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Community for Rural Education, Stewardship, and Technology (CREST) - C3

Submitted by rallen on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 16:08
Last updated by Cynthia Newson on Fri, 12/02/2011 - 16:11
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Forty four teachers and 500 grade 6-12 students from the coastal region, including isolated islands, of Maine develop IT and GIS skills while working with partners in Maine’s fisheries.
Project Information
Cohort: 
3 (2005-2008)
Category: 
Comprehensive
Principal Investigator: 
Ruth Kermish-Allen
Co-Principal Investigator(s): 
Shey Conover
Michael Kimball
Anne Henshaw
Sponsor: 
Island Institute
Primary Focus: 
Environmental Science
Organization Location City: 
Rockland
Organization Location Region/State: 
New England
Maine (ME)
Where project work happens: 
New England
Maine (ME)
Participant type: 
Middle School Teachers
High School Teachers
Middle School Students
High School Students
Target Area: 
Rural
Award Number: 
05-25118
Overview Section

Community for Rural Education, Stewardship and Technology (CREST), a comprehensive project for students and teachers, currently networks the Island Institute, the University of Maine at Machias, Bowdoin College, and Maine’s island and coastal schools to form a learning community of 55 students, 44 teachers, community stakeholders, and Information Technology (IT) professionals. Within the 11 CREST schools, an additional 1,700 students and teachers are impacted by the use of CREST’s focus technologies across curricular areas. During the course of its three-year duration, CREST’s instructional staff, and collegiate partners will provide teachers and students with 365 contact hours that strengthen database management skills – the foundation of IT careers – through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, website design and ethnographic research skills using digital tools. Most of the target population lives in some of Maine’s most remote areas, where opportunities for IT learning are rare. CREST’s interdisciplinary approach aims to reconnect students to their threatened communities and provides insight into applicable technology careers through local projects based in the surrounding Gulf of Maine Ecosystem.

Using technology as a tool and place-based education as a vehicle, CREST connects students to the natural, social, and economic resources in their communities and demonstrates ways in which technology and technology careers can diversify and support natural resource-based communities and economies. Through CREST, a model methodology is being developed that guides the integration of disparate place-based education projects in underserved communities. The project connects social sciences, technology skills, and community assets in an interdisciplinary fashion that can further the ITEST research agenda and become a model for coastal and island communities. By building these communities within the resource management context, CREST strengthens capacity for participation in natural-resource stewardship and information economies among students while providing teachers and students with skills that could immediately diversify the local economy.

Activities Section

2007-2008 SCHOOL YEAR
Career Fair at the University of Maine

Career Exploration Day (STEM Job Shadows across the state)

On-site Technology Trainings

Regional Technology Trainings and Refreshers

2008 Summer Institute

Community presentations of accomplishments at each school

Watch a video about this project.

Key Findings: 
Findings reported in the 2007 annual and evaluation reports indicate positive outcomes for CREST participant, including: • The hands-on, product-driven approach helped participants take great strides in their technology fluency, level of comfort using new skills and equipment, and their ability to transfer this knowledge to classroom-based projects. • The CREST team created an empowering learning environment at the first Summer Institute that encouraged each participant’s voice and abilities. The use of non-hierarchal learning principles supported positive SLC team dynamics and ensured that all • Students demonstrated previously unobserved leadership characteristics that engendered positive responses from the teachers. In fact, everyone attending the Institute became adept in their chosen technology focus areas and developed skills that could be leveraged as valuable resources for their communities.
Project Links
Project website: 
http://www.islandinstitute.org/crest.php
WGBH Video(s): 
http://itestlrc.edc.org/sites/itestlrc.edc.org/inside_itest/meprofile.html
Project Video(s): 
Publication(s): 
Project Photos: 
http://itestlrc.edc.org/image_gallery?field_project_name_nid=388