by Rachel H. Goldman

September 30, 2011

Kennebunk Post

Sue Cressey and Zach Pyle cleared their throats, leaned toward their microphones and spoke to the high school student body over the airwaves.  Cressey, Kennebunk High School principal, and Pyle, a junior, gave Kennebunk High School Radio Club’s first live radio… Read the rest

On a rainy May morning, three kindergarten girls are on stage at Kennebunk Elementary School, singing a pop song together into their microphones.  While the singing is very sincere, the props are a bit unusual — the stage and microphones have been constructed out of large blue foam pieces that,… Read the rest

This winter I was offered a chance to attend the annual National Science Teachers Association Conference in San Francisco. I knew this was an amazing opportunity, one that teachers with many more years of experience had never had the chance to enjoy, and here I was, a first-year teacher at… Read the rest

When Norman the skink emerged from his bin, a momentary hush fell over the fourth- graders. Then came the chorus of “Cool!”s and “Wow!”s as Animal Adaptations presenter Katie Slivensky brought the lizard up close so the kids could really see him, all two feet of his green reptile… Read the rest

The Leadership School at Camp Kieve has high expectations of every camper that bunks there: teamwork, kindness, and respect.  In October, seventh-graders from the Middle School of the Kennebunks were asked to explore those values on a personal and group level during a week-long stint that began at MSK and… Read the rest

With “all for one and one for all” bravado Tom Taylor’s sixth graders jockey for position as they attempt one of the newest elements on the Middle School’s Adventure Course.  It’s called King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, essentially a rope swing that students must grasp and… Read the rest

Knowing that traditional physical education activities do not deeply engage all students, physical education and health instructor Jon Woodcock had been searching for creative programs that could spark children’s interest and help develop healthy habits for a lifetime. In Spring 2009 he found what he was looking for. This was… Read the rest

When six teachers at Consolidated School got together to devise a multi-grade environmental program, their goal was to involve students and their families in making a positive impact on the environment. The pilot program that resulted – Go Green – won a $10,000 grant by the EFKA. From that beginning,… Read the rest

Every time the school district receives an energy bill, the district’s Energy Committee considers how to reduce it. Recently the committee decided to try to find a role for students in helping to address the energy conservation problem.

Emily Flaherty’s freshman science students took on the challenge. They researched and… Read the rest

The homemade treats are selling fast at the Snack Shop. A line five customers deep winds away from the counter, the deposit bag is getting fatter, and owners Kyra and Olivia are smiling. Their snack shop is a big success.

The Snack Shop is just one of the many student-run… Read the rest

Kennebunk High School’s graduating class of 2010 has a unique distinction: eleven of its seniors are candidates to receive International Baccalaureate Diplomas, and forty-eight are candidates for IB Certificates. Both groups will be the first such graduates in Maine. It’s an honor they have toiled for in a program that… Read the rest

We all know that exercise is good for the heart, the body, and the soul. Now educators are learning how important it is to learning. Stacey Schatzabel, a third-grade teacher at Kennebunk Elementary School, is spearheading an initiative that is having an impact in many classrooms at Kennebunk Elementary School… Read the rest

Beth Carlson

  Beth Carlson has been an educator for 25 years, but her influence extends far beyond her Kennebunk High classroom. In November 2009 she was one of three Maine teachers who presented recommendations on teaching approaches at the annual meeting of the National Council of… Read the rest

Instructor Bob Walker says that students like AutoCAD because it helps them to better visualize what they are working on. Moreover, creating and visualizing their own designs excites students to take drawings off the board and build things. Currently, students are designing an automobile that is “out of the… Read the rest

“I don’t want to sell this plant. I grew it.”

This comment, by a fifth-grader who had grown very attached to her Christmas Cactus seedling, is a perfect example of the kind of spark the Education Foundation strives to ignite. The students propagated the cactuses for a holiday fundraiser, and… Read the rest