Two Danvers residents take part in Acadia teacher workshop

Two Danvers residents take part in
Acadia teacher workshop

Education Coordinator Kate Petrie leading the teachers on a tour of Frazer Point on Schoodic Peninsula.
Courtesy photo

Posted Aug. 17, 2014 @ 11:57 am

DANVERS
Vacationing at Acadia National Park, voted the most popular National Park in a recent USA
Today poll, is always a grand experience, but volunteering at Acadia offers its own unique
opportunities.

Danvers residents Ronna Thur-Winer and Sheila Cooke-Kayser recently had the opportunity to
spend a week at the park’s remote Schoodic Peninsula, to assist park staff with a teacher
workshop program attended by teachers from the New England and mid-Atlantic states.
Schoodic Peninsula is an hour’s drive east of Bar Harbor in an area of the park that is away from
the Mount Desert Island crowds. The peninsula offers quiet hikes through spruce and fir forests,
walks along its rocky beaches and fantastic views of Maine's rocky coastline.
In 1929, Schoodic Peninsula became part of Acadia National Park, but in the 1930s a portion of
the peninsula was transferred to the U.S. Navy for a radio communication station and military
base.
In 2002, the Navy transferred the land, including the military base, back to the National Park
Service. The former base became the Schoodic Education and Research Center with
accommodations and meals provided to groups attending a variety of learning experiences.
Scientists are able to spend several weeks at the center conducting research projects utilizing the
park's natural resources and artists also spend time at the center participating in the National Park
Service’s Artist in Residence Program.
Acadia National Park’s Education Coordinator/Park Ranger Kate Petrie invited Thur-Winer, a
retired teacher/coach, and Cooke-Kayser, a retired National Park Service supervisor/educator, to
assist her in presenting a teacher workshop at the center, one of 20 National Park Service
research learning centers in the country.
Acadia National Park, Friends of Acadia and Schoodic Education and Research Center offer this
teacher workshop as one of the many learning opportunities at the center. Elementary, middle
school and high school teachers from Maine, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and
Vermont attended this unique professional development experience.
Petrie coordinated the workshop to include learning experiences, citizen science projects and
field studies focusing on Acadia’s natural and cultural resources. Over four jam-packed days,
park staff and visiting scientists introduced the teachers to a variety of hands-on experiences that
can be adapted to meet different learning levels of students of all ages. During the workshop
Ronna and Sheila joined the teachers in all the sessions, providing hands-on assistance and
documenting the proceedings.
"Discovering the best conditions for seaweed to reproduce (it needs a calm ocean and sunlight)
with Dr. Jessica Muhlin from Maine Maritime Academy, counting the number and variety of
periwinkles found within a half meter quadrant of the intertidal zone with scientist Hannah
Webber from Acadia Learning and exploring an eelgrass nursery with Dr. Jane Disney from
Mount Desert Institute offered unique opportunities for us to conduct actual field studies. This
was a wonderful way to spend a week being reminded of the fantastic natural educational
resources we have in Maine," said Maine teacher Anne Luginbuhl.

Dr. Jessica Muhlin discussing seaweed with teachers. Courtesy photo

Besides the field studies, the teachers also attended sessions led by Ranger Petrie. In these
sessions Petrie invited the teachers to participate in similar fun-filled, hands-on activities she
offers to students attending field trips.
"Kate (Petrie) took us on a very creative exploratory exercise to learn how to read a cultural site
that has now disappeared. We did this fun exercise walking around a grassy knoll to identify its
depressions and discovered right below the grass is a building foundation. Kate also used
Playdough to demonstrate the geologic formations that created Acadia National Park millions of
years ago," said Vermont middle school teacher Shelley Dresser.

Opportunities were also provided to explore Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor as well as go
on a boat cruise to view harbor seals and eagles on Egg Rock, an exposed rocky ledge with a
lighthouse at the mouth of Frenchman Bay. The highlight of the Mount Desert Island trip was a
behind the scenes tour of the park’s curatorial storage facility conducted by park curator Robin
King.
One of the week’s more interesting lectures was presented by Dr. Yossi Leschem, an
ornithologist from Israel’s International Center for the Study of Bird Migration. Dr. Leschem is
visiting the Schoodic Education and Research Center as part of a trip to study bird migration.
Afterwards, he will meet with Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who successfully landed a
plane in the Hudson River after being struck by birds to learn more of his experience. Dr.
Leschem has been instrumental in saving the lives of Israeli Air Force pilots by redirecting their
flight paths to avoid bird migration.
Bangor middle science school teacher Genevieve Smith said, "This workshop provided unique,
behind the scenes experiences that I have not found at other teacher workshops. Attending
sessions presented by park rangers and scientists showed the teachers creative ways to engage
students. This workshop was definitely worthwhile and you do not need to be a science teacher
to learn from its offerings."
"This workshop surpassed my expectations and was an extremely well-run, stimulating
professional development experience. I highly recommend it to any teacher interested in
deepening their science practice. It was so much fun as well," stated third grade teacher Cheryl
Morin.
Ranger Petrie hopes the teachers will bring their students to education programs at Schoodic to
discover these resources personally. One student program is the Schoodic Education Adventure
Program offering fourth- through eighth-grade students an opportunity to stay for a three or four
day residential experience. Even though some teachers may not be able to bring their students to
Schoodic, they will still be able to visit local preserves, incorporate citizen science into lessons
on their own school grounds, visit parks electronically through Skype or web-based field trips
and partake in professional development by attending more National Park workshops.

Baby sea star found among eelgrass. Courtesy photo

Seven of the teachers attending this year’s program are in the National Park Service's Teacher-
Ranger-Teacher program at Acadia National Park. The Teacher-Ranger-Teacher Program is a
great opportunity to spend eight weeks in a national park learning about conservation
management, science and developing curriculum-based materials for educators to use when
teaching about national parks and their rich resources. For more information about this program
visit www.teacherrangerteacher.org.
Acadia National Park offers one-week teacher workshops each summer, and scholarships are
available. Mention should be made of the excellent food provided. Everyone enjoyed breakfasts

with fresh Maine blueberries, great snacks including homemade banana bread, lunches with fresh
fruit and sandwiches and a wide variety of dinner entrees.
The teachers’ accommodations were in the Navy's former bowling alley which is now a
comfortable bunkhouse with showers and a lounge area. The Schoodic Education and Research
Center also offers learning opportunities including AP courses and programs for groups
including Earthwatch, Elderhostel, universities, and other education organizations. For more
information on the teacher workshops and other learning opportunities at Schoodic Education
and Research Center, visit www.nps.gov/acad/serc.htm.
"We hope Kate Petrie will invite us again next year to volunteer for this incredible experience.
We are ready for some new adventures. We have become friends with the teachers we met this
July and looking forward to meeting more." exclaimed Ronna and Sheila.