Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – For many kids growing up in Presque Isle, forests and potato fields are the only picturesque scenes they encounter; the ocean is something they only see on TV or in the movies.
However, Mary Graham, a fourth-grade teacher at Zippel Elementary School, is doing her part to change that.
For the last 11 years, Graham has taken her students to Rockland to experience the ocean first-hand. This year was no different as Graham, chaperones and her class boarded a bus May 21 and ventured to the coast for a two-day learning experience.
“My hope is that they learn about the ocean … that they learn what’s there, why it’s important to the state of Maine, and how the fishing industry is a big part of Maine’s economy,” she said, “and the whole idea of importing and exporting is a nice, hands-on way for them to learn about the economy.”
The idea for the Rockland trip originated 11 years ago when Phil Averill, founder and owner of Ocean Adventure!, a traveling aquarium that offers fun and information on Maine’s ocean and commercial fishing heritage, visited the school.
“We started talking about the things I do with my class and how I teach about the fishing industry because I’m from that part of the state,” said Graham, “and he told me about the program he does downstate where he talks to kids about the environment and how it leads to the fishing industry which is part of Maine’s economy.
“I started to arrange a trip, and our first year it was for three days. After three years of doing that, he put my name into Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Adopt a Boat program,” she said, “and we were invited to be a part of that.”
After attending a meeting at MIT, Graham was matched up with Bruce Morton, a lobster fisherman in South Bristol.
“We’ve been working with Bruce for about eight years,” said Graham. “We take the boys as one group on the boat and then take the girls. They get to see everything from plankton to plate. They see plankton, which is a microscopic organism, which is the food for the alewives, which are the bait for the lobster, and we eat the lobster so we explain that whole food chain.
“What we do [on the boat] is what he would be doing 200-300 times a day. We go out on a boat and they pull one lobster trap,” she said. “He measures the lobster, talks about what he has to throw back and what he can keep and why, and he also shows how the lobsters are put into crates and weighed, and from there they’re shipped to market. It’s an interesting process and the kids get to see all of it.”
In addition to being on Morton’s lobster boat, the students explored the Rachel Carson Salt Pond in New Harbor.
“When we go to the salt pond, the students actually go into the water and find all the sea creatures that make up the saltwater habitat,” said Graham. “We bring them out, look at them, and talk about how all those creatures living together is what creates the environment that is good for lobstering.
“They found a small, baby lobster, starfish and sea cucumbers and we talk about how all of those animals have to live together,” she said, “and how one thing provides food for another. We also talk about how conserving what we have at the coast is important to the lobster industry in years to come, so we have to be careful about pollution and things like that.”
Learning about the ocean and lobstering doesn’t just happen on the two-day trip; it happens throughout the school year.
“We send e-mails to Capt. Bruce during the year, and he’s wonderful about answering the students’ questions,” said Graham. “They learn all year long about the industry. When we go down, they’re anxious to meet him because he becomes their lobsterman.”
Nick Bartlett said he really enjoyed being on the lobster boat.
“I’ve been out on a canoe and kayak before, but this was an actual lobster boat,” he said. “It was different because there’s all the equipment and stuff. Plus with a canoe or kayak, you have to use manpower. With the lobster boat, you can just drive it.
“The most interesting thing for me was the lobster boat,” said Bartlett. “We caught a good-sized lobster … a really big one. I’ve never seen one that big before.”
Gina EL Nesr said the most interesting part of the trip for her was exploring the salt pond tide pool.
“We gathered living creatures, put them in a bucket and then classified them,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. I really learned a lot.
“I also liked being on the lobster boat, but at the end, I started getting a little dizzy,” said EL Nesr. “We got to see the lobsters up-close, measure them, hold them … it was so neat.”
El Nesr said she hopes Graham continues the field trip in years to come.
“You get to experience other things and get to see the ocean,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. I really learned a lot.”
Leigh Buck, who enjoys the taste of lobster, said the Ocean Adventure experience brought his knowledge of the crustacean full circle.
“It was neat to see the whole process … how they’re caught and measured, and things like that,” he said. “I also liked exploring the salt pond. We found a sea cucumber, a sea anemone and a sand dollar. It was fun.”
Skyler McAtee said she found crabs and a clam at the saltwater pond.
“I like to eat clams, so it was neat to see one in its natural environment,” she said. “On the lobster boat, the traps had two big ones and three small ones. We learned that little animals are called plankton and only some of the lobsters survive. The ones that don’t survive are eaten by bigger fish.
“At the hotel, we had a party and we ate cookies and crackers. That was fun, too. I’ll remember this field trip for a long, long time,” she said.
During their excursion, students also visited the Maine Discovery Museum, the Farnsworth Art Museum, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and Colonial Pemaquid State Park.
The students helped raise money for the trip by selling healthy snacks at school.
Photo courtesy of Mary Graham
POSING FOR A PHOTO with lobsterman Capt. Bruce Morton are Zippel Elementary School fourth-graders, front row, from left: Skyler McAtee, Alyvia Elkins, Alexis Bell, Emma Beaulieu and Meg Gagnon. Back row: Harley Curtis, Morton, Elise Guerrette, Marisa Sloan, Gina EL Nesr and Amy Seeley.
Photo courtesy of Mary Graham
EXPLORING the Rachel Carson Salt Pond in New Harbor are fourth-graders in Mary Graham’s class at Zippel Elementary School. The students traveled to the Rockland area May 21-22 for a first-hand ocean adventure. While searching the salt pond, the students found a baby lobster, starfish, sea cucumbers and other sea creatures.
Photo courtesy of Mary Graham
LEARNING ABOUT LOBSTERING are fourth-grade students in Mary Graham’s class at Zippel Elementary School, front row, from left: Mackenzie Rhyno, Hunter Trask, Isaac DeMerchant, Judah Olugbemi, Jake Kinney and Kamden Bates. Back row: Leigh Buck, Capt. Tim Alley, Nick Bartlett, Alex Jordan, Mary Graham and Capt. Bruce Morton.
Photo courtesy of Mary Graham
SKYLER McATEE, a fourth-grade student in Mary Graham’s class at Zippel Elementary School, holds a starfish that was found in the Rachel Carson Salt Pond in New Harbor during a May field trip to the coast.
