face. I’m anticipating what will happen today, as the girls have deemed it “November Fools Day.”

I thoroughly enjoy mixing the fun and games, with the more serious and studious side of school. However, coming into November makes me realize that we are now more than half way through the semester. They do say time flies when you’re having fun and I certainly have been having fun with my French and Spanish classes, and the girls seem to as well. The course is different than what the girls are used to for language classes; we have a mixture of students from beginning level to native speakers. It took a little time for some of the girls to adjust to the more independent learning style of the class. But everyone seems to be on the right track now with the grammar studies. And our class discussions, which we begin with every class, have become more animated and sometimes even occur spontaneously now.

In the first half of the semester, the girls gave their all to the recitations and video projects. They recited/performed songs, poems and excerpts from French and Spanish literature, with great results. Their video projects have been the highlight of their work thus far. The girls prepared Public Service Announcements, addressing issues specific to CSG, and added their own humorous points of view. I find the girls perform their best when able to infuse their projects with their personalities and creativity.

Early in the semester, we enjoyed a field trip to Museum LA in Lewiston, Maine. The girls learned about the textile industry, with a focus on women and children in that workforce. They were attentive and full of questions, making a great impression on our tour guide, Diane. Diane provided the girls with a great summary of the history of immigration in the Lewiston/Auburn area. Upon our return to school, the girls shared immigration stories of their own families. They told me what a delight it was to discover more about their family histories, and then to share this information with the whole group.

Perhaps this is what has been most pleasant about this group, their willingness to share. They share their knowledge, and questions seeking more. They share their creativity and personalities, filling our classes with enthusiasm. They share their concerns, trepidation and their willingness to work to alleviate these. And currently, I’m wondering just what new things they will share today, “November Fools Day”. I’m sure it will bring much laughter and a strong sense of community, as usual.

~Noel, French and Spanish Teacher

Lessons Outside the Classroom

2010-10-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

This week, we had a break from academics and got to experience first hand, the value of community service. From bridge building to petting animals, we all had a lot of fun, and felt like we were contributing valuable energy and time, volunteering at the Wolfe Neck Farm and the Wolfe Neck State Park.

Monday and Thursday were the hardest jobs of the week. We worked at the State Park shoveling more dirt on a trail to build it up, so it will last the next thirty years. We will be about forty-five when it needs rebuilding again! We shoveled dirt into wheelbarrows, laborious work, and then dumped it onto the trail, and raked it smooth. We took turns raking and pressing the dirt into place. We also built up the dirt around roots, so there will be less of a chance of people tripping while they hike.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent working at the farm. On Tuesday, we met Jed, a trail-builder and craftsman, who helped us build a bridge! The old bridge badly needed replacing and so with Jed’s help, we made a new one from three huge trees. We used his drawknives to peel the bark, which took us a long time! Then we notched and cut the logs to length and made it stable. We were so excited and proud of our work, that when 4:00 came and we weren’t quite finished, we decided to stay and finish the job. Seeing the bridge in place was very exciting and satisfying. It was a great way to spend our week outside of the classroom, contributing to the community.

~Charlotte

Parents' Day!

2010-10-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

This week was a very chaotic week! We had midterms all week, and on Friday, we did a whole lot of preparing for parents' day. On Tuesday, we had an English vocabulary test, on Wednesday we took the PSATs, and on Thursday we took our marine science, spanish, and math midterms. On Friday, our history midterm projects were due, which were about the hominid species. Our English critical essays where also due on Friday.

After all of the midterms were over, we went straight into chores and preparing presentations for parents’ day. Parents’ day was the best day this week, because we got to show our parents all the work we have been doing this quarter, and where we have been living! It was very exciting to see our families after seven weeks! At the end of the day some people went home with their parents for the weekend. It was a very special weekend!

~Abeer

10/10/10 – A most auspicious day!

2010-10-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the Res Life team awoke to a once in a lifetime event! It was 10/10/10! After wolfing down some of Gail’s mouthwatering omelets, the whole crew set out for Wolfe’s Neck Farm. There, we armed ourselves with work gloves and joined an eager crowd of volunteers gathered for 350.org’s Global Work Party event. While other folks arranged pumpkins into a giant 350 logo – the picked-over patch will be turned into a sustainable garden for Bowdoin College’s cafeteria – the CSG gals met with Jim who gave us our very own service project! Pretty soon, the girls were busy cutting down brush and trees with their loppers! After some serious work with Jim, we gathered with the other volunteers and learned a little more about 350.org’s mission. Founded by Bill McKibben, 350.org works to inform and inspire people to lower the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere to below 350 parts per million. Together with volunteers around the world, we helped send a message to political leaders: “If we can get to work, so can you!” We also learned about the life cycle of pumpkins! As we waited for a plane to fly overhead and take an aerial photo, we talked and told jokes with friends and neighbors.

My favorite joke, which seems somewhat applicable: What did the ocean say to the land?

Nothing, it just waved!