Chirs Crittenden: Don't let the sun go down on Lubec schools
Bangor Daily News, May 28, 2008
(excerpt) Fastidious and faithful readers of the BDN may have noticed a rare occurrence recently: two articles on different topics about a tiny school that sits as far Down East as you can go. One article (May 15) praises teacher David Finlay who won the National Agriculture Outstanding Teacher Award. He won the Maine Agricultural Teacher of the Year Award last year. Finlay earned a plaque from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is quoted as saying that he’s incredibly honored and adds, "Hopefully, it will bring recognition for everything being done in Lubec."
This brings me to the second news item (May 1), which has a much different tone: "Town Struggles To Compensate For Subsidy Loss." Rather than celebrate, this article laments. For over 100 years the town of Lubec has taught its own kids, but common sense is on the verge of doom. The attitude in town is that the end is coming, even if they scrape by for another year.
In 2007 Lubec High School received a Best High School Award from U.S. News & World Report. Only 13 schools in the state were so honored. Also in 2007, a Lubec art teacher won a Maine Arts Teaching Fellowship, one of only eight granted.
I could go on listing the praises but you get the flow of the tide. Lubec boasts a gem that should be upheld by our leaders as an ideal of education. Instead, the pencil pushers in Augusta are destroying this precious exemplar by the sea, a beautiful school in a natural, remote area that fosters Finlay’s aquaculture program and a walking trail that meanders through a coastal ecosystem down to the beach.
(excerpt) Fastidious and faithful readers of the BDN may have noticed a rare occurrence recently: two articles on different topics about a tiny school that sits as far Down East as you can go. One article (May 15) praises teacher David Finlay who won the National Agriculture Outstanding Teacher Award. He won the Maine Agricultural Teacher of the Year Award last year. Finlay earned a plaque from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is quoted as saying that he’s incredibly honored and adds, "Hopefully, it will bring recognition for everything being done in Lubec."
This brings me to the second news item (May 1), which has a much different tone: "Town Struggles To Compensate For Subsidy Loss." Rather than celebrate, this article laments. For over 100 years the town of Lubec has taught its own kids, but common sense is on the verge of doom. The attitude in town is that the end is coming, even if they scrape by for another year.
In 2007 Lubec High School received a Best High School Award from U.S. News & World Report. Only 13 schools in the state were so honored. Also in 2007, a Lubec art teacher won a Maine Arts Teaching Fellowship, one of only eight granted.
I could go on listing the praises but you get the flow of the tide. Lubec boasts a gem that should be upheld by our leaders as an ideal of education. Instead, the pencil pushers in Augusta are destroying this precious exemplar by the sea, a beautiful school in a natural, remote area that fosters Finlay’s aquaculture program and a walking trail that meanders through a coastal ecosystem down to the beach.
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