HERITAGE EDUCATION GRANTS PROGRAM PROJECTS TO DATE

2005-2006

• The Humanities Class project for grades 9-12 at the East Grand School in Danforth, is "Picture the Past to Save the Future," an attempt to create a connection for the students to the town's future. This project involves working with the Maine Memory Network to preserve historical photographs from private collections, for future generations.
• The Georgetown Central School's 6th grade will work with the Georgetown Historical Society to produce "Preserving the Landscape," exploring the interplay between the natural and built environments, as a way of connecting their community's history to themselves.
• In collaboration with the Jackman-Moose River Historical Society and Museum, Middle school students from the Forest Hills/SAD #12 in Jackman will work on "Preserving Our History," a project that will create digital recordings (CD, DVD or tape format) of buildings, cemeteries and bridges in their community.

2004-2005

• The Penobscot Nation Cultural and Historic Preservation Department, working with the Indian Island School in grades K-8, created a Penobscot Place-Name map which documented the historic presence of the Penobscot Nation throughout the region.
• Rebecca Cooper of Bristol Consolidated Middle School assisted her students in creating "Tourists, Traps, and Trade: The Work of Bristol, Maine," filled with poetry and photographs of Bristol people at work, with a focus on how the geography and location of the town has affected the types of trades there.
• Teachers Carla Burnham and Mary Gill of the Margaret Chase Smith School in Skowhegan created a walking tour of Skowhegan entitled "Bridges Across the Kennebec," which showed 6th grade students how bridges shaped their town.

2003-2004

• Susan Taylor at the Regional Alternative High School at Lincoln Academy led her 10-12 grade students in a project that involved creating a video and photographic chronicle of a local historic house, "Our History in a House."
• Debra Dodge of the Webster Intermediate School in Auburn taught grades 4-6 "How to Conduct an Oral History," involving heritage profiling. Students interacted with other community members through interviews, field trips and presentations.

2002-2003

• Cari Medd from Poland Regional High School in Poland taught students about architecture in their area with the project "Who Says Nothing Ever Happened in Minot, Mechanic Falls and Poland?" This project integrated the study of History, English and Math and culminate with the creation of a web site which will provide their community with a virtual tour of the buildings the students have studied.
• Teacher Joanne Reinhart from Richmond Middle School in Richmond did a project titled "The Riches of Richmond, Maine: its Cultural and Architectural Heritage." This project, for seventh graders, instructed students in the architectural heritage of their town, a community with rich Russian influence due to the economic wealth in the mid-nineteenth century of the immigrants that settled there.
• A second grant went to Alison Hawkes of Cape Elizabeth Middle School for her project "Exploring Architecture in our World." Fifth grade students in her class studied the different styles of architecture and learning about them through site visits and guest speakers. Students created models of houses representing the styles of architecture that they study.
• In Baileyville (near Calais), teacher Randy Clark had his 7th and 8th graders study the mill housing built in the early 1900's by the St Croix Paper Company. In this project, Baileyville Buildings and their Architectural History, students created a photo album of the estimated thirty mill homes left in that area, many in disrepair. Students also researched the families that lived in the homes, their roots, heritage and their reasons for settling in Baileyville.
• Edward Little High School teacher Lori Twiss used her grant to continue a study begun in 1997 involving an archeological dig site in Auburn. The project is "The Herbert Hayes Homestead - Recreating the Past to Understand the Future: An interdisciplinary Project in Archeological Investigation." In this study, students analyzed artifacts recovered from the dig site of an Auburn homestead in hopes of better understanding how their area has developed over the years, the economic relationships between Auburn and neighboring Lewiston and the types of mills that were built. This archeological site study provided innovative opportunities for teachers and students to use the architectural and historic fabric of the local community as a live learning laboratory.

2001-2002

• Ruth Gruninger of the Mast Landing School in Freeport worked with the Freeport Historical Society for "Kids Pick: Local Landmarks." This project allowed 3rd through 5th grades to develop a list of historically significant sights and structures that they perceive as interesting and important to themselves and their town.

• Paula Roy of the Phillips Middle School in Philips was able to expand the "History Right at Home" program for 6th graders. "History Right at Home," allows students to go beyond the walls of the classroom to actually experience the history of their home town. The program now includes architectural appreciation, planning, decision-making processes, civics-government, and urban design.

• Debi Lynn Baker, an art teacher at SeDoMoCha in Dover-Foxcroft was able to create the 8th grade Art Classes' Architectural Unit. They went on field trips throughout their community, researching the pertinent buildings and architectural features of the four-town district (Sebec, Dover-Foxcroft, Monson and Charleston). The end result includes a presentation board filled with three-dimensional cast images of town landmarks, and pen & ink drawings of local features and houses.

2000-2001

• Crescent Park School in Bethel worked with fifth graders on a project to study historic architecture in their area in order to learn the value of historic preservation. The project involved work with the Bethel Historic Society and the Town Planner and culminated in a presentation on local cable TV. This grant was submitted by teacher David Murphy.

• Pat Moody and a group of fourth graders at West Harpswell School received a grant for a project involving the restoration and interpretation of the North Harpswell District #2 one room school house, built in 1826. Students conducted research on what learning was like in a one room school, and about the preservation issues necessary to adapt the building to a museum by the local historical society.

• Rosemarie DeAngelis received a grant to work with students at South Portland High School on a project entitled "Memory: Historic Sites to Preserve and Remember." Students visited and studied the significance of three local historic resources and delivered a slide presentation upon completion.

• Betsy Fitzgerald from Erskine Academy in South China was the recipient of the fourth grant. She worked with high school students to study and evaluate the future use and protection of a publicly owned parcel know historically as Thurston Park. The final presentation involved students in the real life decision making for the future development of this area.

• Gail Perry at China Middle school was given a grant for her project entitled "The Great Walls of China, Maine." Students will research local properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the entire China National Historic District. Final projects will be published using the computer lab at the school.

1999-2000

• The Gifted and Talented Program at SAD # 17 focused on the Norway Opera House, creating a large architectural model/puppet show stage and puppets of historic people associated with their town. They wrote and performed a play that focused on the Opera House and its local importance, then performed at area schools and historical societies.

• Gilbert Elementary School students in Augusta researched historic buildings and creating a tile mural illustrating historic architecture, which will be installed at the school.

• High school students at Westbrook High School studied the history of American architecture, including social and economic influences; field trips to regional historic sites were included.

1998-1999

• The 1st through 4th grades at Jordan Small School in Raymond researched and developed a "History Trail" about the significance of the waterways and historic buildings along those early travelways in their region. An illustrated calendar and T-shirts where produced.

• 5th graders at Pownal Elementary School studied Greek Revival architecture which is prevalent in their town and created a photographic essay of their studies.

• 4th and 5th graders at Baldwin Consolidated School researched and wrote their history.

1997-1998

• Lisbon Elementary School 1st through 5th grades researched and created "The Welcome Mat," a booklet illustrating and describing the entrances and doorways of local historic buildings. This project involved interviews with seniors and merchants and photography.

• Mapleton Elementary School 3rd graders researched their town's history and worked with a professional muralist to create a mural at the school, illustrating historic architecture

• Otisfield Community School 4th, 5th, and 6th graders researched and mapped 200 years of growth of their community for Otisfield's Bicentennial, and models of local landmark buildings were designed and constructed by students.