Talk of the Towns 5/8/24: Getting Outdoors to Learn: Maine Outdoor School for All

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– What is the history, mission and current picture of Maine Outdoor School for All?
– What are the benefits of learning out of doors?
– What is it like to be a grade-school teacher today… what are some of the pressures and expectations they face?
– What do teachers say are some of the barriers they face in getting students outdoors to learn?
– And how do members of the network help classroom teachers (grades 4-8) overcome those barriers?
– What are some of the benefits that teachers report from participation with organizations within the Maine Outdoor Schools for All network?
– What is the background and current status of the Act to Support Outdoor School for All Maine Students, introduced in 2023 by State Senator Stacey Brenner

Guest/s:
Ryder Scott Executive Director, University of Maine 4-H Centers
Kara McCrimmon from Cobscook Institute
Anica Miller-Rushing MOSFA Network Coordinator

FMI:
mosfa.org
extension.umaine.edu/4h/camps/
cobscookinstitute.org

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.