Education Boothbay

08/18/2026

Q: One of your top priorities is addressing food security. Can you tell us more about that?

A: "Absolutely. We’re launching a school garden in partnership with the Southport General Store, where students will grow their own food.

It’s about understanding where food comes from and ensuring kids have access to nutritious meals. Beyond just fresh produce, this project will help students develop a sense of responsibility and strengthen their connection to the community."

Finding ways to solve problems with a little help from our community!

07/24/2026

We are thankful for our partnership with Five Gables Inn. See how you can order a cookbook from this fabulous inn and support the 5th grade class at Boothbay Region Elementary School!

07/22/2026

Boothbay Harbor isn't just the backdrop. It's the classroom.

This year, ninth graders at Boothbay Region High School are studying the health of the harbor they grew up in, identifying real environmental challenges and developing real proposals to address them. The program is called Solutionaries, and it brings together science, English, and social studies under one question: what can we actually do about this?

Science teacher Emily Higgins, who has taught in Maine's public schools for over 25 years, is helping lead the charge.

"The idea is for students to explore an issue they care about, connect with people who are doing the work, and then come up with a solution they can act on."

That's not just good science. That's good citizenship.

07/19/2026

Some people leave Boothbay. Boothbay pulls them back.

Ben ('04) and Tim ('08) Stover grew up here, graduated here, and eventually came back to build something here. Today, they run Conley's Garden Center, a landscaping business rooted in the same community that raised them, and every spring, they hire local students and teach them what the classroom can't always replicate.

Their paths through Boothbay Region High School looked different. Ben thrived with hands-on learning at Bath Vocational School. Tim found his focus on the basketball court, where coaches like Allan Crocker, IJ Pinkham, and Tim Rice showed him what it meant to show up.

"This place is just part of who we are," says Tim. "We both left for a little while, but Boothbay pulls you back."

It usually does.

07/16/2026

We asked kindergarteners to review the new Upcycled Cardboard Maker Studio at BRES. The reviews are in!

"It is so so so fun." — Isaac

"I like how it doesn't cut you." — Azalea

Education Boothbay funded a maker studio that transforms free, upcycled cardboard into large-scale art and design projects, giving students tools to build big when most programs can't afford to. The whole school debuted its creations at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens this spring.

Fun, creativity, and safety all in one!

07/10/2026

Meet Erika Huber, Education Boothbay's Newest Board Member.

As youth education manager at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, a role she's held since 2012, Erika brings Boothbay Region Elementary School students into close contact with the natural world right outside their door. Five-senses walks. Web of Life hikes. Classroom gardening curricula that started during COVID and never stopped.

This year, she joined the Education Boothbay Board. Her daughter is a student at BRES.

"My main goal is just to get kids excited about nature," she says. "Whether that's a walk in the garden, interacting with plants, or in the woods doing a web of life walk."

In Boothbay, the classroom has always extended beyond four walls. Partnerships like this one are why.

07/02/2026

There are multiple modalities for the way we can teach.

Not all subjects are best taught in the classroom. Sometimes we have to bring our students out into the world. Place-based learning at Burnt Island helps students learn about the local ecology, their maritime history, and the fishing industry all in one.

It is critical to get kids unplugged and hands-on in our environment!
Watch our video about Burnt Island.
Education Boothbay is looking forward to supporting additional place based learning opportunities in the Region for our students.

06/24/2026

Check out the June Newsletter from Education Boothbay

https://mailchi.mp/c92adb718893/education-boothbay-january-enewsletter-4879511?e=f8c97a6046

06/23/2026

Chip Schwehm has been building things his whole career. So have his students.

Before returning to Boothbay Region High School in 2012, Schwehm built furniture at Elkins and Company and boats at Hodgdon Yachts. That time away from the classroom didn't interrupt his teaching career — it deepened it. When he came back, he brought everything with him.

Today, his STEAM program gives students access to 3D printers, CNC routers, laser cutters, and CAD software alongside traditional woodworking — furniture, musical instruments, and more. It's a combination rarely available in a school this size, and it shows in where his students end up.

Ryan Clark ('23), now studying engineering at UNH, puts it plainly: "My high school experience would not have been the same without his mentorship."
Schwehm sees it simply. "People like to make things — it's part of being human. Everything around us was built by someone, and that instinct is still strong in students today."

In Boothbay, they get to act on it.

06/12/2026